by KSY
The pentagonal tattoo’s shape started to change after some time, and finally transformed into the Vector tattoo of Hell Mantis. A smile appeared on Ryan’s face soon after, as he could feel an extremely strong connection with the Hell Mantis. He wore an incredulous expression as he could tell that this connection was quite similar to that of a Soul link.
The Hell’s Fire flame surrounding the egg subsided along with the formation of the Vector tattoo of Hell Mantis on Ryan’s chest.
Crack!!
Crack!!
Ryan’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he saw the Hell Mantis Evil Fire Spirit breaking out of its eggshell. Its sickle-like front legs soon ripped apart a hole in the eggshell. It slowly emerged from the hole, and then devoured its eggshell right after emerging from it. It was equal in size to that of an adult human fist but anyone under the Mortal Sage Realm would regret underestimating it, as it had a Cultivation Level of Early Mortal Emperor Realm.
Ryan had a weird expression after seeing his Hell Mantis Evil Fire Spirit for the first time.
“Isn’t it supposed to be an Undead creature?” Ryan thought to himself, as he was expecting it to look like an Undead creature, which is lifeless. But on the contrary, it was brimming with vitality. It looked like a normal Hell Mantis except that its front legs and antennas were covered in Hell’s Fire flame. Those front legs were also its main weapon.
Dargar and Earl were equally stunned. They’d keenly watched the entire process too. Yama also had a stunned expression like Ryan and company, but for a different reason.
“How is this possible?” Yama looked at the little Hell Mantis Evil Fire Spirit with a look of disbelief, as a particular part of his sealed memories had unsealed after seeing it. The memory contained information about a certain type of creature from Hell, creatures that were neither dead nor living. The Hell Mantis Evil Fire Spirit gave off a similar vibe. Those creatures were one of the most fearsome existences in Hell, and this Hell Mantis Evil Fire Spirit had the potential to rival even the strongest amongst them, as it possessed Hell’s Fire flame too. Yama but naturally didn’t wish to tell Ryan about that.
Ryan, Dargar and Earl just thought that Yama was shocked for the same reason as they were, so they didn’t enquire any further.
Yama was unable to understand why something like that had happened in the first place, as it was not mentioned in Evil Fire Spirit Martial Skill. Yama could think of a few reasons for it, but wasn’t sure about them. One was that Ryan’s blood had similar properties to the blood of real Asuras, due to him having Asura Physique, and it was well-known that Asura blood can cause other beings to undergo mutations.
The other was Ryan’s exceptional control over his flames, because of which the runes created by him came out perfectly. The kind of Evil Fire Spirit obtained varied according to the perfection with which the runes were created, and that was something that was mentioned in the Evil Fire Spirit Martial Skill, but it had never said that it could create a freak like this little Hell Mantis Evil Fire Spirit.
“Don’t bother too much about its looks. What matters is its strength,” Yama said with a sigh. He felt extremely envious of Ryan’s luck even though he was his Martial Spirit. He was certain that this Evil Martial Spirit would definitely become their trump card in the future.
Ryan just nodded his head as he approached the Hell Mantis Evil Fire Spirit, which had been watching Ryan closely for quite some time, as it was unable to understand why it was feeling such a close connection with the human in front of it.
Ryan extended his hand towards the Hell Mantis Evil Fire Spirit once it was done devouring its eggshell. It hesitated for a second before it quietly jumped on Ryan’s hand. Ryan carefully studied it before he started stroking its back gently. The Hell Mantis Evil Fire Spirit seemed to like that, as it closed its eyes to enjoy Ryan’s gentle strokes. Yama, Earl and Dargar felt the scene was somewhat familiar and rolled their eyes. Yama wanted to face-palm himself. He was sure that except for Ryan no one else would try to pamper such a fearsome creature, but even he had to say that the little Hell Mantis Evil Fire Spirit looked cute.
Ryan suddenly had a weird expression as he checked the genital area of the Hell Mantis Evil Fire Spirit. It possessed female genitals, whereas, generally, Undead creatures lack genitals.
“Does he really have to be so observant”? Yama thought to himself as he cursed his luck. He could already tell what was going on in Ryan’s mind. He knew that Ryan would turn to him for answers, but he didn’t want to divulge certain facts about the Divine Universe to Ryan as it could affect his mindset - which was the last thing that he wanted to happen.
“Yama, do you have any idea?” Ryan asked with an odd expression. Even Earl and Dargar were looking at Yama with great expectation.
“Don’t let it bother you: it is a good thing. Undead creatures that possess genitals have terrifying potential and are many times stronger than the ones that don’t,” Yama explained without going into detail.
Ryan, Earl and Dargar just nodded their heads in a serious manner before big smiles appeared on their faces.
They’d hit a jackpot!!!!
“So, what should we name her?” Ryan asked his Martial Spirits in an excited manner.
“How about Lachesis? Earl suggested, and everyone liked the name.
“Do you like the name Lachesis?” Ryan asked the little Hell Mantis Evil Fire Spirit. She just jumped on the spot a few times as if showing her agreement. Ryan and company laughed on seeing her adorable actions. Caius who’d been peeking at Lachesis from Ryan’s hair since her birth finally came out to meet her, which he was extremely happy to do, especially because Lachesis was small in size just like him. He would always feel small in the presence of everyone.
“Lachesis, this is one of my partners just like you. His name is Caius,” Ryan said as he introduced Caius to her. Lachesis just waved her sickle-like front legs at Caius, who waved his hand at her. Lachesis then opened the two pairs of wings on her back and flew towards Caius. Once in the air both Caius and Lachesis started to play. Ryan smiled on seeing this scene.
Ryan changed into a fresh pair of clothes as it was already morning and the Divine Trials would begin within a few hours’ time. He then started to do some last-minute preparations.
The first thing Ryan did was to contact Sheldon to inform him about Lachesis. Ryan took out his Mental-message transmission orb and tried to connect with Sheldon’s Mental-message transmission orb, but the latter didn’t switch his on. Ryan assumed that it must be due to the recent events, so he just left a few Mental-message transmissions informing him that he had successfully created his Evil Fire Spirit and a few other things.
Ryan next called Raymond to inform him that he would be entering the Treasure Space shortly, since that meant that he would be unable contact anyone from inside it. Raymond was overjoyed on hearing Ryan’s voice.
Ryan talked with Raymond for half an hour. Ryan had a few problems regarding his cultivation in Poison Elemental Laws which were quickly solved by Raymond. Ryan promised to return to the Sect after the Divine Trials to continue his studies under him, but Raymond told him to avoid coming to the Sect until things calmed down, as the Dark Moon family was openly gunning for his head after the Death duel. Ryan couldn’t help but feel frustrated on hearing this, as he knew this was happening only because he lacked strength and power.
Ryan then decided to call Cynthia after concluding his talks with Raymond. In the past few months since he’d left Divine Martial Sect, he’d tried to contact her on numerous occasions but had been unable to do so.
Ryan had left a bead necklace with Cynthia, and the ten beads in it acted as Ryan’s eyes and ears. Cynthia didn’t wear the bead necklace around her neck like Emilia but carried it with her at all times in the pocket of her robe. They had informed him that Cynthia had returned to her Family Clan right after his Death duel with Ramon from the Dark Moon Family Clan. Ryan could tell that the Raffle Family Clan must be under tremendous pressu
re from the Dark Moon Family Clan following the Death duel.
Cynthia’s Mental-message transmission orb had also been confiscated by her father. It was clear that her Family Clan wanted to limit her contact with him. He had called her numerous times even after knowing that fact, as he wished to show her father his sincerity towards Cynthia. He could have contacted her via the bead necklace, but he had no intention of doing so as it wouldn’t have the desired effect.
The Raffle Family Clan was established in the mountainous region on the eastern side of Dragon Head Continent. That region was called Chaotic Highland. It was covered in a very dense forest and had numerous High-grade Treasure Lands. The Raffle Family Clan controlled over fifty percent of these High-grade Treasure Lands, the rest being under the control of other kinds of beings and Humanoid races. The Raffle family knew that it couldn’t be too greedy, as that would bring great misfortune on them.
The Raffle Family Clan was situated in the Inner region of Chaotic Highland. The entire Inner region had thousands of buildings, some of which were grand in structure and design, and some of which were simple. In one of the palaces, Cynthia was having breakfast along with her family, which had tens of members, but the entire family was in silence. The expression on Cynthia’s father’s face turned ugly as his Spatial pouch started to vibrate, as he could already tell the source of the vibration. Everyone else in the dining area had already sensed the vibration of his Spatial pouch too, and could tell that it was due to a Mental-message transmission orb. He took out Cynthia’s Mental-message transmission orb to switch it off. Cynthia looked at her father with a hostile expression before leaving the dining area. Cynthia’s father cursed the timing of Ryan’s call. The Mental-message transmission orb couldn’t be completely switched off, as it would start vibrating the moment another Mental-message transmission orb tried to connect with it.
“That boy has no intention of giving up on Cynthia, and she also has no intention of giving up on him. This will make things difficult for us,” one of Cynthia’s Ancestors said.
“The pressure from the Dark Moon Family has increased several-fold after the Death duel. If they find that Cynthia is still in contact with that brat, then things might go downhill for us,” Cynthia’s grandfather said in a grumpy tone.
“Head has recently contacted the Main branch for guidance in this matter. We will get an answer from them sometime soon,” Cynthia’s father said. Everyone nodded their heads as they continued to eat their breakfast. Cynthia’s mother asked a servant to take Cynthia’s breakfast to her Cultivation chamber.
Anyone could tell that she deeply concerned about her daughter’s future.
Ryan kept his Mental-message transmission orb in his Spatial pouch with a smile as he had already achieved his aim. He then took out the Undead pouch that Raymond had given him. He would have to carry his Undead creatures in it so he could use them in the Treasure Space as he wouldn’t be able to use Death Sword freely there. He would always have to check his surrounding to make sure that no participants were around him before using it, which would limit his use of Death Sword there.
Ryan could take Undead creatures into the Treasure Space, unlike his Soul beings, as Undead creatures were seen as weapons for a Death Attribute Martial Artist. They were a strength for any Death Attribute Martial Artist that could control Undead creatures.
Ryan took Death Sword out from his Soul World, and channeled his Death Attribute Liquid Spirit Power into it. A black beam shot out from the tip of Death Sword’s blade which turned into a black portal. A few hundred black streaks of light flew out of the portal under Ryan’s command. They were Undead creatures which moved towards the Undead rearing pouch that was hanging next to Ryan’s waist. The black streaks of light struck the Undead rearing pouch one by one before disappearing into it. He was only taking Undead creatures that had Cultivation Levels in the Mortal Realm. Finally, a smile appeared on Ryan’s face and the portal disappeared.
“Lachesis, come back,” Ryan said once he was ready to leave for the Divine Trials. Caius bid Lachesis goodbye as he flew into Ryan’s hair, while Lachesis turned into a black streak of light before she shot towards Ryan’s chest. The black streak of light disappeared after hitting Ryan’s chest, as the Vector tattoo of Hell Mantis also acted like an Undead pouch thus allowing the Martial Artist to take an Evil Martial Spirit along with him or her without anyone knowing about it. Ryan couldn’t help but compliment the creator of the Evil Fire Spirit Martial Skill: he truly was a genius.
Ryan channeled the extremely pure Death Elemental Energy from Death Sword to Lachesis via the connection between them. Lachesis was overjoyed the moment she came into contact with it.
She immediately turned into a Black Hole as she started to devour endless quantities of it in order to cultivate Death Elemental Laws. Ryan and his Martial Spirits looked agape at this scene. Lachesis’s consumption was already equivalent to that of Thorn, who had recently entered the Immortal Beast Sage Realm!
He was unable to fathom Lachesis’s future requirements, but he was not worried as he had a limitless source of Death Elemental Energy. He would have to find a source of Fire Elemental Energy for her in the future, as she would have to devour any endless quantity of that too in order to cultivate Fire Elemental Laws.
“Her strength will increase exponentially at her current consumption of Death Elemental Energy,” Earl said in a delighted manner. Ryan and the rest nodded their heads in agreement.
Lachesis didn’t have a compulsion like Ryan to cultivate both Death and Fire Elemental Laws at the same time as she had two Elemental Cores like all Dual Attribute Insects and Elemental Beasts. One was a Death Attribute Elemental Core and the other was a Fire Elemental Core. So, it wouldn’t affect Lachesis by much even if Ryan was unable to find a suitable Fire Attribute Treasure Land on Grandura.
All Elemental Insects have similar talent and potential during their childhood. Their Combat prowess and capabilities are determined by what kinds of resources they devour while growing up. They keep gaining the Innate Abilities of their species as their Cultivation Level rises, unlike Elemental Beasts.
Since Lachesis was getting the purest form of Death Elemental Energy, her future Combat prowess and capabilities can be imagined. Her Cultivation Level would keep on increasing with the passage of time as she devoured more and more Death Elemental Energy. This was the most fearsome thing about Elemental Insects. She would even be able to devour Gods in the future.
Generally, most Elemental Insects live in colonies and the strength of the entire colony keeps on increasing, as long as it has enough resources to devour. The colony is under the direct command of its Queen. Many factions have tried to enslave the Queen of a colony to indirectly control millions of powerful Elemental Insects, but they always failed terribly.
The colony’s Queen prefers to commit suicide than become someone’s slave and once the Queen commit’s suicide the colony’s other Elemental Insects pursue the person who tried to enslave their Queen and forced her to die. This fact had frustrated many people who’d tried this method for controlling a colony of Elemental Insects.
Due to its sheer numbers, an army of Elemental Insects with a Cultivation Level in the Immortal Realm could easily wipe out any faction on Grandura with extreme ease. This had happened many times in the past. So, all the factions of Grandura always made sure that the strength of any colony of Elemental Insects on Grandura didn’t exceed a certain limit, and it was destroyed to avoid future troubles the moment it reached that limit.
Ryan exited his Cultivation chamber soon after and went to the Living room where most of his family members had already assembled. He entered in a jolly mood. Everyone greeted him with a smile even if they were worried about his wellbeing deep down, as they didn’t want to demoralize him in any manner. They decided to help him by telling him of their experiences in the Treasure Space.
“Are you ready to go?” Emilia asked with a smile. She unlike the others, knew her son very well so
she was not that worried about him, as she knew that he possessed the cunning of Soul Stealing Devils. These are one of the most hated existences in both the Mortal Universe and the Divine Universe, due to their being extremely crafty and having a back-stabbing nature. They very rarely kept their word and tried to trick others into selling their souls to them. Their strength completely depended on the number of souls they had collected by such trickery.
“Yes,” Ryan said with a big smile on his face. The others in the Living room felt a little at ease when they saw Ryan brimming with confidence.
“Brother, what’s inside that pouch of yours?” one of Ryan’s cousin-sisters asked with curiosity. Her name was Anna. She was the daughter of Oscar’s second youngest son. She was pointing at the Undead pouch hanging next to Ryan’s Spatial pouch. The Undead pouch stood out due to the way it was made. It was not just Anna, but others had also noticed it too, but they hadn’t asked him as they didn’t feel right to ask him about everything.
“Undead creatures,” Ryan said with a sly smile, and everyone looked at him agape.
Ch.15
The area in and around Sundering Valley had become extremely lively as a large number of participants had already arrived there along with their family members and well-wishers. Ryan had also arrived along with his family members. He was standing with them in the Outer region of Sundering Valley.
The mood of his family members was manyfold better after coming to know that he had some Undead creatures under his control. In their view, Ryan could use them to get out of tricky and dangerous situations. He but naturally hadn’t told them the full truth: that he actually controlled an entire Undead legion comprising thousands of Undead creatures.
Emilia and Julia took Ryan to the area in the Inner region of Sundering Valley where all the participants of the Divine Trials had to assemble. They introduced a few participants from their respective branches to Ryan before returning along with Caius to the Outer region of Sundering Valley where the rest of the family was waiting for them.
