by KSY
Soon a Beast pouch appeared out of nowhere in front of Ryan. Since he knew what was going to happen he asked the Metallic Hell Dragon to not resist. The Metallic Hell Dragon was soon covered in white light. He then turned into a streak of white light which disappeared into the Beast pouch. A few seals then appeared out of nowhere near Ryan and entered the Beast pouch, where they sealed the Beast pouch completely and put the Metallic Hell Dragon into a deep sleep-state. This was done so that the participants that got Soul beings inside the Treasure Space didn’t have an undue advantage over other participants. Ryan took the Beast pouch that was hovering in front of him and tied it to his waist, and a smile soon appeared on his face.
Ryan placed the remaining Dark Star Ore pieces in his Spatial pouch as he prepared to leave that place as there was nothing else to do there. A sly smile appeared on his face as he remembered something. He picked up a metallic stone lying on the ground and wrote something on the ground before he started moving at his top speed in the direction of his fellow group-members.
Raban and company were not far from his current spot. Ryan was certain that he would be able to reunite with them after two or three days provided they didn’t move away from their current spot.
Ch.24
A few groups had sent scouts to keep a tab on the activities of the Metallic Hell Dragon.
Some of these scouts arrived a few days after Ryan’s departure. Just like Raban, Yate had been able to persuade a number of groups to join hands with his own group in order to get the Dark Star Ore. These scouts had been sent by Yate and the group-leaders of the groups that had joined hands with his group.
Dark Star Ore was something that no participant with a Life Weapon wanted to miss out on, and even those that didn’t have Life Weapons wanted a small piece of it to fuse with their Soul weapon to increase its grade. Even after seeing the debacle of Raban and company, there were still many that were interested in it. So, it was not difficult for Yate to find a few groups that were still interested in Dark Star Ore.
Many of them had immediately agreed as they liked the plan that Yate had up his sleeve, as they felt that it would definitely succeed. Yate had come up with his plan after watching the struggles of Raban and company in front of the Metallic Hell Dragon.
He’d seen that the Metallic Hell Dragon would leave the Dark Star Ore unattended while fighting which made him suspect that the Metallic Hell Dragon was not at all interested in the Dark Star Ore, but was just protecting it, as he knew that participants would come for it which, in turn, gave him an opportunity to toy with them.
So, it would be wise to say that if they stole just a small piece of it, then there was a high chance that the Metallic Hell Dragon wouldn’t chase after them after they’d escaped his territory. It was just an assumption, but it was based on solid facts which made others believe him. They would at most lose only a few of people if they put it into action.
Yate’s plan was quite simple. Two groups would be formed: one large and one small. The small group would have around twenty people in it, and the large group would have the rest. The large group would be in charge of attracting the attention of the Metallic Hell Dragon while the small group would be in charge of the stealing a small portion of Dark Star Ore.
The plan sounded simple, but would be very complicated to execute as the large group’s responsibility was very high indeed. If they were unable to keep the Metallic Hell Dragon engaged for enough time, then the small group would be annihilated in its entirety within seconds. The leaders of the different groups had an uphill task in persuading a few of their members to agree to join the small group. No one wanted to be a part of the small group as the risk was just too high and the benefits too small in comparison. In the end, the group-leaders decided to announce compensation of half a million high-grade Primary Attribute Elemental stones to the participants that joined the small group, if by chance they were to get unlucky. This compensation offer made it easy for the group-leaders to find people that were willing to join the small group.
When scouts sent by Yate and other group-leaders found the Metallic Hell Dragon as well as the Dark Star Ore missing from their usual spots, the scouts were stunned for a few moments before a feeling of uneasiness crept in.
“Where is the Metallic Hell Dragon? Even the Dark Star Ore is missing!” one of the scouts exclaimed in a frantic manner as he searched the foot of the mountain where the Metallic Hell Dragon used to live with a telescope. They were currently sitting on the top of a mountain about fifty kilometers from Metallic Hell Dragon’s home.
“Don’t worry. He must have gone out to hunt and has most likely hidden the Dark Star Ore somewhere. We will wait for his return and immediately inform the group-leaders about it,” another scout said. He was the leader of their scouting team, so everyone calmed down on hearing him.
The scouts waited patiently for a few hours, but there was still no sign of the Metallic Hell Dragon: it was as if he had completely vanished. The thought of the Metallic Hell Dragon migrating to some other territory didn’t even enter their minds as the powerful Immortal creatures of Raspite didn’t change their territories, as they had agreed between themselves not to interfere in each other’s territories.
The scouts decided to risk their lives and approach the foot of the gigantic mountain to check for some clues regarding the disappearance of the Metallic Hell Dragon. Such a big creature couldn’t just disappear into thin air. They were scared that if they went back empty-handed then Yate and the other group-leaders would make their lives hell. They arrived at the foot of the mountain within half an hour and started looking around for clues.
“Everyone come over here quickly!” The scouting team’s leader shouted at the top of his voice. Soon all the scouts arrived at that spot and they read the message left by Ryan written in clear and bold words. They had stunned expressions.
I will hold an exchange in the Outer region of Forest of Tears after two months.
I will only exchange Dark Star Ore for Heavenly Treasures or something of equal value.
People interested should arrive there on time.
I will arrive at the spot where the majority of the people interested in the exchange assemble.
The scouts knew that they would have to inform Yate and the rest of the group-leaders about Ryan’s exchange at the earliest, otherwise they were doomed. Yate and a few of the group-leaders had Life Weapons and they would go to any lengths to acquire Dark Star Ore. So, they would never miss the exchange.
The scouts quickly removed the message from the ground, before leaving at their top speed to meet Yate and the other group-leaders.
They had no intention of letting any other participants know about the exchange.
Ryan, on the other hand, had a big smile on his face as he sensed with the help of the rune on his palm that his fellow group-members were moving in his direction. This would allow him to reunite with them earlier than what he had previously expected. He only stopped on his way to leave messages regarding the exchange that he was going to conduct in the Outer region of Forest of Tears.
Ryan understood the human heart better than anyone else, so he knew that whoever found his message at the foot of the gigantic mountain would definitely erase it, so that others didn’t come to know about the exchange. He decided, therefore, to leave hundreds of messages about the exchange in Metallic Sheen Mountain Range. He infused them with Fire Attribute Spirit Power which lit them up, and made them extremely eye-catching. He was sure that in this manner, he would definitely be able to spread the news about the exchange far and wide, as a large number of participants were still in the Metallic Sheen Mountain Range, though Ryan kept a distance from them.
Ryan was finally able to reunite with Raban and the other group-members after a day’s journey. Their condition was better than what he’d been expecting, though Ryan could see some superficial injuries on their bodies.
“Ryan, what were you doing in Poison Meadow for so long?,” Raban asked in
a bewildered manner. The people behind him had a similar question, as they too wanted to know why he’d stayed in the such a dangerous place for so long. They knew that Ryan had ended up there with the help of the rune on their palms. They’d wanted to help Ryan but knew that they would end up dead within a few hours of entering Poison Meadow, so they knew that they could only pray for his safety.
Initially, they’d assumed that Ryan had most likely ended up in a dangerous situation which had forced him into hiding there to save himself – which resulted in him staying in Poison Meadow for a long time. But after seeing that Ryan was completely fine, they were certain that he’d stayed in Poison Meadow for that long by choice. This fact shocked them.
“I discovered a few precious Poison Attribute Plant Spirits, so I entered a Closed-door Cultivation session to absorb the essences of those Plant Spirits,” Ryan said with a wry laugh. Raban and the rest of the group-members were stunned on hearing that.
“You actually had the guts to go into a Closed-door Cultivation session in a Forbidden region!” everyone thought to themselves. Ryan could tell from their expressions what was going on in their minds, and he himself knew that most people would avoid doing that, but he’d had his own reasons at the time.
“What is important is that you are OK,” Raban said as he gave Ryan a gentle pat on his shoulder following which rest of the group-members came forward to exchange quick pleasantries with Ryan. Livius and the other four Taboo Martial Artists, were the happiest at that moment as Ryan was synonymous with hope for them.
“You missed out on a lot of good stuff, but don’t worry we’ve kept your share,” Brutus said with a smile.
“I won’t take anything since I didn’t help in acquiring any of it,” Ryan said as he shook his head.
“We agreed before entering the Treasure Space that everything would be split equally amongst all of us provided one could use it. The stuff that we have kept aside for you can’t be used by many in our group, so don’t feel bothered about it,” Raban said as he took out a few things from his Spatial pouch.
They were Fire Attribute Mortal Plant Spirits, Death Attribute Mortal Plant Spirits, a few pieces of precious metal ores and a bottle of a Fiery liquid. Ryan was stunned as the Fiery liquid was by no means an ordinary liquid. It was a Death Fire Dual Attribute Devil Treasure, called Heretical Fiery Liquid. Devil Treasures just like Heavenly Treasures are birthed by Treasure Lands but unlike Heavenly Treasures, they cause harm to the beings other than Devils who absorb or use them, rather than increasing their strength.
Ryan could already tell that Raban and the rest of his group were confusing Heretical Fiery Liquid with Divine Fiery Liquid, which is a Fire Attribute Heavenly Treasure. Both liquids give off a similar vibe, but have different effects on the being that absorbs them.
He was only able to discern the difference due to his exceptional senses which allowed him to sense the Death aura from the Fiery liquid, which had been absent, when he had previously seen Divine Fiery Liquid in Emerson’s alchemy lab. The Death aura is minuscule and enveloped in Fire aura, because of which it is difficult to differentiate between Divine Fiery Liquid and Heretical Fiery Liquid.
Divine Fiery Liquid is capable of evolving Fire Attribute Martial Spirits. Heretical Fiery Liquid, on the other hand, transforms the being that absorbs it into a Heretical Fire Devil. It doesn’t matter how high that being’s Cultivation Level is. He or she is bound to become a Heretical Fire Devil once the Heretical Fiery Liquid is absorbed. Ryan could see that none of his group-members had tried to absorb Heretical Fiery Liquid as they were still fine.
Heretical Fire Devils are Death Fire Dual Attribute Devils. They are known for their bloodthirsty nature and their powerful Fire Attribute attacks. Heretical Fire Devils are one of the strongest types of devils. They possess an Innate Ability which allows their Cultivation Level to keep on rising, as long as they keep on burning living beings to death with their flames. This Innate Ability is the main reason why Heretical Fire Devils are considered fearsome.
These devils are easily able to become Archdevils, which is an existence amongst the devils akin to a king. All Archdevils have millions of devils as their followers and even S Grade factions avoid messing with an Archdevil as it is equivalent to messing with a hornet’s nest.
“Brother Raban, this is Heretical Fiery Liquid,” Ryan quickly informed him, which made the expressions of Raban and rest of his group undergo drastic changes.
“Ryan, are you certain?” Brutus asked as his breathing became uneven.
“I am one hundred percent sure. My senses are manyfold more sensitive than a normal Martial Artist’s. Nothing escapes them. Divine Fiery Liquid is a Fire Attribute Heavenly Treasure, but this Fiery liquid is of Death Fire Dual Attribute. It is difficult for normal Martial Artists to tell this, but it made me conclude that this fiery Liquid is Heretical Fiery Liquid,” Ryan said with a grim expression.
“Brother Raban, did you give Heretical Fiery Liquid to anyone else?” Ryan asked as he could tell from the expressions of his group-members that quite a few people had already absorbed it.
“Our group and a few other groups joined hands to acquire Heavenly Treasures. We were successful in acquiring three Heavenly Treasures. One of them was the Heretical Fiery Liquid and other two were the sap of the Bodhi Tree and a big Lightning Crystal. There wasn’t much Heretical Fiery Liquid, so each group got just one bottle of it.
“We decided to keep our group’s share of Heretical Fiery Liquid for you. We literally had no idea that we were giving you something so dangerous,” Raban said with a listless face. He knew that by now almost all the bottles of Heretical Fiery Liquid must have already been used and that the people that had absorbed the Heretical Fiery Liquid would have started transforming into Heretical Fire Devils, and had most likely been ejected by the Treasure Space.
The expressions of the other members of the group were no different, as they knew that whoever absorbed Heretical Fiery Liquid was as good as dead. The members of the Upper echelons of both Family Clans would execute them before they completely transformed into Heretical Fire Devils.
The expressions of everyone suddenly turned deathly pale as they saw Ryan open the bottle of Heretical Fiery Liquid and drink its content in one go.
“Ryan!!!!” everyone shouted in concern as they regained their senses. Their facial expressions had turned pale from fright.
“Don’t worry about me. This thing can’t affect me in any way because of my Asura Dragon Physique, but the same is not the case with the other participants,” Ryan said with a cheeky smile, but his group-members were having a hard time believing his words.
“Ryan are you certain that Liquid was Heretical Fiery Liquid?” Raban asked with a questioning gaze. He suspected that Ryan had lied to him and the others as he was still fine. He had never heard of anyone remaining fine after absorbing Heretical Fiery Liquid. The rest of the group-members also suspected Ryan.
“Brother Raban, you can verify my claim. I am sure that someone must have already absorbed the Heretical Fiery Liquid by now. We just need to find their fellow group-members to confirm my claim,” Ryan said in his defense, and Raban was unable to find a retort.
Ryan ignored them and he took out a piece of Dark Star Ore from his Spatial pouch and placed it in Raban’s hand. This made Raban and the rest of his group-members almost faint from shock. They wanted to speak, but no matter how hard they tried no words came out. Ryan then gave each member of the group a Dark Star Ore piece while they looked at him with dazed expressions.
“How did you get Dark Star Ore?” Amosis asked, as he was the first person to regain his senses. He couldn’t help but shudder in fear at the mere thought of Metallic Hell Dragon, so it was natural that he would ask this question. But, it wasn’t just him: everyone had the same question in their minds as they looked at Ryan with disbelief.
“I asked Metallic Hell Dragon with a big smile, and he allowed me to take some,” Ryan said with a playful smi
le.
“Bullshit!!!” everyone thought to themselves, but they didn’t pester Ryan anymore as they could tell he had no intention of telling them. Many had embarrassed expressions while receiving the Dark Star Ore, as the stuff given by them to Ryan was simply incomparable in terms of its preciousness.
“Everyone should quickly fuse the Dark Star Ore with their weapons, and we will head for Forest of Tears soon after. We don’t have a lot of time in our hands,” Ryan said with a serious expression.
“There is a cave at a little distance from here. We can fuse Dark Star Ore with our weapons there,” Raban suggested, and everyone readily agreed to his proposal.
It didn’t take long for them to reach the cave. It was empty as well as quite big. Raban and his fellow group-members quickly found themselves spots in the cave and started to fuse Dark Star Ore with their weapons.
Ryan too found a spot and sat in a meditative position. He then sent his consciousness to the black side of his Soul World.
The white side of his Soul World was extremely chaotic since Earl had absorbed the entire Heretical Fiery Liquid. Ryan’s Devil’s flame had started to resonate with the Heretical Fiery Liquid the moment he’d come into contact with the bottle containing it.
Earl requested Ryan to let him absorb it. Ryan readily agreed as he himself felt that it might be good for Earl and it would be unable to affect him as he possessed Asura Physique. The white side of Ryan’s Soul World had turned chaotic after Earl had absorbed it. Earl had then entered a deep sleep-state, and the white side had turned chaotic due to the tremendous amount of energy that was being released by Earl. It was so hot that Ryan would have already turned to ashes if he hadn’t possessed Asura Physique.
“What do you think is happening to him?” Ryan asked in a concerned manner. Dargar was equally concerned for Earl, unlike Yama, whose usual calm expression was plastered on his face.
