Chapter 409: Come and Take it!
Three years ago...
After long discussions, the B-Grades finally came to a decision. They would not explore the rest of the temple. The risk was too high, and the lower-level ones amongst them had teamed up and refused to be taken advantage of.
As for Spacewind, he had been relegated to a side role. He could speak, but nobody asked for his opinion any longer. That made the flames of bitterness inside him burn even hotter, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Instead of exploring, they would spend some time waiting. Perhaps this imprisonment was a periodic phenomenon, or maybe it would somehow resolve itself. If they died before that happened, they really would be fools.
Therefore, the B-Grades sat down and meditated. One year passed. That was also their deadline. After one year, nothing had changed.
Of course, one year was nothing to them. If they had to wait ten, a hundred, or even a thousand years, they could still endure it. The problem was their uncertainty. How long would they need to wait for? Would anything ever happen, or were they fools just wasting away their years when the exit lay in the next room?
Moreover, after a year, the C-Grades outside the temple were also growing restless. They had already scoured most of the jungle—they hadn’t expected the expedition to last this long.
The B-Grades reconvened. The nine of them took stock of the situation, calmly analyzing all possibilities. Finally, they decided they could no longer sit still. They had to explore the temple.
In truth, there were ways to do so which wouldn’t involve risking their lives. It was just that these methods were too time-consuming...but what choice did they have?
Beast taming was its Dao. However, it also served as a side-occupation of many cultivators, just like healing or formation mastery. There were people here who practiced it. With a heavy heart, the B-Grades retraced their steps to safely exit the temple, then used their communication devices to gather all C-Grades together.
“We are stuck here for the foreseeable future,” Uruselam declared, to the fright of many. “It could be tens, hundreds, or thousands of years. There is no way to tell. Our best hope is to fully explore the temple, but it is filled with powerful traps that even we could fall to. There is only one solution—we will subdue every single C-Grade and B-Grade beast in this jungle and use them as scouts!”
Though he said scouts, he really meant meatshields. Even if C-Grades had no chance of survival in the face of these traps, it didn’t matter. They could scout them out. With enough numbers, all problems would be resolved!
As for D-Grade creatures, those couldn’t even resist the temple’s heavy aura. Dragging them along was meaningless.
Therefore, the entire group settled down in an area of the jungle near the temple. The B-Grades would often spread out, looking for C-Grade and above beasts and capturing them. Anyone familiar with beast taming had their hands full—subduing even a single beast was a time-consuming process. Thankfully, they only used gentle methods, as high-level beasts were too powerful to yield to torture.
Two more years passed.REaaD lateSt chapters at nô(v)(e)l/bin/.c/o/m Only
The cultivators had remained in their area, often cultivating. Rain came often, and it was annoying, so they built roofs over their heads. Then, nobody wanted to be looked at by the others all the time—they built walls. Gradually, a small village appeared inside the jungle. Since all treasures had already been taken, there was no point to infighting—everyone cultivated peacefully, gradually getting to know each other. People became closer.
Taming all the necessary beasts was a process that could take up to a hundred years. Even after that, when they explored the temple, there was no guarantee they would find a way out. They could be stuck here for life.
Though terrifying, nobody could discount that possibility. They thought they would stay for decades in the least. The village was built to last. Over half of the people present were humans, including both men and women. They could have children. If they really were stranded here forever, this little village would develop into a civilization of its own.
They even gave it a name—Green Cultivator Town!
And the only sore thumb was Spacewind, who stewed in anger in his tiny hut in this tiny little village.
***
“Retribution.”
Spacetime shook, then shattered. The sheet was completely torn away. All remaining spacetime particles rose as a vortex which slowly formed into two phantasmal beings—each resembled a body of water, one constantly rippling and the other ceaselessly flowing in one direction.
Jack drew a deep breath! He’d just fought these beings; they were the Space and Time Gods!
However, even these were not the real bodies. They were avatars formed of spacetime, mere projections of the Gods too far away to arrive in person. Yet, even like this, their aura was staggering. Each of the two avatars approached the weakened dragon in power—if their real bodies were here, they would be even stronger.
Was Jack about to witness the power of true Gods?
“You wield our power,” said one of the beings, its voice carrying an indescribable quality.
“But without permission,” added the other. “Enas opened his domain. We did not. That which you have created is ours.”
If the dragon was shocked at the appearance of the two Old Gods, it did not show it. Though its aura was faintly suppressed, it still raised its proud head to glare at them.
“Empty talk,” it declared. “The only language I speak is power. If you want something from me, come and take it!”
Come and take it... What a phrase to speak to Gods!
“Very well,” they responded in one voice, and then attacked.
Unfortunately, this battle was not one Jack was meant to watch. Before it even began, one of the two avatars waved a finger in Jack’s direction without looking. A tremendous power struck him. The vision shattered, throwing him back into his own body.
That was also expected. In a previous Dao Vision, back in the Exploding Sun, even the A-Grade vampire had noticed someone watching. These two Old Gods, even in avatar form, could easily achieve the same. So could the dragon, but it had let Jack watch—it had been the one to create the Dao Vision this time, not the ever-present System.
Jack was shaken. Two Old Gods... An Archon creating a realm heart... A forbidden power...
The Old Gods, the Immortals, the Crusade... Those were all things Jack was faintly aware of, but they were too far away to affect him. Yet, the more he rose in power, the more he approached these entities. If he advanced his Dao to the peak, would the Old Gods arrive to stop him like they had with Archon Green Dragon?
But, since the realm heart was right in front of Jack, the Archon had likely won that battle.
Jack shook his head. Looking inside his mind, the Dao Vision remained, but only up to the point of the dragon finishing the realm heart. The attack of the two Old Gods was only a faint memory—and the difference was that, while he could recall it, he could not observe it for Dao understandings.
It was fine. He had inherited the legacy of an Archon. The benefits this would bring... The honor...
But Jack quickly composed himself. His goal was the peak of cultivation—and he suspected that an Archon, while close, was still a step away. If he really could reach the peak, receiving such an inheritance was only a matter of course.
“Thank you, Archon Green Dragon,” he said, respectfully lowering his head at the realm heart. He then raised his eyes.
He had not perfectly inherited the legacy yet. The Archon had spoken of refining the realm heart. For a third and last time, he raised his hand and placed it on the heart.
