Alear and Darian hurried back to an island. The mont they set foot on solid ground, Alear passed out, completely exhausted.
Darian checked her quickly, sensing that her mind and soul were extrely worn down. It wasn't from the effort of rging with the Immortal Chaos Essence, but from the karma of this universe that was now bound to her.
It was like carrying a mountain on her back. The karma of this universe was terrible, and she would have to learn how to endure it.
A few days later, Alear woke up. Then she began to work tirelessly in this universe. Darian helped her create rules and establish a long-term path so that the collective karma could completely change one day.
***
The months passed slowly until the 360 days were finally completed.
Darian and Alear were waiting on the beach when, at last, a figure erged from inside the temple and flew into the sky.
Niara saw the two of them and ran over excitedly. When she arrived, she looked at Alear happily. "Hehe… I knew my girl would make it."
Alear gave a slightly awkward smile. It hadn't been easy at all, and she had truly thought she'd failed completely. But the reason for that was sothing no mortal or immortal could guess: karma.
Only Darian, with his curse, could see it and create a solution. Most likely, the majority of immortals who failed to rge with the Immortal Chaos Essence did so for this very reason.
Now, Darian was sure he could create Spiritual Sovereigns with ease. He just needed to et three conditions.
First, the universe had to be extrely problematic and have terrible karma.
Second: he had to genuinely work to unite the people and find a long-term solution to that place's biggest problems. Finally, he needed to bind the local karma to the right person, soone who truly wanted to change everything.
With these three conditions fulfilled, Heaven's Will would give its silent support. Darian was certain of this because Alear told him that, in the last attempt, she felt so kind of power or will appear out of nowhere, influencing the collective consciousness of the universe.
"Dan! Master Yinou taught how to create the manifestation of the universe using my Immortal Chaos Essence. Even without having immortal power, I can use this and summon the power of my universe! Now I'll never run out of energy, and I can protect you indefinitely!" Niara said excitedly.
Darian's eyes changed. "Wait… this technique…"
"Hehe, yeah! She asked to send you the full technique. Alear and everyone else can learn it too," Niara replied, waving her hand. A rune floated toward Darian, and he absorbed it eagerly.
It wasn't an absurd amount of knowledge. In just a few minutes, Darian already had a good grasp of the technique. However, besides needing to rge with the Immortal Chaos Essence, the real difficulty was enduring the full power of the universe flowing through one's body and soul.
It was like becoming a channel. If that channel couldn't withstand the force of the waters, it would explode violently.
This was no joke. Even an immortal could die if they couldn't endure it. That was why, for Niara and Alear, who had Primordial Dragon blood and possessed terrifying resilience, using this technique was much easier. Anyone else would need serious preparation.
Darian sighed, feeling satisfied. His other four Spiritual Sovereigns would still need help, but their power in the future would multiply countless tis with this manifestation.
He turned to Niara and Alear. "Nine years have passed. Let's go back."
Both of them smiled. It had been almost a decade, but coming to this universe had brought many gains for the three of them.
"Niara, take us to your universe first," Darian said seriously. "For us, nine years passed in this universe. But in Earth's universe, much more ti may have passed. And worse… in your universe, it could've been many thousands of years. We need to see how things are there imdiately."
After hearing that, Niara's and Alear's expressions froze.
The ti difference between Niara's universe and Earth's universe was one day to one year. If these nine years were the sa in Earth's universe, more than three thousand years would have passed in the Divine Protection Universe.
But they didn't know what the ti difference was between this universe and the others. It was possible that far more than nine years had passed in Earth's universe, which would an an extrely long ti had gone by in that other universe as well.
Quickly, Niara took a deep breath and nodded, creating the channel.
From the mont she and Darian recovered their energy, Niara could have opened the channel and gone ho. But after discovering there was a book here, Darian couldn't leave and waste the chance to grow stronger.
After that, he saw the huge opportunity for Alear to beco stronger as well, which, as a result, would also make him stronger.
His life was full of turbulence, and any missed opportunity could an his death. That was why he was forced to stay those nine years and squeeze out everything he could from this place.
A few seconds later, the three of them entered the channel without looking back.
…
When the three arrived on the other side of the channel, they imdiately felt as if they were subrged in a black sea.
"!"
All three of their eyes widened.
"Miasma!" Niara roared furiously.
Darian looked around, tense. They were in the middle of space, outside any galaxy, but everything was engulfed in a terrifying miasma. In other words, the entire universe was imrsed in it.
His heart raced, and his mind worked quickly. This could only be sothing created by the Celestial Shadow. He recovered?! How much ti had passed?!
Darian focused his senses in all directions.
Soon, he noticed that the miasma around them was relatively weak, but there were three massive concentrations of celestial corruption in the distance.
Celestial corruption was sothing only the Risen Lords could create, aside from the Celestial Shadow himself, obviously.
Since everything was soaked in this power, which was connected to karma, Darian quickly extended his senses and managed to feel across an absurd distance through the universe.
"Fuck, they're attacking three galaxies at the sa ti," he said quickly, furious and, at the sa ti, sowhat relieved.
If there were still galaxies left, then everything Darian had built and left behind in this universe had managed to hold out against the enemy until his arrival. All of his effort had been worth it.
"Alear, go south. Niara, go west. I'll go north. We need to check the situation in all three places and help out. These galaxies that are still resisting have academies and major defensive inscriptions. Just give them support, and whoever finishes first can use the connection between the academies to help the others."
Darian gave the orders quickly, and the two of them nodded with serious expressions.
Without delay, their draconic auras flared up, and both shot off.
'All set, master,' Ailik said quickly, moving its power along Darian's spiritual root.
*Vupt!*
Darian vanished and, in the very next second, arrived at a galaxy completely covered by a terrifying black mantle.
Even so, he could feel that, inside the celestial corruption, the defensive inscription was active and resisting; however, its energies were slowly being corroded and weakened by that power.
There were no Risen near that galaxy. They were probably eroding the defenses first, then planning to attack. Darian didn't hesitate and pushed forward, using his white power to carve a path through the corruption.
When he reached the barrier, Darian took out a tablet. He had saved that galaxy and restored its academy in the past, so that place had beco a branch of the Shadows of Heaven Academy. He was the leader and had a certain level of control over everything there through that tablet.
Without any delay, he slipped into the inscription without causing any disturbance. Inside, everything looked strangely normal.
Near the center of the galaxy, there were three suns, where life had begun to pulse again. Before Darian left, in every galaxy he had recovered, he had managed to create at least three suns.
He sensed that all the planets that should have been hosting life were strangely empty. When he reached the central planet, he understood that the entire population of the galaxy had gathered there.
There were nearly ten billion people, and the atmosphere was tense. It felt like everyone was preparing for a massive, terrifying war.
Piercing through space, Darian entered the planet's atmosphere. In that sa second, he felt thousands of senses lock onto him aggressively.
Darian was extrely fast and landed at the center of the planet before any of those people could reach him.
At the mont, that planet was completely frozen and going through an ice age. That was because the sun created there, being very young, was a bit unstable and went through cycles of radiation intensity lower than normal. Even so, life could still exist, though in a more limited way.
Darian was in a vast frozen forest, and it was night there.
He didn't head straight for the academy because he felt that the central army and the most powerful individuals were in that forest. He needed information and—
*Peng!*
An arrow of scarlet flas pierced through space, attacking him directly.
Darian narrowed his eyes and shifted his gaze. He didn't move at all. But before the arrow could reach him, he took control of the firepower and the pure Yang mixed into the attack.
The arrow froze in midair, then went out completely.
Then Darian turned to face forward.
Four black wolves erged from the shadows. Darian recognized them: Abyssal Corrupted Wolves. In front of them, like the leader of the pack, walked a humanoid man with a disturbingly calm deanor.
His long green hair waved in the wind, framing a strikingly handso face and piercing red eyes that never left Darian. He wore black plate armor with cobalt-blue details, its glow pulsing under the moonlight.
His posture and aura radiated a powerful presence, like that of a veteran of a thousand wars. That wasn't his real body, but a body created by a Spiritual Guardian to be used in that universe. Most likely, that figure had chosen to recreate a form identical to its true body.
He had nine rings, and from his physical traits, it was obvious he was soone born on Earth.
At that mont, Darian felt sothing, and his pupils dilated.
It was a karmic connection with that man.
You didn't have to be a genius to connect the dots. Those characteristics…
Suddenly, the man stopped.
"Say your na."
His words echoed calmly, but they carried a subtle power, like an order.
"Darian."
The instant he answered casually, Darian felt the atmosphere change. It was as if the air and space themselves had frozen.
The man's expression shifted sharply. The calm vanished, replaced by a razor-sharp killing intent.
He waved his hand, flas igniting in his palms. He clenched them, and a solid, long sword of fire ford.
His red eyes shone like beacons as he spoke coldly. "I'll give you ten seconds to apologize and reveal your real na."
"I already told you my na," Darian said, snorting. Then he waved his hand, and a golden tablet appeared in his grasp. "Look, this is the academy's tablet, I am—"
*Whoooooosh!*
Without any hesitation, that figure attacked ferociously, lighting up the frozen forest.
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