Damned Healer

The moment Darian left the second phase of the Trial, all the shadows under his control in the Wild World — the ones that had just stayed frozen in place where everything had gone down — lost their karmic connection with him. Just like that, they faded out, and their bodies finally died for real.

Meanwhile, Darian found himself crossing through a dense layer of grayish mist.

Everything around him warped; it was like walking through a portal. The whole space in that central region had been altered. Inside, it was so vast that, even if you combined all the land from the first and second phases, it wouldn't even reach 5% of its size.

Suddenly, daylight hit him and his vision stabilized.

He found himself flying above a calm, green field. A soft, fresh breeze brushed against him, and then he slowly landed on the ground.

When he took a deep breath... he felt completely dazed.

The primordial power in the air was terrifyingly dense. Just by breathing, he could tell he'd be able to fill up his whole core in one or two days... way different from the hundred years, at the very least, that would be needed back in the Wild World.

[Final phase of the Primordial Duality Trial, initiated]

"!"

Out of nowhere, Darian's primordial core trembled and pulsed.

His whole body started heating up, like he was inside a furnace. He began to sweat, his skin turned red, and an intense pain poured straight out of his soul.

Then...

He felt the chaos power inside his core moving on its own, spreading through his soul, like it was forming countless small veins branching into every corner.

It took a few minutes before everything finally stopped. Then another green screen popped up.

[Spiritual evolution complete]

[Your soul now has spiritual meridians. With them, chaos power can fuse with your soul, and one day you may become a True Devil Lord and a True Holy Imperator.]

[Current status: Dark Saint]

[Primordial Points for next realm: 0/10,000]

[Do you want to read the introduction?] [Yes / No]

Darian accepted coldly.

[This is the Heavenly World. Here, every grain and every inch of land can be an incredible treasure. To fully complete the Trial, you must finish the three final steps. The first two are simple: you need to get ten thousand points and break through two realms.]

[The only way to get points is to fuse chaos power into your soul, using your new meridians. To do that, you'll need two things in abundance: Resources and Skill.]

[As a Dark Saint, your primordial core has the ability to absorb the purest primordial power and generate way more chaos power. Just by breathing, you'll get a limited amount, but in the entire Heavenly World there are infinite resources everywhere. Even if you drain an entire mine of primordial ore, in less than a year, that same spot can produce another mine. All treasures renew fast and are endless.]

[But just gathering resources is nowhere near enough. To fuse chaos power into the soul, you'll need huge talent, study, and techniques created by generations before you.]

[Every thousand points, you'll level up inside the realm. The power gained multiplies enormously, in every way. And just like in the first phase, you'll get a system bonus. Randomly, one of your available Laws will be upgraded.]

[Your goal is to break through two realms. After completing those two steps, your final objective will be revealed. Good luck.]

Darian read everything calmly, understanding a few things.

The first phase of the Trial was the most crucial for everyone, since the system gave options to obtain various Laws of their choice.

In the second phase, the goal was to nurture the primordial core as much as possible... probably to be able to create the spiritual meridians. It was also about awakening individual talents and skills, pushing them to fight and compete in the eruptions with everyone else there.

Now, at the end, the Laws chosen in the desert would be upgraded randomly. And the skills developed in the second phase would also matter a lot. Everything depended on each one's choices and individual growth.

But... Darian didn't have that problem. He had all the Laws with tons of upgrades, and whatever he got would be useful. As for skill, with his ring's power, he probably wouldn't have any problem either.

On top of that, thanks to the point bonuses from the group skill... completing the special missions had without a doubt been the best choice. Thinking about that, Darian scoffed and remembered the reward from the last special mission.

[Skill: Primordial Core Assimilation]

[This technique allows you to absorb the primordial core of a target, assimilating it into your own.]

[Everyone who reaches the final phase of the Trial only has a basic core. When assimilating basic cores, you'll need thousands of them to evolve. There are three higher categories: Magic, Supreme, and Celestial. With every step up in category, all of your power undergoes a transformation.]

Darian read that seriously. Absorbing cores boosted his power, but it didn't have a direct connection to the Trial. Still... it came at the perfect time. The Radiant King had to have countless allies, meaning there'd be an endless supply of enemies to kill and cores to absorb.

On top of that, he had the Almighty Law, which let him absorb chaos power straight from people's cores. Darian didn't even really need resources to generate chaos power... all he had to do was kill and steal.

A sinister smile spread across his face.

If anyone who knew him before saw him now, they'd be terrified, thinking some demon had taken over his body. He didn't feel anything, didn't think about anything... he only lived for his revenge.

'Too bad I just got here and can't go straight at my enemies. But I'm not in a hurry. I'll just look for resources like anyone else, until I'm strong enough…'

Darian didn't hesitate or think too hard about it. His path was simple and straightforward. He needed to at least get close to finishing the first realm, then strike his enemy directly and evolve by devouring him.

That was because he knew: right above the Dark Saint realm, which was the second on the Yin side, was the Devil King realm. On the Yang side, the second realm was the Holy Saint, followed by the Radiant King.

That figure the others called Radiant King, was actually in the third realm — probably at his peak. If Darian got close to that third realm, with all his abilities stacked on top, he could finally start his revenge.

From everything he'd learned in the Wilding Kin Sect, he knew the Heavenly World was insanely vast. Only about two-thirds of it were officially occupied by sects and other powers. The rest was free for anyone who wanted to search for resources on their own or live in isolation.

But very few chose solitude, since, like the system had warned, fusing chaos power into the soul required skill, talent, techniques, and guidance. That's why the sects existed. Everyone ended up needing to join one to get those things — and resources too.

As for Darian... the last thing he wanted was to be around people again.

Because of his stupidity, those three had died... just thinking about it made the pain come back — a pain he didn't want to relive.

He didn't need anyone's help. All he had to do was find resources and absorb them. And if, along the way, he came across shadows or people trying to stop him, he'd be more than happy to use his skills to squeeze out every last bit of gain.

He was dead set on changing. He'd live in solitude. He'd do things the smartest, most methodical way…

...but acting like that was the same as stabbing a dagger deeper into his chest every single time.

Taking a deep breath, he ignored it all and looked out toward the horizon. Then he took his first slow, solitary steps.