Damned Healer

The whole Divine Seven-Star Sect was completely shaken. The Leader spent three days gathering and exposing evidence. In the end, it was proven that all seven Deans and nearly a third of the sect's most important figures were traitors.

Everyone had two options: be executed or receive a slave seal on their soul.

The second option almost always meant death, but there was a tiny chance they could survive battles. If they stayed alive long enough, over the years, the Leader might grant them more freedom to live.

The others who confessed their crimes and admitted being traitors were also judged. Some were still executed, but in a more honorable way. Most of them, though, just received lighter slave seals, allowing them to live normally within the sect without being constantly sent to such deadly battles.

Everyone who got sealed was certain Murral wouldn't act maliciously to kill them without reason, since the sect needed as many capable people as possible.

In the end, everyone understood the truth. Even though the Divine Seven-Star Sect had so many traitors, Murral still managed to keep control.

During all his years as Leader, there had never been major losses or damage to the sect compared to the past. The traitors couldn't contribute much to the enemy because Murral had secretly kept them under surveillance.

But of course, Murral knew he was only buying time. Each year, more and more people were recruited by the enemy. The sect would hardly survive another generation. That's why he put all his hopes into raising a hero. And now that he found the opportunity, he showed his claws.

...

While all of this was happening, Darian, Remira, and their battalions regrouped. Leader Murral sent those who had received slave seals to defend the cities, so all the soldiers under the Generals returned to the sect.

Remira only had two battalions. One was led by Hirel, who used to be the only one with any real ability. But now, a second battalion, led by Faden, rose to the skies like dragons.

First, with Remira's help, Darian granted Hirel's battalion the original stellar physique. So both battalions had it now, massively boosting their combat potential. Then he sent them all to train outside the sect, against the powerful shadows.

This world also had naturally dangerous regions, where over time many powerful figures had died. Because of that, besides the natural dangers, many high-level shadows also existed there. Few were crazy enough to train in those places.

The two leaders would guide their men without Darian's direct presence. The goal was to get them used to tough battles against enemies and terrible situations, where they couldn't afford to make mistakes.

Meanwhile, Darian and Remira met alone, and she explained her technique of assimilating chaos power into the soul.

Remira said that in a specific place in that world, there was a sacred forest. There, the Foundation Trees grew, and in the center of it all, there was a World Tree.

Darian listened, shocked:

"Wait… there can only be one World Tree per universe. The entire Devil and Celestial World already connected to my universe, where one already exists."

"Yes, that rule wasn't completely broken. In the Devil and Celestial World, the World Tree has no soul or life, and its power is reduced to less than 10%. It was connected to this world and can never leave. Whoever created that made sure it wouldn't become a problem," Remira explained calmly.

In the end, her technique was relatively simple. The Foundation Trees produced fruits each year, and these fruits were treasures with primordial power, though only of a medium grade. There wasn't much competition for them, and they only existed in that one forest.

Using the natural power inside these fruits, Remira created her technique to make absorption easier. But there was a huge side effect: races didn't assimilate nature's power well into their bodies, so they needed to consume many other natural resources to stabilize. Because of that, only the sect leader could really use it, since the cost was so high.

In the past, using the technique, leaders would easily break through to the third realm. But nowadays, with the loss of territories and influence, it was hard to find enough resources to stabilize the body. So they couldn't use it much and ended up stuck in the second realm.

Darian listened thoughtfully, then sent a request to Murral to get some of those fruits.

As Remira had said, they weren't highly contested, since they were just a medium resource for primordial power. In a few days, Murral sent a dozen of them.

Using Remira's technique, Darian channeled the natural power from the fruits into his body… and then, his eyes lit up.

"Excellent! It almost feels like fate. Turns out I've got some experience with the World Tree and nature's power," Darian murmured, excited.

He remembered the technique Athven had taught him so Camille could use it in her empire. That technique was all about connecting nature's power with other races more effectively.

Darian explained everything to Remira, and she was very surprised.

Soon, the two started working together on a modification of the original technique. Since Remira was the creator, it was possible. If Darian had to develop it alone, he might not have reached a satisfying result, even after a long time.

***

A year went by fast.

That day, Darian called Remira, Hirel, Faden, and Zatrian. Then he put all four of them in his party, so he could get the point bonus.

When Remira saw the confirmation screen, her eyes widened, but she didn't say anything for now.

With everyone in the party, Darian absorbed a massive amount of resources supplied by the sect. Everyone got some monthly, but since he was the vice-leader, he got way more. He had been saving it all up for a year, waiting for the moment he felt the technique was ready.

An hour later...

\\[Current status: Dark Saint]

\\[Primordial Points for the next realm: 2,500/10,000]

\\[Level 2 achieved]

\\[Reward: +1 Random Upgrade]

\\[UP] \\[Earth Law +11]

It worked. After many failures, Remira and Darian managed to make the technique work perfectly.

In theory, Darian had enough resources to get around 500 points, but by using the new technique, he got double that.

Then, with the help of the Party Skill and its +50% bonus, in the end he got 1,500 points. That was three times more than what normal people would usually get, even using above-average techniques.

"It's done," Darian said excitedly, looking at the four in front of him. "With the help of the stellar physique and this assimilation technique, maybe... no, wait... I almost forgot something really important. With that, we're definitely gonna win this war."

Hearing Darian's absolute confidence, everyone's hearts started racing. If he dared to say it, then no one doubted he really would make it happen.

"Darian," Remira finally spoke, "this party skill of yours..."

He nodded: "Yeah, I cleared all the special missions the system gave me. When I saved you, I got one of them too."

Remira took a deep breath. "I see... then you're on equal footing with that bastard."

Darian looked at her confused, so she explained. Radiant King Dohans only reached his current level of power because he also completed all the special missions while ascending.

Even though Dohans and Remira ascended to the final stage in the same generation, she did it quickly, without thinking much about things. He, on the other hand, had patience and cleared the special missions — which were way simpler back then.

That's why not only did he surpass her in power really fast, but also set up the ambush that led to her imprisonment.

Dohans had the Party Skill, and Remira also knew about the other two skills — identical to the ones Darian had.

Darian snorted: "So, he's the one who created that Abscess in the desert. Then..."

"Yeah, he indirectly helped the nine demons create the nine sects and their diagrams. He did it because he understood how the system worked. He knew that eventually, the special missions would be aimed at destroying those things," Remira explained seriously.

"When I came back to the sect, I found out no one in this world had special skills anymore. Unlike before, when some had one or two. That bastard hunted down everyone who had them, killed them, or enslaved them. That way, with those impossible things in the desert and the Wild World, he became the only one with that kind of power."

Darian understood. In the end, if he hadn't pushed himself to complete those missions, his life in the Heavenly World would've been way harder.

"Even with the party bonus and everything, how come he still hasn't cleared the Trial until now?" Darian asked, thoughtful.

Remira nodded seriously: "The system told you that, in the Dark Saint realm, you only need resources and skills almost at the same level to rise, right? But in Devil King or Radiant King, the requirement changes: it becomes 99% skill and talent. Resources become almost useless. He reached level 9 and can't break through that barrier. But it's been so long now, he probably already figured something out... maybe that explains his current actions, but I can't say for sure."

Darian sighed. That meant, at any moment, Dohans could get what he was missing. He needed to evolve quickly, or it would be too late. He had already been two years in the last stage and had only reached level two.

Darian spoke quickly: "Alright, time to get serious now. Summon both battalions, I've got something interesting for everyone to learn. With the stellar physique, your technique, and this... we're gonna move into the offensive fast."

"What is it?" Remira asked, serious.

Darian smiled: "You should know it, it was created by your father. I got it some time ago. It's called: Chromaraic Cataclysm." (Chapter 71)

"WHAT?!" Remira was stunned. "That... that's really the highest-level technique my father ever created!"