Chapter 780: Where were you? II
Nine chuckled at Jian, the aura of indifference in his eyes fading to a more casual and friendly one. He too had been shocked and on edge when he heard what had happened with the Forsaken Land. And lo and behold, he heard it from a powerful trancendent rank demon.
He had spent the last few months near the Sea of Consciousness, where he had gone to learn the natural laws. But that place was surrounded by members of the demon race, so he had to blend in.
At first, he thought he only needed to stay safe from the demon race. But soon, he realized how mistaken he was.
He had easily blended in with the demons by transforming his appearance and aura to match theirs through a camouflage spell.
The real threat was the Sea of Consciousness itself! The moment he entered that Sea, he nearly died. It was so painful that he screamed himself hoarse.
In the end, an old demon fishing to catch fish monsters in the Sea of Consciousness had fished him out, just as he had done to many young demons who would leap into the water to try their luck and learn natural laws, and sneered at him with disdain.
The demon called him a moron and a complete fool for scaring away all the water monsters in the area, which were sold for high prices everywhere due to their exquisite and delicious taste and the aura of nature they possessed.
While eating the water monsters couldn't help anyone learn the natural laws, their presence in a place abundant with nature sometimes allowed the eater to resonate with the essence of nature.
The old demon, who wasn't even (S)-rank, had shooed Nine away with a wide mocking sneer. If entering the Sea of Consciousness is so easy and all one needs to do is jump in for a good dip, why do the demons in the surrounding area stay so far away, as if they would perish if they approached?
Nine learned it the hard way. He couldn't simply jump into the Sea of Consciousness without proper preparation. That's why he snooped around and gathered information about the sea from the demons in the area while pretending to be one of them.
Then, he finally began to touch the seawater inch by inch until he found a way to stay submerged for a short amount of time. It was painful each time, and even now he shuddered, but he had gained a lot from the Sea of Consciousness. He had grown significantly more powerful.
If not for the fact that, as usual, he had gone to a nearby hotel to rest for a day after enduring pain in the Sea and heard from a powerful demon who was rejoicing after receiving news of victory from above-that the Forsaken Land had turned into nothingness—he would have never left that place and might have stayed longer.
Nine shook his head to push the thoughts to the back. He stole one last glance at the mass of energy within the expansive shield before turning to Jian and Lara.
"Let's go find Alec and the others. I have already heard what happened here, which is why I rushed back."
He tore the fabric of space in front of him to create a rift with his bare hands.
Jian and Lara's eyes widened in shock. Jian cursed under his breath in amazement.
"Why the hell do you guys keep getting stronger the more I try to surpass you all? First Kyle and Alec, and now you too! I'm telling you, you're going to spill everything you've been doing. How have you become so strong? Using natural law of space?? And your control over it is incredible!"
He wasn't the only one curious about what Nine had been doing. Lara chimed in with a nod, eager to know as well.
"I would like to know too."
Learning natural laws wasn't an easy feat. They had also learned some natural laws, but their control over them wasn't nearly this powerful. Nine hummed softly, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Of course. I wouldn't hide anything from you guys. Let's find and gather the others first, and then I will gladly lead everyone to experience what I have experienced. I am sure you will all enjoy it. It's just a pity only Kyle won't be present..."
When he mentioned Kyle's name, the air tensed once more. But he quickly pushed Jian into the rift, with Lara following suit. Nine glanced back at James and the seven elders one last time before entering the crack that vanished behind him.
James closed his eyes and released a heavy sigh, massaging his temples before releasing a faint, weary chuckle. Unlike Lara and Jian, he had sensed Nine's rank, and it filled him with deep regret.
"I am certain we made a mistake... Nine has reached the supreme rank and has even grasped a natural law. Jian and the others are not weak either. Even with Kyle gone, they are a
formidable force we shouldn't have lost... but we did."
Odiak and the elders behind him, fully aware of the immense power Jian, Alec, and their companions possessed even without Kyle, nodded in agreement.
They had indeed made a mistake.
The group of young individuals, who seemed destined to conquer and achieve greatness in their lives, would no longer fight alongside them in battle.
However, they couldn't be blamed; circumstances had forced their hand. They would have helped Kyle if only they had been a bit stronger to bear the burden.
They would have done everything to save this universe so that the younger generation wouldn't have to suffer like they did in the battle that began due to the mistakes of the older generation. But they were too weak to change the course of fate.
Now, all they could do now was hope that this group of kids wouldn't be tempted to join the dark side. Otherwise, they feared they would truly lose this battle-and perhaps the entire universe along with it.
James turned to eyes at the other supreme and transcendent ranks in the area, whose presence had only worsened the situation with Jian earlier, his expression icy.
"You all. I trust you now realize that the future is nothing but grim. Therefore, I hope that instead of just speaking empty words, you will take meaningful action to help us, rather than hiding as you did before when your support was needed in war the most."