Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 137 part 1!
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Bright Star City, Bright Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Omniscient P.O.V.
'My Path...'
Those words seemed to trigger a reaction inside Pietr's Dao Seed, the latter's purple-blue colors growing even more resplendent in a brief instant while its size also grew slightly.
Unlike Demian's own breakthrough, however, the whole process lasted barely a few moments and did not create any external commotion.
After all, it was not a Heart Rank breakthrough, but merely advancing one step further.
In other words, it was a quantitative change and not a qualitative one. Add to that the man's high level of cultivation, and the only hint of that breakthrough was reflected in his Aura growing deeper.
'I can finally sense the barrier to the Pure Lotus Rank. Well, I'm still far from reaching it, but progress is progress.'
Pietr exclaimed, surprised at the sudden breakthrough.
Granted, a Heart breakthrough could happen at any time, or for those extremely unlucky, never happen at all.
Still, it was not as if he did anything different today.
To trigger such a breakthrough...
Strangely, the first thing that his mind conjured was the image of a young man sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed.
'Could it have come from that young lad? But why would it... Wait! That Lotus phenomenon! Wasn't it said that as long as an Immortal Seed appeared in a Force, that Force would gain many benefits? Could it be that those so-called benefits mean something completely different than what I thought...? If that's the case, I really owe the lad a big favor!'
Indeed, Heart Cultivation was much harder to improve than the three 'main' cultivation systems(Soul, Physique, Mana).
Paradoxically, as one's cultivation rose higher, the importance of having a strong Heart Cultivation became progressively apparent.
Below the Void Seed Rank, it mattered a lot less, but once one reached that particular Rank, one had to possess the corresponding Heart cultivation to attain further improvement, with the Second Rank 'Refining Seed' being needed to reach the Void Seed Rank(Tier 4), while anyone aspiring to reach the Transcending Tribulation Rank(Tier 6) would need to overcome the bottleneck at the Peak Second Rank and attain the Third Heart Rank 'Pure Lotus'.
As for the Void Sapling Rank located between those two, although a Second Rank Heart Cultivation sufficed in theory, the lower one's Heart Cultivation, the harder it was to advance one's Energy cultivation, and vice versa.
In Pietr's case, having just taken one more step in the Second Heart Rank 'Refining Seed', his senses immediately told him that the bottleneck he had slowly been grinding away for thousands of years had instantly grown much weaker from the feedback.
After a brief estimation, he realized that in at most a hundred years of occasional cultivation, or a decade of dedicated cultivation, he had complete confidence in reaching the Third Level Void Sapling Rank, the same Level that every top Being in both the Federation and the Frost Beast Palace was currently at.
Of course, even among those at the same Level, there were massive differences in power, himself being the best evidence of that.
Thus, Pietr had no illusion that, even after his breakthrough, he would be able to match those Ministers in fighting prowess, let alone that Supreme Whale Emperor who could fight equally with their Supreme Elder in strength.
Nonetheless, he was certain that with his current foundation, the number of Demon Beasts who could defeat him would drastically reduce.
And that was only right after he broke through, but give him one or two thousand years, and he was very confident that his cultivation level could catch up with the older fellows from both Forces.
At that time, with his powerful Water-Lightning Spells, those vile Beasts' only fate would be to end up as barbecued meat in the plates of their Federation's cultivators.
As that image appeared in his mind, a surge of excitement appeared in his Heart, though the only thing he showed on his face was unbounded confidence.
Despite everything mentioned previously having happened in merely a few moments, and Pietr betraying nothing outwardly, that cunning Snake Beast still caught the slight change in the other's Aura, giving rise to a slight feeling of danger in his Heart, where there was none before.
Being cautious by nature, and with the most powerful King-Grade General on the Beast's side having been turned into a mere corpse, he knew that their mission could be deemed a failure.
Thus, the hint of danger suddenly perceived from the other man was the last straw, prompting him to make the decision he had been hesitating over previously.
Having made his decision, his mind felt as if a light veil was removed, and, as seconds flowed away, a sense of foreboding grew more and more apparent in his Heart, bringing a terrifying thought to his mind.
'Could that old fox from the Federation be hiding close by? No! We need to leave right now!'
Indeed, Eldoria Silk's unexpected breakthrough to the Void Sapling Rank and the two opponents' surprisingly calm attitude toward their attack implied that the other party was expecting them, though Misty Serpent doubted that they knew about the scale of the operation itself.
The presence of another Tier 5 cultivator was probably due to the old man's cautious attitude.
Nonetheless, knowing the man's decisiveness, it would not be a stretch if he was waiting a few million kilometers from the Island in ambush.
If that were the case, even with his cultivation matching the other party, the only result for both him and Bone Sword would be death.
That was how scarily powerful that old man was, truly the archenemy of their Supreme Emperor.
While a myriad of thoughts traversed his mind, Misty Serpent sent a Voice Transmission to the human transformed King Bone Sword.
["We need to leave now or we might not be able to later."]
At the same time, the snake in human skin grabbed the latter and teleported away, leaving only a simple threat behind.
"You'll regret this, foolish Humans."
Seeing those two Beasts leaving decisively, the blue-haired man felt a hint of regret, prompting him to click his tongue in annoyance and exclaim.
"That snake is always so perceptive. If only he had fought with me for a few more minutes..."
Giggling at the man's sullen tone, Eldoria replied.
"If it were that easy to trap those Frost Beast Palace's Demon Beasts, then they'd have died years ago, and we wouldn't have this conversation in the first place."
Her words brought a wry smile to Pietr's face, who replied.
"I know you're right. It's just that if those two had fallen here today, then the benefits for us in the Federation would be enormous..."
Losing two Emperor-Grade Demon Beasts would force those Demons to tighten their defensive lines and free at least two Void Sapling Core Elders to target the enemy's important locations.
If it were before today, when the war was limited to those below Tier 4, then the benefits would be limited, but with today's Tier 4 and 5 battles that occurred in Bright Star Island, that agreed-upon 'regulation' had seemingly disappeared.
Adding his doubts on the Supreme Whale Emperor's potential cultivation breakthrough to that, he truly felt some regret at the missed opportunity.
After those thoughts floated in his mind for a few moments, he let out a sigh while pushing those thoughts aside and mumbled.
"No use crying over burnt Pills, I guess. No matter what the future holds, we'll deal with it as best we can."
Shaking his head slightly, he then turned toward Eldoria, the previously worried expression having been replaced with a satisfied smile as he remarked.
"Actually, this time, it's really thanks to you, little Empress, that we gained so much. So many King-Grade commanders and Generals ready to be processed into high-level cultivation resources, it's truly impressive. We even caught one of that Whale's direct descendants in our net. For Heaven's sake, I really wish I could see that Whale's face when he receives the news. That Misty Serpent and Bone Sword are bound to lose a few layers of skin, although I doubt they'll die from it."
Imagining the scene, he burst into laughter, quickly joined by Eldoria, though her laughter was slightly more subdued.
A few moments later, as their laughter subsided, Pietr, ever the kind elder, suggested.
"Alright, little Empress. I don't need your help here anymore, so it's best if you go back to the Surface Layer and help that young Mikhail deal with the aftermath."
Rolling her eyes, Eldoria's figure swiftly vanished from the Third Void Layer, though not before she complained to that uncle of hers.
"Old man, I'm a Void Sapling Core Elder now, so stop calling me Little Empress already."
Seeing how her tone was more reminiscent of a teenage girl complaining about how her father was still treating her like a child when she was an 'adult', rather than a dignified Federation Core Elder, Pietr ignored her protest entirely, simply shaking his head while wearing a caring smile on his face.