Chapter 293: The Everglade Sovereign
After their meal, Kael and Rue returned to their mats at the mural mountain. The barriers rose around them, sealing them in silence, and they resumed their cultivation.
Kael’s focus shifted to a different mural. This one depicted a figure standing at the edge of a stormy ocean. Waves crashed against his body—not breaking around him, but breaking on him, shattering into spray against skin that refused to yield. The figure’s posture radiated pure ferocity. Raw, unfiltered power. Each wave was higher than the last, embodying a destructive force that escalated infinitely, yet the figure remained unmoved. His body was the anchor. The immovable point against which the ocean’s fury broke.
Kael studied the mural for weeks. The aura flow. The intent. The way the figure’s body aura didn’t just defend—it absorbed the impact, hardened against it, and grew denser with each collision. It was a body art that turned the body as hard as a leviathan’s carapace.
Over the following months, Kael resonated with two more murals. One depicted nine rivers converging into a single body, washing through muscles and bones, mending tears and fractures. Another showed a colossal figure enduring an avalanche of boulders, each impact making his body harder and more resilient.
Five more months passed in Golgoth’s Holy Ground. Eight months total since they had entered the Void Realm.
Kael opened his eyes on his mat.
[Soul Cultivation Breakthrough: Early Soul Tempering Realm.]
[Soul Sense Range: 60 meters.]
His soul core had tempered—thrum—shifting from the dense, crystalline structure of the Soul Core realm into the hardened, refined state of Soul Tempering. His soul sense expanded to sixty meters, and the clarity was extraordinary. He could perceive the grain of the stone murals, the flow of mana in the air, the heartbeat of every beast within range.
His mana cultivation had also advanced. The ambient density of the Void Realm, plus his mana stones combined with his Transcendent Core, had pushed him to Mana Heart Rank 6.
Rue, who had devoted more time to pure mana cultivation while Kael divided his attention between soul and body arts, had reached Mana Heart Rank 8.
His body cultivation, however, remained at Early Tier 5. He hadn’t focused on it since his breakthrough in the pagoda pool. The truth was that tempering the body and refining aura at Tier 5 was a slow, grueling process. Unlike mana, which could be rushed with pills and formations, aura was tied to the marrow and blood. It required time for the body to naturally adapt and expand its capacity. Breakthroughs would eventually come, but they would take time. He couldn’t force them.
Kael stood and dispelled his barrier. Rue was already waiting for him outside, stretching her arms above her head.
"I think we’ve taken everything of value here," Kael said.
Rue nodded. "I’m ready to leave too. This place is getting crowded."
They packed their belongings and exited the Golgoth Holy Ground. As they stepped beyond the valley’s boundary, Kael noticed the change immediately. The Void Realm’s seasons had shifted. The bioluminescent forests that had been vibrant blue-green were now tinged with amber. Leaves fell in slow spirals and the air carried a crisp, cool edge. It was autumn.
Kael pulled the Void Realm map from his system storage and unrolled it. The ancient parchment glowed faintly, displaying the territories of the Nine Court Heads and powerful families.
Rue leaned over his shoulder. "We need to find Sage. She’s in this direction." She pointed east. "And look—the holy grounds of Aethariel Dawnwhisper, the Everglade Sovereign, and Vaelthor, the Lightning Dragon Emperor are both in that region."
Kael studied the map. The two holy grounds were relatively close to each other on the eastern continent. "Then we head east."
A week of travel brought them to the Everglade Sovereign’s holy ground.
The landscape transformed dramatically as they crossed the boundary. The autumn chill vanished, replaced by a warm, perpetual spring. Flowers of every color blanketed the ground. Trees with silver bark and emerald leaves formed elegant canopies, their branches woven together like the arches of a cathedral. Crystal-clear streams wound through the flora, and the air smelled of honey and rain.
"It’s beautiful," Rue murmured, her green eyes wide.
But the beauty was marred. The ground was trampled in dozens of places. Flower beds had been torn up. Trees had been stripped of their bark. Empty pedestals stood where artifacts had once rested. Scorch marks scarred the silver trunks—the residue of battles fought over treasures.
"It’s already been raided," Kael said, observing the destruction. "This place wasn’t hidden like the Immortal Soul Sect or the Clock Emperor’s ruins. Anyone could find it."
They walked deeper into the garden. Rue suddenly stopped, her ears perking up and a smile broke across her face.
"She’s here."
Moments later, a figure emerged from behind a massive flowering tree. Silver-white hair. Golden eyes. Nine tails swaying behind her.
Sage Moonveil.
"Rue! Kael!" Sage jogged toward them, her face splitting into a wide grin. "So good to finally see a familiar face in this ground!"
Rue rushed forward and hugged her sister tightly. Whump. "Sage! I missed you so much!"
Sage laughed, returning the embrace. "I missed you too, little sister." She looked up at Kael. "And you. Still alive, I see."
"I could say the same for you," Kael said with a smirk.
Rue pulled back and immediately began recounting their adventures. Sage listened with growing amazement.
While Rue talked, Sage reached into her storage ring and pulled out a bow. It was gorgeous—carved from a pale, luminescent wood that Kael’s Spirit Eyes immediately identified as elven Starwood. The string was woven from condensed mana threads, and the entire weapon pulsed with a powerful aura.
Special Grade.
"I spent most of my time here," Sage said, holding up the bow. "In the Everglade Sovereign’s holy ground. The elves had an underground vault that the raiders missed. I found this inside."
The surrounding cultivators who had been lingering nearby noticed the bow. Their eyes widened. Greed flickered across their faces seeing such a powerful bow.
Sage’s aura flared.
WHUUUM.
The pressure hit the surrounding cultivators. Several staggered backward.
Mana Heart Rank 9.
Rue’s mouth fell open. "Rank 9?! You—when did you—"
A smug, satisfied, thoroughly insufferable smirk spread across Sage’s face. "I finally surpassed you, little sis."
Rue’s shock lasted exactly two seconds before her competitive spirit ignited. "Surpassed me? In cultivation, maybe. But I could still beat you in a fight!"
"Keep dreaming, little sister."
"I’m only three minutes younger than you!"
"And yet so much weaker."
Kael sighed with a smile and stepped between them, pushing them apart with a hand on each forehead.
"Enough, my lovely ladies. We’re in public."
Rue stuck her tongue out at Sage. Sage returned the gesture with equal maturity.
Sage then held the bow out to Kael. "Here. Take it."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "You just found a Special Grade weapon and you’re giving it away?"
"I’m a scythe user," Sage said, shrugging. "I have no use for a bow. But you’ve always been good with bows and arrows."
Kael took the bow.
"Thank you," he said, storing it in his system storage.
Sage crossed her arms and huffed. "I couldn’t find a single scythe in this entire holy ground, though. Who uses bows but no scythes? Elves have terrible taste in weapons."
Kael pulled out the map again. "Since there’s nothing left here for us, we should check out the Lightning Dragon Emperor’s holy ground." He pointed to the location on the map. "Vaelthor’s domain. It’s not far from here."
Sage and Rue both leaned in to study the map.
"Lightning, huh?" Sage said. "That’s more your thing than ours."
"True," Kael admitted. "But the Court Heads’ holy grounds have been unpredictable. There might be resources neither of us expects. And I want to check it before someone else strips it clean."
The group agreed as Kael explains to Sage more about the Court Heads. They gathered their supplies and headed northeast, toward the Lightning Dragon Emperor’s domain.