Chapter 294: The Price of Entry
In another region of the Void Realm, far from the holy grounds of the Nine Court Heads, a barren wasteland stretched beneath a blood-red sky.
Twelve bodies lay scattered across the rocky ground. Men and women alike. Their postures were frozen in terror. Some had crushed chests. Others had flattened limbs. One body was embedded six inches into a boulder, the stone molded around his form like a coffin.
Isabella Vorn stood at the center of the carnage. Her dark violet uniform was spotless with no single drop of blood on her. Her black hair hung loose around her shoulders, and her eyes... her eyes seemed soulless and empty.
Her aura flared—whuum—Peak Mana Heart.
In her left hand, she held a man by the throat. His face was purple, his legs kicking uselessly in the air. His hands clawed at her arm—scratch—but her grip was iron.
"Please—" he choked. "Please, I didn’t even offend you—"
Isabella tilted her head with an indifferent expression.
Her hand tightened. Gravity concentrated in her palm—hummm—compressing the man’s neck. His eyes bulged as his neck was crushed.
His soul—ripped from his dying body—was pulled into the orb in Isabella’s right hand. A dark, pulsing sphere that drank the man’s blood and spirit essence simultaneously.
Slurp.
The man went limp as his corpse dried up. Isabella released him. Thud. His body hit the ground like a sack of meat.
Isabella walked through the corpses, collecting tokens from each body. She didn’t search their storage rings. She didn’t take their weapons. Just the tokens.
When she had all twelve, she turned and walked away.
Meanwhile, at the eastern edge of the Void Realm, Kael, Rue, and Sage arrived at the Lightning Dragon Emperor’s holy ground.
Or rather, they arrived at its gate.
The entrance was a 30 meters tall structure carved into the face of a massive mountain—forged from a blue-silver metal that crackled with residual lightning energy. Runes covered every inch of the surface. The gate was sealed shut with no lever or handle. Just a circular formation carved into the stone before it, with a slot in the center.
A crowd of cultivators had gathered around the gate. They stood in loose groups, eyeing the formation with a mixture of desire and hesitation.
Rue approached a woman standing near the front. "Excuse me. How do you open the gate?"
The woman—a cultivator from the Northern sector—glanced at Rue. She pointed at the formation.
"Mana stones. You need to deposit them into the formation. At least five hundred mid-grade mana stones per person."
Rue’s face fell. "Five hundred?"
"Per person," the woman repeated. She turned back to the gate, arms crossed, clearly frustrated.
Rue returned to Kael and Sage. "Five hundred mid-grade stones per person. That’s fifteen hundred for all three of us."
Sage groaned. "I don’t have that many. I used most of mine pushing to Rank 9."
"Same," Rue said. "I have maybe one hundred and fifty mid-grade left. Combined, Sage and I have about two fifty."
Kael checked his system storage. His reserves were better—but not by much. He had six high-grade mana stones and roughly one hundred and fifty mid-grade stones. One high-grade stone equaled 100 mid-grade. That gave him a total of 750 mid-grade equivalent.
Add Rue and Sage’s three hundred, and they had one thousand and fifty. Not enough for three.
Kael sighed. "I have six high-grade stones and a hundred and fifty mid-grade. Even combining everything, we’re short."
Rue and Sage exchanged glances.
Rue then says. "This is a lightning holy ground. It belongs to Vaelthor, the Lightning Dragon Emperor. Out of the three of us, you’re the only lightning user. It makes sense for you to go."
Kael looked at them. "You sure?"
"Positive," Sage said. "Rue and I will explore other areas while you’re inside. We’ve wasted enough time in Golgoth’s domain."
Kael rubbed the back of his neck. "I should have brought more mana stones. I have thousands back in Starfall City."
"Hindsight is perfect," Rue said with a small smile. "Don’t worry about it. We’ll be fine."
Kael nodded. He pulled out his runic carving needle and took Rue’s hand. Scratch-scratch. He inscribed a small, precise rune on her inner wrist. He did the same for Sage.
"These are tracking runes," Kael explained. "I’ll be able to find you through them using my soul power, regardless of distance. If either of you gets into trouble—"
"We’ll call for help," Sage finished. "We know. But I think you’re understimating us."
Kael smiled as he then pulled out the Void Realm map and pointed to a location northwest of their current position. "There’s the ruins of a powerful family from the Primordial Era here. It’s unexplored based on the map. Check it out. There might be treasures."
Rue and Sage studied the location, memorized the route, and nodded.
"We’ll meet you there if possible," Rue said. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Kael on the cheek. Smooch.
The sisters turned and headed northwest as they disappeared over a ridge.
Kael was alone now.
He walked to the formation in front of the gate. The surrounding cultivators watched him—some curious, some calculating. He reached into his system storage and pulled out five high-grade mana stones. They materialized in his palm—crystalline, glowing with condensed mana.
He dropped them into the formation slot.
The formation blazed to life. WHUUUM. The runes on the gate surged—fzzzt—blue-white lightning crackling across the surface. The gate began to split open, revealing a corridor of crackling energy behind it.
Two figures moved.
A Mana Heart Rank 6 man and a Mana Heart Rank 7 woman broke from the crowd simultaneously. Greed twisted their faces. Five high-grade mana stones were worth a fortune. And the person who’d deposited them looked like he was only Mana Heart Rank 6.
They lunged.
Kael didn’t turn around as he already sensed them.
He reached into his system storage and pulled out the Netherworld Soul Locking Flag.
Flutter.
The cloth unfurled. The runes blazed—flicker-flicker—and Kael fed his soul power into the artifact.
"Release."
Fifteen souls erupted from the flag.
SHRIIIEEK!
Translucent figures—beasts and cultivators alike—materialized around Kael in a semicircle. Fifteen condensed soul constructs, each one radiating hostile soul energy. The Abyssal Thornsire’s crystal-antlered form loomed largest, flanked by the Shadow Panther, the Crystal Boar, and twelve other souls Kael had absorbed during his months in the Void Realm.
The souls descended on the two attackers.
The Mana Heart Rank 6 man screamed—AAH!—as three souls tore through his body simultaneously. His flesh exploded outward—BOOM—reduced to a mist of blood and bone fragments. The Mana Heart Rank 7 woman managed to raise a mana barrier—vvvm—but five souls slammed into it simultaneously. CRACK. The barrier shattered. The souls ripped through her body—SHRIIIEEK—and she burst apart like a shattered glass.
Splatter.
Blood mist settled over the formation. The gate hummed behind Kael, unaffected by the carnage.
The remaining cultivators in the crowd froze. Every single one of them stepped backward—step, step—their faces white. Some turned and walked away entirely. None wanted to be next.
Kael withdrew the souls. They flowed back into the flag—whoosh—and the cloth settled. He stored the flag in his system storage.
Hummm.
The portal then swallowed Kael.
WHOOSH.