Chapter 708: Layout of the Holy Land (2 in 1)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Vladimir only knew the most basic knowledge about the Holy Land, such as the Holy Amba.s.sadors coming to guide them after they pa.s.sed the trial at the Dimensional Blessed Lands, and that there were three supreme forces. However, even the family elders would not elaborate on the details of cultivation in the Holy Land, as giving them too much help would not be beneficial to them, and surviving in the unknown was also a vital part of their training.
Outside the mirror portal, everyone was buzzing around and whispering to people they were familiar with or close to. Laura, Sharmie, Mario, and Grai stayed together, though Carl from Copperfield was not here. Not every talented person was able to obtain a chance to enter the Holy Land, especially since people like Carl belonged to an aristocratic family and had to abide by the family’s orders. Most of the time, they needed to follow arrangements made by their family and make a choice most beneficial to the family. After all, the opportunity to cultivate in the Holy Land was not the only factor to be considered in a large family. If they sent all their outstanding members away, there would be no one left to handle affairs on Earth.
Laura glanced at the time and looked at the mirror portal. Scarlet had not come out yet, and this worried her. When she and Grai went to check out the military vehicle, Scarlet’s name was not among those on the eliminated list.
“Maybe she ran into a bottleneck.” Grai shook his head, not worried. The Dimensional Blessed Lands was not a dangerous place. Although there might be hiccups, no danger was involved.
The experience at the Dimensional Blessed Lands was a huge surprise for Grai, as he had never heard of such an amazing place in his knowledge of the Blood Race’s cultivation culture. Grai did not really care about casting a Dharma Idol of Blood Race descent, as the Blood Race had their own interpretation of power. Unlike the ultimate version of Dharma Idol that the Federation pursued, the Blood Race valued the essence of power and purity of bloodlines. This time, during the casting of the male baron Dharma Idol, Grai’s blood exhibited signs of atavism.
Atavism of the blood meant that the blood was of purer quality. Although Grai wasn’t sure if his perception was correct, this phenomenon did exist, which made him look forward to going into the Holy Land. Maybe he would be able to find some answers there.
“Don’t worry, Scarlet will be fine. She persisted for so long inside, she will come out soon with her Dharma Idol.” While Sharmie was talking, there was a slight commotion at the entrance.
They turned around, only to see a flash of black. A black shadow that was 7 or 8 stories tall towered over everyone; it was a humanoid phantom. Its whole body was covered in tight black clothing, only revealing two deep and sinister eyes. It was as if tornadoes were dancing in them, sucking your soul in.
That was Gui Hao’s Dharma Idol.
Unlike others who kept their Dharma Idol, Gui Hao came out with his Dharma Idol beside him intentionally. He was putting on a front — acting cold and nonchalant — but his eyes gave him away, showing his excitement.
In the past, he was a leading figure of the Federation’s 10 Great Families, yet his reputation was tarnished during the CHF. He could not accept this disparity, so he made a resolution to win or die trying when he went into the Dimensional Blessed Lands. As it turned out, luck was on his side and he succeeded. In the illusory world, he saw his ancestor who founded the Gui Family, the superior ancestor who reached the Heavenly Soul stage.
Normally, people would not use their ancestor as a Dharma Idol; but perhaps because of his persistence, or more like madness, Gui Hao did it. Gui Hao was famous for his maniacal state. Sometimes, it was a drawback, but other times, it could be seen as staking everything on a single chance, be mad or be dead!
His Firmament Soul Sea talent led him to reach the peak of the Initial Phase Heroic Soul Stage directly, 1000 Gra.s.sos of Soul Power! This was ahead of others, allowing Gui Hao to regain his confidence. What use was CHF? The person who had a bright path ahead would have the last laugh!
The Gui Family had paid the price for dealing with w.a.n.g Zhong; this was not for Gui Hao’s sake but, rather, to save face for the Gui Family. This was an advantage anyway. No matter how strong w.a.n.g Zhong was, his whereabouts were unknown, while Gui Hao would return to the peak again.
Letting his Dharma Idol appear behind him without any qualms, Gui Hao felt like he was looking down upon everyone present. His confidence returned as he enjoyed all the gazes on him, filled with the terrified faces and gossip around him. Gui Hao was already ecstatic deep down inside.
“Congratulations, Big Brother.” Gui Xinying’s eyes lit up. She was happy for him and walked toward him to congratulate him.
Gui Hao stared at her coldly and snorted. In the past, she was the sister he loved the most, but now, she was just a stranger. When he was at the lowest point in his life, some ignorant people from his family actually planned to abandon him, but he pulled through.
“If you were not my sister,” Gui Hao said, “I would kill you with my own hands. Scram!”
Gui Xinying was slightly startled but did not rebuke him; instead, she walked to the side quietly. She had expected this to happen. After Gui Hao recovered, he would still be the spokesperson of the Gui Family while Gui Xinying’s personality made it such that she would not have much influence over there.
Sometimes, charisma was pretty important too.
“I’ve never seen such a jerk.” Sharmie had a hot temper and it was not in her nature to let things slide. While the others were shocked at Gui Hao’s power, she did not care and mocked him instead. “Someone thinks he’s so high and mighty, but look who got wrecked by w.a.n.g Zhong during CHF.”
“Sharmie, do you have a death wish?” The Dharma Idol behind Gui Hao quivered, and a terrifying aura surged forth. He snickered and looked at Sharmie and the people around her: Laura, Grai… these people were on close terms with w.a.n.g Zhong. Gui Hao had not made a move, yet they came stirring trouble first.
“Me, scared? You kidding me?” Sharmie glared at him and rolled up her sleeves. This was the point in time when this group was the most confident since they just casted their Dharma Idol and Heroic Soul. Even if it was just a minor dispute, they were up for it if anyone picked a fight.
“You have no idea who you’re facing, you ignorant b.i.t.c.h! I’ll use you to practice today.” Gui Hao stared daggers but did not move. Instead, the Dharma Idol behind him exuded a powerful aura, and two wind blades shot out from its eyes without warning, heading straight for Sharmie.
The wind blades materialized at an alarming speed and its power was even more shocking. They ripped and twisted the s.p.a.ce that they pa.s.sed by, faintly resembling the upgraded version of wind blades — dimensional blades. In addition, this was a sudden attack, and no one thought that Gui Hao was so perverse as to try to kill her immediately. Sharmie almost didn’t have time to respond!
Suddenly, a strong force of Soul Power suppressed Gui Hao and Sharmie, the tremendous pressure dissipating the Dharma Idol attacks of both parties.
“Who the heck interrupted me!” Gui Hao was furious, and the Dharma Idol behind him looked ready for action; but at the next moment, his voice was suppressed.
“Put your Dharma Idol toy away. If you want to fight, do it later. Don’t cause trouble at this time. If anyone else wants to start a fight, the three of us will play along!” Zhao Kunlun’s voice rang coldly.
Gui Hao was at a loss for words. Although he was aware of the existence of Holy Amba.s.sadors, he was too excited and proud when he came out and totally did not notice the three Holy Amba.s.sadors. If he had known they were there, he would not have been so unbridled in front of them no matter how proud he was. Gui Hao’s face was flushed, but after a few seconds, he took a deep breath and shut up. It was evident that his defeat in the CHF had caused him to grow some brains and realize that his family did not have much influence in the Holy Land.
“Haha, why so serious Zhao Kunlun? We’re bored anyway, might as well watch a show,” Russell guffawed. The Tyrants only pursued absolute power and did not care about rules. It was no big deal even if one or two people died since losers were trash anyway.
“Senior Brother Russell, the teachers have pinned high hopes on this round’s selection. It would be better if everything goes smoothly.” Helen was on Zhao Kunlun’s side this time. She would only get her reward if she completed the task perfectly. This time, the reward was very important to her. She had wanted to get her hands on a specific scripture interpretation for a long time, but it was just too expensive.
“All right, that’s about it.” Zhao Kunlun looked at the time and estimated the number of people present.
“Let’s start now.” Russell was impatient and gestured toward Carolyn and the others. “Everyone, gather here.”
After Gui Hao’s incident earlier, everyone was on their toes, even Carolyn and company followed his instructions humbly. On the other hand, Colonel Zhang Han from the Federation’s military stepped forward and was about to introduce the trio. However, Zhao Kunlun waved him aside and addressed the crowd himself. “I am Zhao Kunlun, and the two beside me are Helen and Russell. We are Holy Disciples from the Holy Land, and we are on our teacher’s orders to guide you to the Holy Land.”
He briefly introduced the trio, explaining that they were official disciples in the Holy Land and also registered disciples under their teachers. Those who had just entered the Holy Land were referred to as Holy Apprentices, as they were not considered legitimate Holy Disciples yet. Still, the term Holy Disciple merely acknowledged your right to continue staying in the Holy Land. The trio was registered as disciples under their teachers, which meant that they were favored by their teachers. They were of a higher status since their talent was a cut above others, and they also had access to better resources.
“I’ll keep it short.” Zhao Kunlun looked at the crowd and said, “I’m sure you guys have some basic knowledge of what is going on in the Holy Land. The Holy Land is the source of most technology that humans possess and is the key to helping humans get through the dark ages. It is a realm that the average person would not be able to come into contact with, and you are very lucky to have a chance to go into the Holy Land.”
Everyone listened quietly. Although it was just basic knowledge, a number of people still did not get the gist yet. Zhao Kunlun tried to keep it simple and explained using words that were familiar to people from Earth. Everyone would have to choose to join one of the three supreme forces, while some would be selected personally by teachers. The latter would be very lucky since no matter which realm or era it was, life would be better with someone as your backing.
Humans brought compet.i.tion wherever they went, and compet.i.tion in the Holy Land was very intense now too. Humans were the essential foundation, and although not all who were selected from Earth were excellent, the three supreme forces still wanted them since they still had considerable power. If they recruited more people, there were bound to be more exceptional talents, and they would value those who performed extraordinarily amongst the new batch.
Zhao Kunlun continued to explain. Thereafter, Russell and Helen gave a short speech too. They mainly introduced the supreme force that they belonged to, which was the main objective of their trip.
Helen came from the Mystic Sect, one of the three supreme forces of the Holy Land. One could feel the aura of a holy priestess from her outfit. The Mystic Sect focused on spiritual cultivation and were experts in the psychological and spiritual domain. Napier Mo and Carolyn listened more attentively than the others since they had heard some stuff from their families and were fairly interested in the Mystic Sect.
The st.u.r.dily built Russell came from the Tyrants. This force was more extreme and less accepted by normal human beings. To put it simply, obtaining power is their ultimate aim, and the process or means used did not matter. They were willing to modify their bodies and even abandon their human body if that meant they could obtain more power; thus, the bodies of the Tyrants were all modified to a certain extent. They thought of the human body as restraints on their power, and humans needed to eliminate this weakness through the Dimensional World in order to reach the final goal of being invincible.
Russell was a prime example as his current body was the result of a union between his old body and Bio-gold from the metal world. Legend said that if you could completely get rid of the human parts of your body, you would be granted immortality, and there was once an ancestor in the Tyrants who attained that level of power.
It is only by living that you can witness the future for yourself. All materialistic shackles were in fact just desires that mortals were unwilling to give up.
Although it led to strong power, this method of cultivation was not widely accepted. Other than heavily-built people such as Zhao Tianlong, most people automatically eliminated the Tyrants from their choices. Although it was easy to understand this concept theoretically, it was generally unaccepted by the ma.s.ses for a bunch of youngsters to abandon their ‘body’ and become a freak.
Russell did not bother to elaborate further. To him, people with no foresight had no right to join the Tyrants. What the Tyrants lacked in numbers, they made up for in terms of combat power.
Lastly, Zhao Kunlun came from the Sparta Clan, the force that was the most balanced in various domains. They carried out in-depth research in the spiritual, physical, combat and rune domains and were definitely the most well-rounded cultivation force in the Holy Land. The Sparta Clan had the most disciples out of the three supreme forces and inherited part of the Federation’s core beliefs. The Sparta Clan was not extreme in the least and was thus the most accepted by the newbies from the Federation. Many aristocratic family members had formed their own cliques in the Sparta Clan.
Of course, one should choose the type of cultivation that suited one’s essence. Unless teachers were fighting over an apprentice, they were free to choose according to their wishes.
After the introduction, the trio was mindful of the crowd’s reactions. They secretly took note of the apprentices who seemed interested in their respective forces. The trio’s attention was often diverted to Carolyn and the few mentioned earlier as they had the most potential. There was a chance these few might be selected by their teachers and become their juniors if they performed well in the Holy Land.