Damned Healer-Chapter 723: Pleasant Surprise

An entire month passed quickly.

Darian didn’t leave the room for even a minute, and at that moment, he opened his eyes.

A bluish light of Celestial power flashed. A muffled sound suddenly echoed from inside his body.

Darian felt his whole body vibrate and heat up; then it was as if the source of a river that had been dry for a long time had finally started flowing again.

"Celestial Origin Realm..."

He consumed all the power of the Fire Soul Pill. The affinity with the element that it was supposed to grant was obviously useless to him. There was nothing in all the universes more connected to the world’s energies than this new body of his. But the energy was enough for him to break through 4 levels and rise to the second realm.

Each realm had 9 levels and an initial elemental level, which could be considered level 0. In other words, there were 10 levels in total.

A strange light suddenly flashed deep in Darian’s eyes. If anyone saw him now, they would say he looked like a madman who had just had an insane idea.

But for him, tearing through limits and walking a thin line between life and death was normal.

He stood up and took out a piece of stone that sparkled like a star: it was the Stargazer Stone. It was one meter long and square-shaped.

Darian placed it on the ground and stepped on top of it. He slowly sat down, and a stream of refreshing air emanated from the Stargazer Stone, wrapping around his entire body. It made him feel more energized and slightly less tired than before.

That was primordial power... the function of this stone was actually to gather the energy of heaven and earth into itself with ease.

But it wasn’t ordinary Celestial power, but its essence, something only cultivators in the Celestial Tribulation Realm could handle and absorb into their bodies.

Of course, that rule didn’t apply to him. After it entered his body, even with difficulty and very slowly, he could use his domain to absorb everything.

Darian took a deep breath, connecting to the Stargazer Stone. He immediately began using his domain, attempting something...

After thirty minutes, Darian opened his eyes.

"Success!"

He smiled faintly. For ordinary people, the Stargazer Stone could gather a bit of Celestial essence every few days, greatly helping cultivation. But for him...

The moment he activated it, a power many times purer and denser than normal suddenly flowed in. Everything surged into Darian’s body like a flood, nourishing him completely.

This speed was so astonishing it could almost shake the heavens and the earth, enough to stun any cultivator in this universe.

*Crack*

The first muffled sound echoed from inside his body. He broke through from the elemental level of the Celestial Origin Realm to level 1.

***

Eleven months passed very quickly, and Darian completed a full year inside the Golden Crow Sect. He never left his room since arriving.

At that moment...

*Woooosh*

A wave of Celestial power flowed out of Darian’s body, making him open his eyes.

Pain struck him. He suddenly placed a hand on his stomach and began vomiting a large amount of black liquid. It didn’t stop for several minutes. When the pain finally subsided, a muffled sound echoed from inside his body.

"Celestial Soul Realm..."

Darian murmured, feeling his heart pound rapidly.

He crossed an entire realm in 11 months. It was cultivation so fast that anyone’s jaw would drop. But...

Unfortunately, his easy ride was over.

He had already reached the maximum limit of Celestial power that the Stargazer Stone could gather at one time. From this realm onward, even using it at full capacity, Darian would take at least 1 year to reach level 1 of the current realm.

In the next levels of this realm, the required amount would multiply to the point that it would take dozens of years for him to reach the Celestial Tribulation Realm.

For any ordinary cultivator, this speed would still be so fast that everyone would die of envy. But for him, it was far too slow.

"Can’t complain... well, I guess the easiest path for me will be through pills and money. I need to work to get as much of that as possible," Darian murmured, reflecting calmly.

He extended his hand; there was a spatial ring. Inside were all the resources from the 12 months that a Golden Crow Hall disciple received from the sect. Pyreus, seeing that he wasn’t going to leave and was busy with something, took the initiative to fetch everything for him and delivered it every month.

"This is everything I have. It should be a good amount... how am I going to invest this?"

Many possibilities arose in his mind, but everything seemed like a waste of time. He spent almost a whole day reflecting on the best course of action, until...

Darian felt an energy fluctuation connect to him. Then, inside his inventory, a small crystal trembled subtly.

He grabbed it quickly; it was a communication crystal. He had only given one of these to a single person before.

When he activated it, a voice sounded in his mind:

"Senior Darian... save me..."

Emina’s voice was exceptionally weak and clearly full of pain. Darian frowned and responded immediately: "Where are you!?"

After obtaining her location, he hurried out of the room. Outside, he couldn’t sense the location of the other two who lived in the Palace.

He didn’t bother sending a message and moved, heading toward the inner region of the sect. Without delay, he went to the nearest teleportation inscription and showed his disciple emblem.

***

In the same solar system where the Golden Crow Sect existed, there were other planets where mortals could live.

The power of the fire element in that solar system came from the Celestial Yang star that existed there. It was a colossus thousands of times larger than Earth’s sun, and it radiated its incomparable power over a dozen planets that orbited it far enough away for water to still exist.

When the Golden Crow Sect established itself, millions of years ago, they chose the largest and most outstanding planet. Then, they created a planetary inscription connected to the other planets, where 90% of the sun’s power that fell on them was redirected to the sect’s planet.

This was actually good for the other planets, because before that, only very few fire beasts could survive on them.

It was impossible for mortals to live there, and even receiving visitors from other planets was difficult. Thus, with that inscription, everything changed for the better. The planets were able to sustain natural life, forests grew, and mortal races settled there.

On top of that, the small amount of elemental power that remained nourished their bodies. Ordinary people who lived there, even with cultivation in the first realm, could live twice as long as average.

Not only that. Because of the nourishment in their bodies, over the generations, it was not uncommon for a child with extreme fire-element talent to be born on that planet.

In other words, all mortals lived there happily, enjoying long lives while also having a chance for one of their children to ascend to the heavens and enter the Golden Crow Sect nearby.

Many figures throughout the history of the Golden Crow Sect had this origin. And in the present day, there was someone of great prominence in the sect who shared exactly this past: a Palace Master named Baynod.

He rose from the very bottom all the way to the top of the sect. Many rumors existed about him, but... they were not good.

There was no proof, but the rumors said he had to do many dirty things throughout his journey to obtain resources and grow. But... that was already a closed Chapter.

That was because Baynod had been officially executed for treason against the sect six months ago.

The sect leader, after imprisoning him only for the crimes of conspiracy and favoritism toward his niece, deliberately spread the news and received a pleasant surprise.

Many secret figures across the universe came forward and reported the dark deeds Baynod had committed along with his allies. They even had some subtle evidence, which, after a thorough investigation by the sect, revealed the truth.

It took several months because those figures kept appearing with more and more information.

In the end, the only possible punishment for Baynod was death. He was the main mastermind behind everything and even conspired with cultivators of the Evil Path to gain more profit.

The other two Palace Supervisors, along with several hundred people related to the sect, did not share the same fate. They were sentenced to five to twenty thousand years of extreme confinement for their crimes.

As for everyone connected to Baynod, even those who had nothing to do with his crimes... they were experiencing very dark times.

***

In the same solar system as the Golden Crow Sect, there was a very prominent place called the Medicinal Flame Planet.

On that planet, in the middle of a forest near the city—

*CRACK!*

After the dry sound of a bone breaking, a thin and fragile figure was thrown far away, crashing onto the ground.

Her broken left arm hung limply while the right struggled to support her body. A stubborn and wild gaze stared at the two people in front of her. Even with pain written all over her face and the corner of her mouth covered in blood, she unexpectedly did not let out the slightest groan.

"Ah, this one is quite stubborn, huh?"

A young man dressed in red robes casually approached with a dark expression. He looked at Emina, who could barely remain standing, and said, "Tsk tsk, I’ve seen enough hardheads coming from the Mortal Plane over the years, but this is the first time I’ve seen one this stubborn."

"Heh, even if she’s tougher, we just need to add a bit more power to break her." The other young man brutally grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up.

As he looked at Emina, his gaze overflowed with disdain and pity. "It’s just a Scarlet Silk Seed and a bit of money. Wouldn’t it be better to be obedient and hand it over? You insisted on causing yourself so much suffering. Besides being trash from the Mortal Plane, you’re even dumber than anyone else."

Scarlet Silk Seed was one of the most precious treasures among the resources distributed to Flaming Hall disciples of the Golden Crow Sect. They could only obtain one every three months.

"You!" Emina’s left arm was broken, and the injuries across her body numbered more than a dozen. The intense pain made her face turn pale, and sweat stream down her forehead. She gritted her teeth and said, "The sect forbids private battles, and malicious theft of resources is an even more serious crime... If you have the guts, kill me; otherwise... Every wound on my body will be proof of your crimes!"

"Ah?" The two exchanged glances, then burst into wild laughter at the same time.

*BANG*

With a swift movement of his foot, one of them kicked Emina mercilessly, sending her flying.

Amid the laughter, he said, "Proof? What proof? The injuries on your body were caused by us? Who saw it? We’ve known the Elders for more than twenty years and respected them for more than twenty years. Tell me, do you think they’ll believe you or us? Ah, that’s right... I remember malicious slander is also a serious crime within the sect, correct?"

"You... You two! Cough..." Emina lay face down on the ground. In the midst of her fury, she coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.

"Tsk tsk, looks like this pathetic crawler still hasn’t understood the situation." One of them narrowed his eyes. "We’ve always loved our newly arrived juniors very much. Even if they don’t do what we tell them, it just means it’ll take longer for them to learn the lesson. I heard you dared offend your seniors the day you entered the sect. You ungrateful idiot, it’s a miracle you’ve survived until today being this arrogant. What gives you confidence, even being this weak and stupid, huh?"

The other added, "Forget injuring her, even if we cripple or kill her... The Elders are fair and impartial, so there will be no punishment... in fact, they might even secretly reward us. She is a waste of resources for the sect, hahahahaha!"

One of them arrogantly walked toward Emina once more, placed his right foot on her head, and said slowly:

"Don’t waste our time. We know very well you’ve been traveling between planets of the Celestial Plane, doing business and using the sect’s resources to make more money. Do you think the sect gives you those things so you can get rich? You’re so stupid it’s almost pitiful. Cultivation and power should be your absolute priority. In one year, you didn’t rise a single level because you refused to consume anything. That’s why you became everyone’s target. After all, the resources of the weak belong to the strong."

Emina clenched her teeth tightly but couldn’t utter a single word.

She had experienced countless setbacks and suffering to reach this place from the Mortal Plane, so how could she resist those who were born in the Celestial Plane? The other new disciples who came from the Mortal Planes chose to submit to humiliation, and some even sought the favor of others. Only she, who was naturally stubborn, could not endure it, even knowing the consequences.

Because of that, her priority was not cultivation, but money. She could use the little she had to multiply it again and again. That way, when she had enough, she would cultivate with everything she had. She could not simply burn everything directly like the others.

"I’ve said everything I wanted to say. This is your last chance. Hand everything over, otherwise... your right arm will be next!" One of them slowly lifted his foot toward Emina’s right arm.

"Dare to touch her again."

When he finished speaking, a cold and indifferent voice suddenly came from above, freezing him in place.