Damned Healer-Chapter 737: Single Race

There was a large empty field in front of the red barrier. The flying boat landed smoothly, and its three occupants jumped to the ground. Around them, hundreds of figures were already waiting anxiously.

"Oh! It's Senior Herion," Pyreus spoke involuntarily.

Herion was very close to where they had landed. He approached the group as soon as they arrived, then respectfully bowed toward Chrysos.

"The disciple sends greetings to the Master of the 14th Palace. I heard that Master Chrysos's body is improving day by day. This is a great blessing for the entire sect."

Chrysos nodded lightly. "Today's results will determine the path you walk for the rest of your life. Do not be careless."

"Yes," Herion replied seriously. Then he straightened up and turned to Pyreus. Joy showed in his warm smile as he said, "We're from the same generation, you don't need to call me Senior."

Nearby, Darian simply observed Herion with indifference. He had cultivation at the elementary level of the Celestial King Realm, and his age was just over nine thousand years.

In this universe, 90% of people reached the Celestial Tribulation Realm and never dared to go beyond. The reason was in the name of the realm. After reaching the ninth level and attempting a breakthrough, the laws of the world would not allow it, and a Celestial Tribulation would descend upon the cultivator.

Because Celestial cultivation was so extraordinary, everyone's Tribulation was always at the absolute limit of power, just one step away from becoming a Celestial Punishment. Of all those brave enough to try, only 5% survived. It was also inevitable that some would end up escalating into a Celestial Punishment. When that happened, less than 0.1% survived.

That was the core reason ordinary people didn't take the risk. They could live thousands of years, so why attempt something with such low odds of survival?

Since almost all cultivators were at the Celestial Tribulation Realm, and someone in that realm lived about ten thousand years depending on the race, it became a common consensus that one generation was equivalent to ten thousand years.

Thus, Herion, at nine thousand, and Pyreus, at sixteen, were in the same generation. But obviously, anyone of the same generation with nine thousand years had an isometric advantage in every sense.

"Alright. You didn't arrive that early either, did you?" Pyreus replied in a friendly tone.

"My heart was restless all night thinking about today, so I came early, hoping the comfortable climate here would help calm me a bit. It seems my cultivation is still not enough. If I'm fortunate enough to become the sect master's direct disciple, then my life's wish will be fulfilled. If I'm defeated by Lazaro, however, I won't feel the slightest reluctance or regret. I might even be very happy." Herion sighed lightly. His words sounded calm and sincere as he kept looking at Pyreus the entire time, his eyes never shifting even once.

Darian just listened, but he was focused on something else, with no interest in having any contact with this figure. That was because he could sense that this friendliness was pure politicking, not something sincere. In truth, he was hiding great greed and a desire for more power.

Although the heat was so intense it seemed to penetrate the soul, the scenery was actually breathtakingly beautiful. Darian sensed an extremely high-level fire element inside the barrier, impressed because it was mixed with the celestial power of this universe. At the same time, he sensed something unknown inside and grew curious.

Suddenly, Darian felt a nudge from Pyreus and snapped out of his daze.

When he turned, Herion was looking at him with a faint smile.

"We've never met before, but it's a pleasure to meet you. I heard you're also an Alchemist Emperor and that you came from the Mortal Plane just like me. I wouldn't dare say I'm similar to you, but we do have some connection," Herion said amiably and gave Darian's shoulder a light pat.

"Even if your cultivation is low, you will certainly be extraordinary and shine within the sect if you work hard. I trust my eyes. If you face any difficult problems in the future, I will certainly help you to the best of my ability. You must strive with all your strength and not waste your talent."

Darian nodded. His cultivation was only one realm below Herion's, but for ordinary people, advancing to the next would certainly take thousands of years. "I'll remember that."

"For you to enter the Golden Celestial Lake at such a young age is a rare opportunity. You must make the most of it." Herion nodded and instructed, then stepped away from the group with a faint smile.

Since they were extremely close to the Golden Celestial Lake, the area was frighteningly hot. Pyreus had already channeled nearly half of his Celestial power to defend himself. Shortly after, a strong wind came from the south, and a group of people on a flying boat approached.

"Hahahaha!" Amid loud laughter, a burly man dropped from the sky.

The man seemed to have already passed his prime. His beard was graying, but his hair was still black. His face was covered in wrinkles, and his eyes shone like those of a fierce tiger.

When he landed, the other thirty people accompanying him also landed behind him at the same time. They were all disciples who would soon compete. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

In fact, looking around, everyone was at the Celestial King Realm just like Herion. Darian and Pyreus were the only ones below that; because of this, people didn't even see them as competitors, only as lucky youngsters who would cultivate very easily inside.

"Grand Palace Supervisor, Ruan." This time, it was Chrysos who gave the light greeting.

Among the Palace Supervisors, there was one who was the commander and leader of them all. This same person was equivalent to the sect's vice master. All responsibilities of the sect when the leader was absent also fell on his shoulders.

Pyreus hurriedly dragged Darian forward, forcing him to bow respectfully... Only Chrysos and the other Palace Masters didn't need to be so respectful toward him.

The Grand Palace Supervisor took large steps forward and said in a booming voice, "Chrysos, you look very healthy! That's great, hahaha. But you arrived quite early, huh?"

"We just arrived," Chrysos replied casually.

"Oh?" Ruan's gaze then fell on Darian. "This young man must be the person you brought from the mortal plane. I heard this kid managed to defeat a disciple a whole realm above him in the entrance test and...!"

Suddenly, his smile and voice froze, his expression changing completely.

That was because he sensed Darian's current cultivation. In two years, he had actually risen to the Celestial Tribulation Realm? How was that possible?

At that moment, all the other Palace Masters and Supervisors, seeing Ruan's reaction, also focused on Darian... then noticed the same thing, and their expressions changed.

Chrysos sighed, having expected this widespread reaction.

"My disciple has many talents and a bit of luck. As you know, he is very skilled in Alchemy. So, he ended up making very high-level pills..."

As he spoke, the old man took a deep breath and smiled in understanding. In the first three realms, it was indeed possible to rise very quickly depending on extremely challenging pills. But...

The consequences of doing something like that were terrible. Absurd impurities would flood the body in a way that would be impossible to remove. The person would hardly even reach the ninth level of the Celestial Tribulation Realm.

If Darian really did something like that... he had practically destroyed his future as a cultivator. But since everyone already knew he was an Alchemist Emperor at this point, it wouldn't be a problem. In fact, the sect was more than happy to keep him, even if he remained below average in power forever.

After that, all the other big figures moved to chat a bit with the Grand Supervisor.

After nearly an hour, all the selected disciples and important figures had already arrived at the location.

Darian spotted a silent figure in a distant corner. It was Lazaro, and no one approached him to try to talk. Everyone already knew him and understood he would simply reply coldly and end the conversation as quickly as possible.

He was the complete opposite of Herion, who made a point of greeting everyone who arrived, even if only briefly.

Darian sensed Lazaro's serious and absolutely focused personality. Life was truly unfair; if this young man were properly valued, he would become a great Palace Master or even the Sect Leader. But… people always preferred the one who pretended to be friendly, because they could get a sense of what was going on in his head, which made them feel safer.

Most people knew Herion wasn't being completely sincere. But in his position, they wouldn't be completely sincere either and would try to build connections. So he was understandable and easy to deal with.

"The Sect Leader has arrived!"

The deep shout struck heavily into the minds of everyone present.

The faces of all the sect's big figures instantly turned incomparably solemn, making all the disciples extremely nervous.

A golden line slowly shone across the red barrier, and with that line at the center, it began to open little by little.

Everyone present held their breath, and the hearts of those who wanted to compete to become the leader's disciple nearly stopped from nervousness. After the barrier was slowly opened, it was as if another world awaited them.

The Grand Palace Supervisor wore a grave expression. He took a deep breath and said, "Let's enter. Remember, do not act against the rules and regulations!"

His final words were quite unnecessary. They were about to meet the Sect Leader. Even as the elite of the younger generation, they wouldn't dare act rashly in the slightest… especially because they knew the rumors about how hot-blooded this leader was.

The barrier fully opened, and a beam of light spread like a curtain ahead. With the big figures in front, everyone slowly walked into the curtain of light. The steps of more than five thousand people were, however, orderly and without any excess noise.

Darian, Pyreus, and Chrysos were at the back. As soon as they passed through the curtain of light, a golden and radiant world stretched out before them, where the hot wind howled across the scarlet sky.

Pyreus had to activate 100% of his cultivation to protect himself. Even those in the Celestial King Realm felt their bodies being pressured and had to activate some defensive power.

As for Darian… he couldn't have been more relaxed in this environment.

At the center of this place was a red lake, its surface filled with golden runes. It looked like lava, but in truth, it was just the fire element condensed to such an absurd level that it appeared liquid.

It was fifteen kilometers wide, and its limits couldn't be seen at a single glance. It was like a tranquil lake without a single ripple, and yet it shone with unimaginable purity.

Darian's eyes changed abruptly. Above the lake, he saw thousands of small spheres of light floating gently.

"Is that a Wisp?" he murmured very quietly.

Chrysos replied mentally. 'Those are Fire Elementals.'

Darian was stunned and focused his senses on those little things… then he felt that at their core there really was a fire essence. But it was very subtle, and they didn't emit it directly.

At that moment, Chrysos explained briefly. These Fire Elementals were not truly life forms. They emerged from celestial power mixed within massive elemental concentrations, forming their bodies. But they were hollow, without any soul.

Even so, they possessed a kind of instinct that drew them toward life forms with great affinity for the element in which they were born.

And yes, it was extremely, extremely rare and took billions of years for it to happen, but there was a chance an Elemental could eventually become a life form and gain a soul. There had been a dozen recorded cases of this across the universe throughout history.

When that happened, they called themselves Celestial Elemental Spirit. In short, they were like cousins of the Heavenly Elemental Spirit, being much closer than the Heavenly Beasts.

This was a unique race of this universe, and the few that had appeared throughout history reached the peak of cultivation very easily and became major figures remembered to this day. Because of this, the treatment they received was the complete opposite of the Heavenly Elemental Spirit.

All sects capable of creating an environment like this, where Elementals could form, did so without hesitation, full of hope.

If one day a Celestial Elemental Spirit were to appear in the Golden Celestial Lake, the sect would welcome it with the utmost care, as they would gain a patron with the potential to shake the universe.

After explaining everything quickly, Darian took a deep breath. Then the skies immediately darkened as a deafening dragon's roar seemed to come from the highest heavens, reverberating throughout the entire place.