Mixed Blessing System



Hours later...

It was already night in the Secret Realm when Lothur and the level 17 insect finally reached their destination.

Upon arriving in the 18th most powerful area of this space, the two immediately landed near an area that appeared to be a giant graveyard.

There, large graves were among other small and medium-sized ones, in a very well-organized area where no trees or vegetation were growing where it shouldn't be.

It was a space that seemed to be preserved by someone, even though it had long since been abandoned.

Lothur realized something strange about the area after seeing it from afar, and upon landing there, he couldn't help but ask. "What's up with this place? Why does it look so well cared for and new?"

"In this area are the remnants of some of my master's allies and friends, who died in battle and accepted the mission to protect this place in the afterlife."

"What?" Lothur opened his mouth in shock, not expecting to hear something so unbelievable. "How is that possible?"

"All those buried in this area were at least Origin Saints. Beings of that cultivation stage, even dead ones, can affect the space in which they were buried.

In the case at hand, these seniors may be dead, but the power of their bodies is what has kept the demons sealed in this area unable to resurface for over 10,000 years." This insect said in a tone laden with reverence. "In a way, they, in death, are still fulfilling their mission to fight against Morning Star's forces."

Lothur's mouth hung open upon hearing that, sensing the difference in power from the cultivation stage he was at to that of the humans buried there. "That's impressive!"

"Indeed it is." The beast shook its head, even more respectful of these beings than Lothur since it had cultivated for over 10,000 years and reached only half of the 3rd stage. Meanwhile, the humans buried there had all reached the 4th stage!

This is why he and all the beasts in this space were very respectful of these beings, with the weakest of them capable of manual labor, keeping this area free of vegetation and other organisms.

Lothur understood this and said. "But this is strange... From what I know, demons, for the most part, cannot rise from the ashes after forming a Soul Bone. But from what I see in this place, many of the dead demons here could do it.

Why? Why didn't the creators of this Secret Realm exterminate these beings?"

The beast sighed as it led Lothur to the center of that area, walking through the proper corridors, not daring to touch those graves. "That's because most of the demons are low-ranking. But at least a dozen Emperor demons were in this place when my master acted with his friends and allies."

"What?" Lothur stopped and exclaimed in shock. "How? Why were there so many like that? How could they be together? Are Emperor demons not born leaders? How would they gather around someone?"

Typically speaking, what was expected when more than one being with high abilities emerged was that they would battle to dominate alone and supreme over other beings. So Lothur was naturally shocked to find that there were that many such demons in this place!

The insect could understand this human's shock since its master had been very shocked to find out about the Morning Star tribe at that time.

"It is really strange. But Morning Start was a monster. You know that every demon has its own innate ability, right?"

Lothur shook his head affirmatively, and that beast continued.

"So Morning Star's ability was a mighty one, capable of surpassing that of 'ordinary' Emperor demons by a large margin. Through this, it dominated other demon tribes, creating its own dark empire over 12,000 years ago."

'So it was its ability... Its Soul Bone must be pretty valuable.' Lothur wondered.

"In any case, it was unlucky that my master discovered it in this area just over 10,000 years ago. At that time, my master wasn't strong enough to defeat the Morning Star tribe but was strong enough to go unnoticed and escape alive.

A little over two centuries later, he returned with a group and exterminated all those beings." It said proudly.

"What about the Soul Bones of those Emperors? If they were all killed here, I imagine many high-quality bones were created here, right?" Lothur asked.

"Yes, 13 Soul Bones of Emperor demons appeared in this place after the Battle of Gods and Demons. Of those bones, all of them were absorbed by either the master or the master's surviving followers.

I heard that one of these followers died and had been buried in the Secret Realm, but I can assure you that even if it was once here, it is no longer. We never found this Soul Bone, so I believe some young human who came here in the past found it if that wasn't just an unfounded rumor."

It sighed as it stopped in front of the largest tomb in the area. "As for the master, I know he died shortly after creating this Secret Realm, but something prevented him from joining his followers. So I don't know where his Soul Bones might be."

"So that's it..." Lothur sighed as he saw the large golden grave in front of him.

On it was written the following name.

'Steven Peters.'

The insect said. "This should be my master's resting place. But it is empty. In any case, this is where we will test your item.

When talented demons like Emperors die, their will has a high chance of being left behind at the place of their death.

Where this graveyard is, three Emperor rank demons died here at that time. They are the ones that the master's allies and companions are sealing."

"What about the others?" Lothur asked.

"Most of them are sealed by that leaf at the end of the labyrinth we came from. But two others are sealed by demonic statues, a creation of demons to punish offenders within their own clan.

The master and the survivors of the Battle of Gods and Demons used these items left by the demons to seal those demons who died in the spaces we couldn't build good seals."

'So that was it? I absorbed the characteristics of an ancient demon Emperor?' Lothur frowned, thinking that what he had absorbed was very little for a being with so much talent and who had even fought Saints in the remote past.

"Hey, that must be wrong. I saw one of those statues, and its power, while impressive, was fragile for a demon like the ones you speak of." He said.

"About that, those remnants are sealed by 20 such statues. So the power you would feel from one of those is only a fraction of the power of that remnant." The insect said, ending Lothur's doubt.

But then, this beast changed its tone. "Anyway, let's get down to business..."