Chapter 308: The Gathering

In another region of the Void Realm, Isabella Vorn stood on a barren plain.

Her eyes were empty. She stood motionless in the center of a massive formation drawn on the ground.

The formation was large—fifty meters in diameter. Intricate lines of blood formed the runic pathways, connecting nodes placed at precise intervals. At each node sat a token—Void Realm entry tokens, stolen from the cultivators Isabella had killed over the past months.

19 tokens. 19 nodes and 19 sacrifices to power the formation.

In Isabella’s left hand, the orb pulsed. It had absorbed the blood and souls of every cultivator she’d killed. The orb was full—swollen with spiritual energy.

Isabella raised the orb. Her lips moved—murmur, murmur—chanting words that weren’t a language.

The formation lit up.

WHUUUM.

Blood-red light blazed along the runic pathways—fzzzt-fzzzt—each node igniting in sequence. The tokens cracked—snap, snap, snap—releasing their stored spatial energy. The orb fed the formation—hummm—pumping soul energy into the runic framework.

A spatial tear opened within the formation.

CRACK.

The tear widened—rip—reality splitting apart like torn fabric. Darkness pulsed beyond the tear. The void between universes.

Five figures stepped through.

The first—Draxos. The Asura Demon. Two horns protruding from his skull, red eyes burning with demonic fire. His aura was Rank 8 Spirit Soul. He looked around the Void Realm with a predatory grin.

The second—Claude. The black-masked man. Titled the Devourer. Vice Head of the House of Crimson. His mask was featureless—absolute black, absorbing all light. His aura was Peak Spirit Soul. He clicked his tongue—tsk—and looked upward.

"It seems my and Clown’s cultivation have been sealed to the Spirit Soul realm," Claude said. His voice was cold.

The third—the Clown. White mask, painted red smile stretched obscenely across the cheeks. Titled the Trickster. His formless clothing shifted like smoke. His aura matched Claude’s—Peak Spirit Soul, sealed.

The fourth—Claudia. Titled the Viper. A woman with sharp features, dark hair, and serpentine eyes. Her aura was Rank 8 Spirit Soul—hiss—poison mana radiating from her body. "It doesn’t matter. Just my strength is enough for this fucking mission."

The fifth—Sebastian Vorn. The Vorn discard. His aura was Peak Mana Heart—whuum—significantly stronger than when had last been seen about him. He wore dark combat attire, his face carrying a desperate, hungry ambition.

Sebastian looked at Isabella’s dull, empty eyes. He smirked.

"Yo, you really did quite the number on her."

"Well of course," the Clown said, his voice theatrical. "I am a genius, after all."

The Clown laughed walking closer to Isabella—hohoho—his masked face tilting. "She’s no more than a puppet that will do whatever I tell her."

Claudia crossed her arms. "Let’s go. We should reach there in a week."

The five figures and their puppet moved out—heading toward the pillar of flames in the distance.

Meanwhile.

Kael’s dark wyvern soared through the Void Realm’s sky. Its massive wings beat steadily—whoosh, whoosh—carrying two passengers. Kael sat at the base of the wyvern’s neck. Yenna sat behind him, her ice-blue hair whipping in the wind.

"How did you get yourself in trouble?" Kael asked, glancing back.

Yenna reached into her storage ring and pulled out a small herb. It was blue—translucent, shimmering with lunar energy. The leaves glowed with a soft, silvery light that pulsed like a heartbeat.

Kael’s Spirit Eyes activated—flicker.

Moon Shadow Nether Grass. A plant that grows strictly where sunlight never touches, absorbing the essence of moonlight. It provides a steady, chilled stream of pure Yin energy.

"I see," Kael said. "With this, you could strengthen your frost intent and rule power."

Yenna nodded, storing the herb carefully. "Are you also heading for the flame pillar? A lot of people are going there."

"Yeah. That’s where I’m heading."

Kael looked ahead. The pillar of flames dominated the horizon—massive, blazing, impossible to miss. The heat radiated outward in waves even from this distance.

Most people are heading there, Kael thought. But most aren’t aware of what they’ll find.

A Heavenly Flame wasn’t just a treasure. It was a sentient, primordial force of nature. It didn’t appear randomly—it emerged when the laws of fire converged. And when it emerged, it burned. Everything. Everyone. The unworthy who approached it would be incinerated where they stood.

The Nirvana Devouring Script sat in Kael’s system storage. Cassian’s gift and the method to tame it.

They flew for hours. The landscape below shifted. The wyvern’s shadow passed over scattered groups of cultivators all heading in the same direction.

Then they arrived.

A massive hole.

It was enormous—a kilometer wide, perfectly circular, carved into the earth as if by a divine hand. At the center of the hole, the pillar of flames rose upward—FWOOOOM—a column of primordial fire so intense that the air around it shimmered with heat distortion. The ground at the hole’s edge was black.

More than a hundred cultivators were gathered around the hole. They stood in loose groups—cautious, watching. Eastern cultivators in silk robes. Northern cultivators in fur-trimmed gear. IGF cadets in uniform. Academy students from every sector.

Kael’s wyvern descended—whoosh—circling above the crowd. Most people looked up—gasp—their eyes widening at the massive dark creature.

Kael and Yenna dropped from the wyvern’s back. Whoosh. Thud. They landed at the edge of the crowd. The wyvern dissolved into Kael’s shadow—fzzzt—vanishing.

Kael examined the hole. His Spirit Eyes activated—flicker—and he saw it. A thin translucent barrier, barely visible—covered the entire hole. It prevented entry. The people gathered around it were aware—they’d tested it, probed it, tried to break it.

None had succeeded.

Then someone called out.

"Kael!"

Kael turned. His expression went cold.

Ravenna Silva walked toward him. Her green hair cascaded over her shoulders. Her green eyes sparkled with that particular mix of mischief and calculation that Kael had come to associate with the Silva family.

She smiled. "Come on, what’s with the sulky face? I’m pretty sure you missed me."

Kael folded his arms. "Stay away from me, Ravenna."

"Come on, Kael love. You can’t avoid me forever."

Yenna glanced at Kael. "Who’s that? I think I saw her during the inter-academy competition."

Kael sighed. Hhhh. "She’s a Silva pest."

Ravenna placed a hand on her chest. "Ouch. That wounds me."

Yenna’s ice-blue eyes studied Ravenna.

Before anyone could speak further—

RUMBLE.

The earth below quaked. Shake. Shake. The ground trembled—crack—fissures spreading from the hole’s edge. Cultivators stumbled—stumble—several dropping to their knees.

The barrier around the hole flickered—fzzzt—and began to thin.