(7) New Races

After surveying his own soul for a long time, he found out about an extremely terrifying phenomenon.

He already knew that his soul was still growing powerful as time passed by, however, he doesn't have the slightest idea on how it is happening.

Only now did he understood the reason and why he was labeled as a demon during his second life.

The Soul Pool!

His cultivation technique has a hidden method that he only managed to uncover when his soul grew powerful to an extremely terrifying level. All the souls of the humans, beasts and monsters that he slaughtered during his second life was contained inside the Soul Pool and was constantly nourishing his own soul.

All along he thought that his divine soul was at the strongest during his first transmigration. But it was only his own wishful thinking as his soul was pitifully weak before. If he didn't reincarnate this time, he wouldn't even have the chance to know about the soul pool and the potential that it carries.

He was in possession of billions of souls!

According to the cultivation technique, he needed to let his victims know of his name before slaughtering them in the most brutal way possible. He now understood why it was necessary, they needed someone where they can direct their resentment, anger, despair, and all negative emotions. Those negative emotions will be used to nourish his own soul. Not only that, but he seems to be able to extract these souls at will, during the naming ceremony of the 3 dragon lords, he felt the transfer of souls to the dragon lords.

After being brutally slaughtered, their souls were not given peace as they were used as an instrument on the path to power of the very being that ended their life.

What an extremely viscous demonic technique!

[Notice. Emotions will be suppressed under the effects of the Unique Skill "Unmoved Sage"]

Hearing this familiar voice, he was forced to calmed down, but his thoughts were running haywire as he thought.

'If I am in possession of human souls, I can immediately try to evolve into an awakened demon lord after obtaining the recognition of the world and the demon lord seed!'

Sigh!

"My emotions are suppressed but the excitement has already reached my head, I need to calm my mind down first." He took deep breaths and erased the unnecessary thoughts.

"I think it's about time to fill the White Haven and create the Triskaideka." He muttered as he slowly sank his consciousness inside his small world.

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Half a month have passed by in a blink of an eye.

Inside the small world, over half a century had passed by.

The adrenaline caused by the majestic scene over 50 years ago had long died down, but the inhabitants still remembered clearly what transpired on that day. Every year the inhabitants would celebrate the 'Awakening', as they called it, in commemoration of the Dragon Lords that received their names on that day. Contrary to the name of the celebration, the Dragon Lords seemed to have vanished into thin air, as they are yet to appear even once ever since that day. Even their abodes, which were forbidden grounds before, have been occupied, and this led the inhabitants to question the whereabouts of their gods.

Even though there were already a handful of Dragon Lords that emerged inside the small world since the disappearance of the original 3 Dragon Lords, they didn't revere them like the original 3. During the era of the original 3 Dragon Lords, there wasn't any Dragon Lord that ever survived because the original 3 couldn't stand to have another Dragon Lord amongst their ranks, so they reached a consensus to slaughter every newly evolved dragon lords.

Although they still worship the original 3 Dragon Lords as their gods, it wasn't as reverential as before. Because they now know that the ancient records were not fallacious, there was indeed a being above the Dragon Lords.

They called him 'The Absolute King of the Gods'!

Faraway in the Southern Continent, The Sierra.

Numerous mountains that reached 30,000 feet filled this continent. Lush vegetations and towering trees covered such mountains. The Sierra is a continent that's dominated by elves, elementals and magical beasts.

On a forest atop a mountain.

Boom!

Swoosh!

Two female elves were exchanging magical attacks from afar. They have been training for more than 10 hours already but both of them are nowhere near their limits.

As they continue their practical exchange, a pair of scarlet eyes were observing them from a distance.

"These 2 elves are the only ones that are close to evolving... Perhaps I should help in speeding up their progress in overcoming their limits." The soul avatar muttered as he disappeared in his place.

The 2 female elves continued their training until the blanket of the night embraced their surroundings.

Gasp!

Gasp!

Gasp!

Both of them were lying on the ground while greedily gasping for air.

After catching their breaths, the female elf with a golden hair said with certainty, "Morgana, your grasp of magic has grown to an unbelievable degree!"

Hearing her best friend's praise, the female elf with silver hair said shyly, "Thank you, but I'm still nowhere near close to you, Chiasa."

Chiasa sat up immediately after hearing her best friend's response and hugged Morgana then said proudly while ruffling Morgana's silver hair, "Of course! After all, I will reach the level of the original 3 Dragon Lords!"

"If we continue to train hard every day, we will have the chance to stand on equal footing with the original 3 Dragon Lords and obtain the blessing of the 'Absolute King of the Gods'!"

After hugging her best friend, Chiasa stood up and shouted loudly while raising her clenched fists as high as she can.

Chiasa's optimistic approach to life was what attracted Morgana, who was originally an orphan of war, to follow her. Feeling Chiasa's aura, Morgana also stood up and declared that's devoid of the shyness she displayed before. "I will be behind you Chiasa! Even after you reached the peak!"

Roar!

Squawk!

A tiger's roar and falcon's squawk were heard from inside the forest they were in as it disturbed the warmth atmosphere between them.

Hearing these familiar beast cries, Morgana closed her eyes as she concentrated her magic, after a few seconds, her face paled, and a few beads of cold sweat trickled down her exquisite face.

After using her Extra Skill "Heat Sense", she determined the number of beasts approaching them.

"C-Chiasa, they numbered more than a thousand!" Morgana said in a shaking voice.

Chiasa gritted her teeth while frowning deeply when she heard her best friend. She hesitated for a few moments before ordering Morgana away, "Morgana, I will stall them here! Go and alert the village to evacuate!"

Morgana's face paled even further when she heard her best friend is basically going to her death, she immediately countered, "That's impossible even for you! Those thunder falcons and lightning tigers aren't simple! It's not impossible that a few of them have evolve further! Chiasa, Let's retreat with the village. As long as we're alive, we can come back!"

Hearing her friend's rational advice, Chiasa was slightly persuaded but she soon shook her head as determination was plastered on her face as she said emotionlessly, "You're not wrong Morgana. But the distance of the village from here is quite near, we won't be able to escape if nobody stalled for time."

"Go, Morgana. Alert the village, I will retreat when the whole village is already safe." She then looked at her best friend for more than 200 years and smiled.

Morgana was holding back her tears as she saw the determination of her friend. Knowing that she can't persuade her friend anymore, she chanted an incantation and casted her most powerful spell towards the forest.

Light Barrage.

Sharp rays of light penetrated the forest as it illuminated the blanket of darkness. Cries of pains echoed towards the forest as countless thunder falcons fell from the sky and lightning tigers whimpered as they breathed their last.

Gasp!

Feeling the mental exhaustion from the whole day of training and forcefully casting a powerful spell. Morgana was losing her consciousness, but she still stood up as she prepared to retreat back to their village. She bear-hugged Chiasa and she whispered, "Believe in your dreams Chiasa, they were given to you for a reason. I will wait for you!"

Chiasa watched Morgana's back until there was no silhouette left. Only now could she sigh in relief. The reason she let Morgana retreat first was not because of her heroism, but because she intends to evolve using this crisis!

The process of reaching of reaching the 'enlightened' stage was very vague and she doesn't have any idea regarding it, but she can clearly feel that her opportunity has come!

"If I really want to receive the blessings of the 'The Absolute', I should reach the enlightened stage first and prove to myself that I am more than deserving of it!"

Chiasa said in high spirits as a flaming sword and a bow made from light elements materialized beside her! This was also a reason why she let Morgana retreat, her control over her flame attribute isn't perfect and she wanted to avoid collateral damage because of it.

"Let's go, Ifrit!" She said towards her flaming sword before dashing towards the forest.

Earlier in her childhood, she had gained the recognition of a Greater Fire Elemental. Ever since, she practiced every day with Ifrit, however, even after a hundred years. She hasn't perfectly controlled the Greater Fire Elemental yet, and her flaming sword was the most efficient way of utilizing the Fire Elemental's prowess at her current level.

She doesn't want to use Ifrit inside a forest, but she has no other choice if she doesn't want to die. The forest will eventually rejuvenate, but she only has one fickle life.

With it she engaged in a life - and - death battle with the beasts from the beast tide.

The evolutionary stage for several demi-humans like elves and dwarves were paralleled with that of humans wherein they need to breach their limits physically and mentally time and time again for them to evolve into an 'Enlightened' one to a 'Saint' and finally, to a 'Divine Human'. However, there are speculations that they can also evolve using the methods of monsters, making them beings more attuned to their elemental ancestors instead that of humankind. Chiasa chose the 'human' path of evolution which is also the 'correct way of evolving' as this method focuses on skills rather than blessings received by monsters.

Fire, light and lightning intertwined inside the forest as Chiasa fought the thousands of beasts alone.

Her stronger element of light was used for long-ranged attacks while her flame attribute was used to engage in close combat. Her body was already covered in burnt lightning marks caused by the attacks of thunder falcons and lightning tigers, but her eyes were still full of determination as she continued to wield her flaming sword and notched arrows on her bow of light element.

Her one-sided carnage continued until Morgana returned along with 50 elves of varying ages.

Upon their arrival, they were shocked to the core as they saw the carcasses of beasts that were either burned by a sword or pierced through the head with an arrow. They searched frantically until they saw a blinding light at the deepest parts of the forest, however, just as they were about to approach it, the blinding light disappeared.

Silence once again enveloped the whole forest.

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White Haven.

An illusory soul form of a white-haired male was floating above the White Haven while staring at 3 huge cocoons solemnly as he clearly felt the auras that were emitted from them are far stronger than his own, and it was continuously growing stronger.

After staring at the cocoons for a while, the soul avatar muttered under his breath. "Their auras are already stronger than Karion and Frey the last time I saw those 2, and it's constantly growing stronger as they absorbed the surrounding magicules. I underestimated their desire for power, half a month has already passed in the real world, but they have yet to wake up from their evolutionary slumber."

Turning his head, he stared at the golden-haired elf that was unconscious while frowning vigorously.

He said in a low voice while holding his chin, "She successfully broke her limits and reached the 'Enlightened' stage... I should let her consolidate her strength first before waking her up and sending her outside to train. After all, she still has a mortal lifespan, and she can't stay anymore inside my small world unless she becomes a Divine Human."

With that said, the soul avatar flew high up in the air and surveyed the small world. Upon spotting a large gathering of elementals, he suddenly had a very bold idea.

Summon higher leveled elementals and rear them inside his small world!

Withdrawing his consciousness on the soul avatar, he returned to his cave and immediately started the summoning of elementals.

Several hours later.

Whoosh!

4 glowing orbs of light rushed out of the summoning circle, but instead of running away, the 4 orbs just floated in place.

A white-haired male human was studying them closely when realization dawned upon him.

"Their aura is at least 15 times stronger than mine, and that is only a rough estimation. I can't communicate with them. They don't have personalities but their extremely powerful. If I remember correctly, elemental lords should have a humanoid appearance and possesses a deep sense of individuality."

The human continued to ponder as beads of sweat trickled down his tanned skin.

"No! It's impossible! There are no records suggesting that Great Holy Spirits could be summoned. Angels were derived from the great holy spirit of light while the demons were from the great holy spirit of darkness, so it's utterly impossible to summon them!"

The human became extremely cautious towards the floating orbs of light. One was deep red in color with shades of orange, the one was colored like the ocean and waves could be heard from it, another orb was colored brown with yellow archaic patterns and the last one was colored green and surrounded by gray smoke. He seemed to have realized something and he immediately said.

"Don't tell me that they are attracted to my 'Heavenly Gates'?"

Without saying anything else, he retracted the gate of the mist from his soul and placed the gate on the real world for the very first time. When he successfully placed the gate, the ocean-colored orb of light vibrated as it slowly approached the gate of the mist.

Upon seeing this, the white-haired human became even more certain that these Great Holy Spirits were attracted by his 'Heavenly Gates'. He also tried placing the other three gates outside to further verify his thoughts. But when he placed the last gate outside, an extreme call of danger rang in his head.

[Alert. The voice of the world sensed that the 4 Heavenly Gates are existences outside of creation. Notice. Place back the Heavenly Gates to the soul to avoid further detection.]

The robotic voice rang loudly inside his head, and he was stunned for a moment before absorbing the 4 great holy spirits inside his small world and placed back the heavenly gates to his soul.

After accomplishing all of these, he sat down and contemplated deeply.

'The voice of the world considers my small world an existence outside of creation. If that's the case, then my small world is a ticking time bomb!'

According to ancient records, the moment Veldanava incarnated, he was considered a being outside creation by his own creation, the voice of the world, and it has created endless troubles for him, ultimately leading to his death.

He can't believe that his greatest reliance in this life is a double-edged sword that could endanger him the moment it was exposed! Fortunately, his unique skill has warned him in the nick of time or else something terrible might have happened.

Right now, his priorities haven't changed much but it was strengthened further and his desire to grow powerful deepened.

'Only powerful strength can ensure my safety until I reach my goals! I can't wait any further, I need to acquire the 'Demon Lord Seed'!' He shouted loudly in his mind as an invisible pressure pressed down on him.

After hardening his resolve, he stopped hesitating, escaped the cave and flew towards an isolated small island in the middle of the sea and started to divide his divine soul into 6 souls.

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Inside the Small World.

White Haven.

Cracks were spreading rapidly across the 3 huge cocoons.

Boom!

The 3 huge cocoons can't handle the pressure inside as they burst at the same time. A huge torrential of magicules surged out across the White Haven.

In the place of 3 huge cocoons emerged 3 humans in a fetal position, 2 males and 1 female.

The first one to open its eyes and move was a middle-aged man wrapped in violet and black clothing. He cracked his neck, fists and rolled his shoulders while muttering in a low and husky voice, "My evolution took longer than expected, fortunately, we are inside the Supreme One's small world."

After getting used to his new body, the middle-aged man walked towards the other humans that emerged from the cocoons, but he suddenly stopped when he senses a powerful aura not far from him. He immediately went to location of the aura, and he saw a golden-haired elf encased inside a barrier. "She's on the state of fusing her physical body with her spiritual one... If she's here in the White Haven, then the Supreme One must be the one who placed her here. I'll temporary guard her to ensure that nothing went wrong, anyways, those 2 fools should wake up soon enough." The middle-aged man said while scratching his beard as he studied the elf in front.

Not long after, he suddenly felt 2 powerful auras that are not all inferior to his from the west and east side of the White Haven.

Roar!

Roar!

A melodious dragon roar sounded from the west while a lethargic dragon roar that's filled with malice resounded from the east of White Haven.

A few moments later, a beautiful tall lady wearing a blue-white long gown appeared beside the middle-aged man and greeted the middle-aged man gracefully.

"Greetings, Doryu! I haven't seen you in over half a century, I see you regained some of your youth and I hope that you won't be as senile as before."

Doryu, the middle-aged man, was taken aback by her words and he can't help but twitch his eyes. "It's nice to see you again, Ehecatl. I noticed that your mouth is still as sharp as ever." Doryu returned the insult calmly.

Before Ehecatl could retort, a lethargic voice sounded not far from them.

"Doryu, Ehecatl. Both of you haven't changed, you guys are still abnormal." A man in his late 20's wearing a dark green and dark blue clothing with a pale face was slowly walking towards them while on hunchback.

"Viper! You looked more disgusting now than your dragon form!" Ehecatl was instantly annoyed by the mere presence of Viper.

Hearing her insult, Viper just sighed and shook his head. He then looked towards the golden-haired elf inside the barrier and asked Doryu. "Did the Supreme One bring her here?"

Doryu stared at the elf silently before nodding, "That must be the case, this is the safest place inside the small world to evolve as no one could enter it without the permission of the Supreme One."

Ehecatl was silent upon hearing this, she slowly walked towards the elf and caressed the barrier lovingly.

"So beautiful." She whispered as she stared at the exquisite face of the female elf as if it was the most precious work of art.

Viper was dumbfounded at this scene as he silently thought, 'Everyone has their own unique beauty, why is she so repulsive about my appearance?' Regardless, he never said it out loud but suggested instead, "Why don't we stay guard here to monitor her evolution?"

Ehecatl reacted immediately and said disgustingly, "I'll guard here, go away! You'll just tarnish her beauty."

Viper can't help but curse loudly as he retreated swiftly to avoid Ehecatl. Doryu just closed his eyes and entered meditation as he slowly sat down in a lotus position.

Unbeknownst to the 3 of them, the moment their evolution was finished, all dragons inside the small world also entered an evolutionary sleep.

The birth of an extremely terrifying one has begun.

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Several days later.

An isolated small island located at the middle of the sea.

6 identical white-haired humans were sitting together in a lotus position with their eyes closed. After reaching this island, he split his divine soul into 6 equal parts and lets them inhabit an individual split body. Essentially making 5 other copies of himself that possess different egos and skills, they only share the same physical appearances.

After splitting his divine soul, it was weakened considerably but he felt that it was being nourished again in his Soul Pool. It was only a matter of time for his soul to recover or possibly even transcend its former strength.

While they were meditating, a space rift was torn apart, and countless insects and different kinds of beasts rushed out before the space rift was completely mended. Sensing the different kinds of hostile auras, the white-haired human in the middle slowly opened its scarlet eyes as annoyance was plastered on his face.

[Notice. Emotions will be suppressed under the effects of the Unique Skill "Unmoved Sage"]

Before his anger went to his head completely, his ever-reliable unique skill saved him. Then he used his Extra Skill "Dragon Pulse".

Swoosh!

His draconic aura instantly covered the whole small island which was relatively smaller compared to his small world. The beasts and insects that were fighting were petrified on the spot, before they can even escape, they felt a strong force hit the backs of their head and they fainted. Only when the last one fainted did the white-haired human breathe.

"Strange. These beasts are clearly weaker than lesser dragons and the magical beasts that I've captured before, but not only did they not faint at my aura, they even thought of escaping." He muttered as he stared at all the fainted beasts and insects.

Extra Skill "Soul Read"!

He used his extra skill to understand these beings that appeared out of nowhere. After an hour of reviewing their souls, he finally understood the origins of these beasts.

"There are other planes of reality in this world!" He shouted in an excited voice.

He also learned about the existence of Insectars and Cryptids and most importantly, the World Destroying Dragon - Ivarage, their progenitor. With his magicules, Cryptids were born and Insectars were sub-species of the Cryptids. After organizing his recent gains of information, he sucked in cold air as he said fearfully, "This world is so dangerous, I just escaped from the Canaat Mountain Ranges to misdirect the Voice of the World but now I met some dangerous lifeforms that are possibly considered one of the strongest races in the world!"

He stuffed these creatures inside his small world like a sack of potato then returned to his meditative position as he lamented his extremely bad luck!