The End of the Trial

As Marcius got closer to the elevated stone platform, he could see that the circular object was a shining blue orb. And small lines of silver auras were running through its surface.

If one just looked at it without proper attention, they would think it was a decorated toy.

No spirit energy was leaking out of it and it really just resembled a small blue ball.

That is, if one didn't know the history behind it.

It was created by Goddess Sol herself, for High King Alexios Avitus.

Yes, it was the soul medium used by the High King.

Countries would go to war over this little circular item.

Now, this treasure was Marcius's.

"You should absorb it right now, little human. You have the Soul Devouring King physique. My soul medium should override the cultivation blocking effect of the physique because it was created with my divinity. But it was never tested before. As you may know, this soul medium was only ever used by one person." The goddess advised.

Marcius also thought that the goddess's advice had its merit.

He first came here thinking that he simply had no cultivation, and taking the original soul medium would solve that.

But now, he figured out that it was his physique blocking the cultivation, and the situation changed.

Normally, the Twilight Soul clan had their own secret ritual to solve the negative side effects of Soul Devouring King physique.

As Marcius was not a member of that clan, he didn't have a way to obtain the ritual.

So, the next best solution was to just use the original soul medium to override the side effects of the physique.

As it had never been tested before, it made sense that the goddess wanted to oversee the process to make sure it ran smoothly.

"Then, I will start absorbing the soul medium."

Marcius answered as he took the soul medium, and sat down on the floor.

He held it up to his face and observed it for a moment.

"Well, here goes nothing."

The heir of Aemilia clan slowly pushed the blue orb into his chest.

It was weird for Marcius.

The orb, in an obvious sense, should not be going into his body. Marcius should have felt a solid object making contact with his chest.

Instead, the soul medium dissolved as soon as it made contact with flesh. And Marcius's body absorbed it like a tissue would absorb water.

How was the soul medium even making contact with Marcius's flesh, when he had two layers of clothing over it? Marcius would never know.

Marcius entered into a meditation stance, and could feel some form of liquids besides blood flowing withing his veins.

He could tell it was the soul medium.

The soul medium in liquid form was circulating around his body. Every time the circulation completed a single circle within his body, Marcius felt as if something previously blocked was opened by force.

With each circle, Marcius felt more comfortable and his body got lighter and lighter.

He was experiencing an addictive and euphoric feeling.

Then, everything stopped.

The liquid stopped circulating and instead started converging towards the center of his stomach.

"It is over."

Marcius heard the goddess's voice, as he also sensed the liquid soul medium completely stopped moving at the center of his stomach.

"As you have no spirit energy before, your participation was not needed and the entire progress was automatic. Nevertheless, I'm glad the process is over without a problem." The goddess explained.

"So, I can use spirit energy now? I don't feel so different." Marcius remarked.

"If you were born without cultivation, the soul medium would be responsible for generating the spirit energy. But that is not the case and we have to force opened the cultivation which has been previously blocked. In this situation, the spirit energy will slowly flow back throughout your body. You should start feeling it little by little." The goddess educated Marcius.

As the goddess mentioned, Marcius started to feel something slowly spreading inside his body.

After a little while, he got a good grasp of the feeling. It was like a warm blanket wrapping around his body.

Marcius felt as if he had become stronger and faster. It was like a large pool of untap potential inside him, waiting to come out.

So, Marcius let it out.

Spirit aura quickly surged out of his body, circling him in waves.

'So, this is spirit energy. Not bad.'

"To be able to produce this much cultivation energy with just Spirit Soldier cultivation realm, this really is the strength worthy of being the great goddess's champion."

Marcius heard the wooden totem spoke for the first time in a while.

"No. I have done nothing. This is all due to the great efforts of Marcius Aemilia. Although, I must praise you, little human. You might have worked your body really hard for you to be able to produce this much spirit energy. Your spirit energy amount is comparable to that of a Foundation Lord realm, despite you being at the realm of a Spirit Soldier." The goddess commented in a satisfied tone.

"Also, it is time for the third and last reward."

A scroll swiftly arrived within Marcius's hand.

The heir of Aemilia clan opened the scroll and noted that it was a map.

The map was really detailed, with several symbols scattered around it.

"As you might know, you still only have soul medium and no spirit beast. This map can direct you to some pretty strong spirit beasts hidden around the world. They are marked with golden symbols."

'Pretty strong is putting it mildly.'

Marcius knew what the golden symbols represented. They showed the location of four strongest spirit beasts in Rubrum.

"My soul medium can hold four separate spirit beasts. So, collect them all." The goddess mentioned nonchalantly.

Marcius already knew this. This was the reason why Marcius wanted this specific soul medium.

Four spirit beasts.

No.

Four strongest spirit beasts.

"But… you already knew that, didn't you? Seriously, I want to know where you are getting all of this information, little human." The goddess let out an undignified groan.

"Trade secret, goddess." Marcius answered with a smile.

"Whatever. I also marked some powerful treasures around the world. Cultivation books, weapons, artifacts, you name it. I do hope this will help you out greatly."

"This will be more than enough. Thank you, goddess."

"You are to be my champion. This is the least I can do. So, go out there and conquer the realm."

As the goddess said, now was the time to go out and conquer.

And he would be starting with the Archnide hive in Flavic forest.

*** *** ***

Author Notes

Hello! MidnightMK here!

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