Beyond the Divine

"Fiendgod's Hegemony, first level," Bruno pronounced, calmly analyzing the information.

A moving image sprouted in their minds, like a memory. It was a giant humanoid figure with six arms and a horn, and they quickly understood what it was: a God of War, the Fiendgod. Every step he took seemed capable of piercing all evils, destroying all illusions, and eliminating all demons from the heart.

Another image appeared, showing zealous disciples sweeping the entrance floor and small children playing near the hearths. Suddenly, a young man, similar to a human, punched the air with his Qi, and a mountain was pulverized. The radiance on his body left no doubt that he cultivated the same technique. If he used all his strength, the impression was that he could part the seas and shatter the heavens.

"The first level consists of three stages: Strength Training, Flesh Training, and Viscera Training," Bruno commented.

The essence of the Supreme Physical Technique was to transform the body into a divine weapon with incredible strength. Moreover, it emphasized techniques that efficiently utilized this strength. Already at the first level, physical transformation became exceptionally abnormal.

However, the technique was not just about refining the body and increasing strength. It also required training in precision and control over the amount of force used. Once a deeper understanding was reached, it would be possible to use the palm of the hand to turn divine metal into fine powder.

When a cultivator reached a high enough limit in body transformation, they would become virtually invincible in a physical contest with divine or demonic beasts. Even a primitive earth dragon would not be a worthy rival.

"But it has a central flaw. The amount of energy required to train it is at an impossible level. Qi alone is not enough, but beast cores, pills, crystals, and minerals. Everything can be used to train it," Bruno explained in detail.

Meanwhile, Alm analyzed the other technique. "It seems like the problem has already been solved by this crappy system. We've been manipulated, for sure," said Alm. "Yin and Yang Supreme Qi Collector Cultivation Technique. It consists of creating runic tattoos that can separate and collect Yin and Yang Qi from the world."

"The main drawback of this cultivation is that if we use pills, cores, and other resources, we will be contaminated by impurities. However, that won't be a problem anymore since Super Physique Cultivation can get rid of these impurities. Even better, we can simply kill and torture others until the end of times, and there won't be any side effects. Genius!" exclaimed an excited Alm.

"Don't be an idiot. Let's see the Random Chest, accept it," Bruno quickly replied.

[Generating...]

[Level 15/100]

[Adamantite Chest acquired]

"This system is trash," complained Alm.

"...you keep cursing the Heaven's Will. It seems like it's getting revenge," Bruno responded, then chose to open the first reward.

[Lower-Level Spatial Technique acquired.]

His mind was immediately filled with information about the new technique. "Basically, it's an inventory," Bruno commented. "It has a space five times larger than a low-level spatial ring and can't store living things, quite useful."

"Let's get to the real Chest already. Open it," Alm grumbled impatiently and accepted to open the Orichalcum Chest, the main quest reward.

[Medium Soul Sealing Technique acquired.]

[Non-Lethal Strike Technique, Beyond Divine Level acquired.]

Alm clenched his fists, trembling with anger as the information about the rewards reached their minds. 

Bruno ignored that and checked the rewards. "Well... Beyond Divine Level Non-Lethal Strike... doesn't seem very useful. But it might have some use when you want to have fun," commented Bruno, almost laughing at the apparent futility of the technique.

"Soul Sealing Technique... if there's something we're really not even average at, it's soft techniques like this. The inventory was the best reward," Bruno concluded with a chuckle.

After a few hours, the frustration of no longer being a sacred skeleton hit them, but fatigue and sleep eventually took over their minds. Alm decided to stop cursing, and they soon fell into a deep sleep.

***

The next day, Alm and Bruno naturally awoke in the morning and soon realized that several hours had passed since the sun had begun to illuminate the skies. That didn't matter, though. They could only think about one thing as their stomach complained nonstop.

Alm's mind was almost consumed by the hunger as he said, "Where did the little brat go?" 

"She always woke up that stupid fat guy in the first hour of the day with food. We have no memories of her doing anything different," Bruno replied. He wondered if something wrong happened.

They didn't go out to look for her, though. Instead, they closed their eyes and began to breathe deeply, slowly absorbing the world's Qi into their bodies. Finally, they could cultivate normally and soon forgot everything around them. A few hours passed, and it was almost noon when they heard a faint knock on the door.

"Sir... I'm sorry... I brought the meal," said a small girl dressed as a maid.

Bruno observed the young maid who bowed with terrible fear. That was obviously Ruri. He noticed that her clothes were more disheveled than usual and caught a faint scent of blood in her body.

However, Bruno simply smiled at the young girl, not showing any concern, and Ruri began to bring an astonishing amount of food to him with the help of another maid. However, everything was devoured much more quickly than before, which left both of them even more frightened by the infinite voracity.

Before Ruri could take everything away, Bruno made a point of ordering her to return immediately with a serious expression. The young girl trembled with teary eyes but didn't back down, accepting the punishment she was supposed to receive.

When she returned, she immediately bowed before him, waiting for Denil to act. 

Yet, they were bothered by something else. "You are my personal maid. Someone had the audacity to do something to you," Bruno said, but soon Alm took over the words. "They have some courage. But they came at a good time; I'm bored and looking for some fun."

Ruri froze at Alm's words, which sounded threatening as if they came from an evil being. Well, she already considered Denil pretty evil to start with. Bruno sensed that Alm's thirsting aura was frightening the young girl and quickly spoke to defuse the situation.

"Hmm, if anything happens, you must come immediately to my side. I will hold the sky and protect you from anything. You don't need to act strong," Bruno said, with the softest voice he could muster, looking deep into her eyes.

The young girl looked at Denil in surprise. She doesn't remember Denil acting like that ever since she started to serve him. 'Could it be because of the Patriarch's scolding?' she thought. Of course, she wouldn't believe this sudden change this easily. Nonetheless, the fearsome aura around Denil disappeared, and she did indeed relax a little when Bruno took over.

"I didn't know you had this lolicon side of yours," Alm commented mentally in a peculiar tone.

Bruno's mouth twitched a little, finding it hard to hold the smile in front of Ruri.