Ju Feng awoke with a start to find himself in a large garden with the solar high in the heavens. Solar? That was strange. He expected to see the raging darkness. It was just now, few seconds ago, that he was with the phantoms. How did he now found himself staring at the solar? Was he actually seeing the light of heaven's solar or the solar of Radia? Or, a dream inside the belly of the darkness?

He remained motionless as the thoughts went through his mind. He need a to have the true feel of what was happening and where he was. He slowly raised his head as his eyeb.a.l.l.s darted madly in their sockets.

Despite his state of bewilderment, he was in deep appreciation for the freshest of air that was invading his nostrils. He took a savoury moment to breathe in and out, in order for his lungs to have a fill of this freshness. Softly, he muttered to himself.

"I think I'm alive."

There was a trace of life essence in the air. Indication of being alive. Still sitting down, he patted himself in quick examination. His robe and spatial sac were also still intact.

"I'm alive!"

He continued to fill his lungs with the fresh air as he smiled inwardly. This was the true meaning of fresh air. Surely, the air in this place was totally different from the other areas of this Heave-world, if he was still in one anyway.

After having his fill of the air, he examined his surroundings. He was sitting on a large garden leaf that resembled a fluffy fis.h.i.+ng boat. Some sort of leaf indeed. On the ground to the right of where he was sitting down, was a small mortar containing some mixture of spirit gra.s.s and certain medicinal plants. To his left, was his...o...b..of vale,on a heap of straw. This meant someone or some people were here with him while he was sleeping.

Realizing he couldn't be alone in this place, he quickly rolled to his feet, glaring around wildly. Not seeing or sensing anyone at his vicinity, he quickly picked up his...o...b..of vale. The light of the orb was now down to few threads of faint pulsating fibres.

This was the evidence of how close he was to dying. Close wasn't the right word. He knew he should have been dead by now. Whether he had the crystals given to him by the grey tree or not, he knew he should have been dead in the darkness.

How did he manage to escape the universe forsaken manifestations?

He cracked his brain in recollection as he desperately attempted to have a clarification of what happened and where he was. He recalled his encounter with the Rakshasan G.o.d and being given the orb of light. The narrow path that opened across the complete darkness, and himself grasping for air from soul suffocation as his legs became deadly heavier. He had a fleeting recollection of a light he saw, but he recalled no detail of the light as he was trying to lay hold of it. It was in an act of desperation. But after this, he had no memory of what happened as he fell into unconsciousness.

And now, not only were the phantoms and their voices gone, but the darkness was nowhere to be seen. It was as if they never existed.

After gathering his thoughts together, he surveyed his surroundings more buoyantly. The mortar of mixed medicinal plants, indicated that someone or something was definitely here with him. With his back in a downward arc, Ju Feng decided to take a closer look at the mixture in the mortar.

"The Sailing Spirit."

Ju Feng whirled around as a voice sounded behind him. He took a few steps back as he watched the empty place beside him s.h.i.+mmered. From the s.h.i.+mmering energy, came the true nascent soul of a half-dwarf covered in a refractive nimbus light. The first striking aspect of the half dwarf, was his head. It was as if there was a yellow-gold light inside his head. This made the half-dwarf eyes and braided yellow hair and beard, glowed softly. Wearing a Varthorian battle armour that was glowing brightly, he truly protruded a terrifying figure.

Varthorian battle armour. Definitely, a terran cultivator.

The nature of the battle armour of any true nascent soul varied. It depended on the type of mystical arts embedded in the core of a soul before reaching nascent stage.

Although he presented a mixed aspect, the aura coming from the dwarf was that of a peak stage nascent soul at the least.

"Greet... Greetings senior. I thank you for saving my life."

Ju Feng stammered in appreciation as he bowed with his cupped hands.

"Had to give you. Your spirit was departing."

The half-dwarf grimaced as he acknowledged Ju Feng with a shake of his head.

"It's incredibly foolish of you to come here, kid. You could have died in there. How could you decide to face the darkness. Are you that eager to reincarnate?"

"No, senior. I'm happy to be alive. To you, I owe this."

"En."

Grunted the dwarf, setting down some items before the circle he drew on the ground.

"But let it be known, I didn't save you intentionally from the manifestations. Didn't know you were clinging on to me until I reached here. Your path of sorrow was yours alone to take. In no way would I have interfered."

He croaked.

"I only take responsibility for saving you here, in this garden."

"I understand, senior. And for that, I thank you greatly."

"Mm. Since you are here, I can make good use of you."

As they were talking, they were joined by two other ent.i.ties. One was a blurring slim and tall true nascent soul, appearing to be that of a human lady. Despite being covered in nimbus light, the brightness of her true features were visible. Long white hair and white eyes that were dancing like lightning's bolts. Her whole body was covered in White-Fortress, a very rare skin armour of the lightning cultivators.

The other was a ma.s.sive dark figure with scaled boulders covering his body. The big red eyes and a large single horn on his head that curled to his back, was a simple enough evidence of his nature. A demon. The demonic aura coming from him could only be that of a demon lord. For him to be able to manifest his true nascent soul in this spirit world, he must definitely be a demonic cultivator. But Ju Feng had no idea what his mystical nature was.

The three of them appeared to be familiar with one another as they exchanged pleasantries.

"Yu Guiying! Kugau! Thought I won't see you two again."

"Hehehe. You should know we don't die easily, Barang. Hehehe."

Said Yu Guiying as she firmly clasped arms with the half-dwarf, Barang. Her happiness couldn't be suppressed as she continued laughing.

"So good to see you again too."

"Great to see you alive too, my friend."

The demon, Kagau, uttered as he took his turn in clasping arms with Barang. He was nodding his head as he smiled broadly.

"Knew you'll surely make it. You truly have undying soul."

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Indeed, they were friends. Ju Feng watched as their auras grew stronger the more they happily crooned with one another. Yes, these were powerful ent.i.ties. Though, not like the Rakshasan G.o.d, their auras were still highly oppressive.

He decided to maintain his silence until they would acknowledge his presence.

Removing some items from her spatial storage, the human lady flicked her hand and a bamboo-padded stool appeared. She sat down and set down the items beside the drawn circle. Using one hand to grab some medicinal herbs from a little container beside her chair before dumping them in her mouth. She was closely examining the circle as the others joined her.

"The square?"

"Yes, Yu Guiying. You know with the square formation, we have the utmost chance."

"Yes, I know that, but the square formation requires four of us. There's no short way to it, unless we risk our lives."

The demon, who was sitting on a rise on the floor, also observing the circle, quipped in his agreement.

"That won't be good, Barang. We could die in the process."

"Wait... Wait. I understand your concerns. I know this too. Before, I wouldn't have indulged in this, but now, I can."

"And why is that?"

The two of them looked at him with cautious curiosity.

"You failed to notice the fourth person when both of you arrived."

"What?!"

"Where?!"

They stood up and looked around until their gazes fell on Ju Feng who had already moved to a far corner of the place.

"Oh... Didn't see you there, young one. My bad. Come closer."

"Must have escaped my sight too, kid. I guess you are right to indulge big, Barang. Four we are, indeed."

Agreed the demon as he turned his gaze towards the half-dwarf.

"Though he's extremely weak for such formation, we can actually make it work."

"Yu Guiying, Kagau, meet Ju Feng."

Said Barang as he did the introduction, just as Ju Feng joined them around the drawn circle.

"As you already noticed, he's a zhuji cultivator. Your expectation of him shouldn't be too high."

"Don't worry, Barang. In our situation, I don't think we can have too high expectation of anybody. Though, he's extremely weak, I believe he can do."

Yu Guiying waved the concerns away before focusing on Ju Feng.

"Well kid, it doesn't matter why you embarked on this journey... Why you want to see the oracle. Right now, you are here and you have to be ready. See the light of your vale? It's faint. If you don't leave this place, you'll die. If you leave this place on your own, you'll die. Be ready when we are."

"Fate beckons, kid."

Kagau beamed at Ju Feng before voicing more louder.

"Audience with the oracle."

The dwarf who was making some additions to the circle drawn on the floor, paused.

"Patience, Kagau. Patience. You'll have your audience with the oracle soon. We just need to survive the Valley of Retribution."

"Yes, Kagau. Patience."

Yu Guiying nudged the demon as she smiled brightly.

"Hope you are not that eager to ask if you have a chance with me. You'll be so disappointed Kagau."

"Ah, my poor soul is fully broken and bleeding. I guess I will drown myself in it now. Goodbye everyone."

Kagau removed a jar from his spatial storage and downed the content in gulps.

"Finest nectar wine. Now, I'm reborn."

"Hehehe."

Everybody bust into laughter as they continued to watch the big demon. Ju Feng realized this was a true friends.h.i.+p these three ent.i.ties had and a high level of closeness. He already knew this place was different to others he had been. He could easily die in here. They could be his only chance at survival and there was no way he would stay behind. With them, he would go.

After making necessary adjustment to the circle, Barang finally achieved the best arraignment for the formation.

"This is how we will arrange ourselves once we enter the valley. Then after the third bell, we move to this. When we reach the outskirts of the palace of the oracle, that's when we will activate the Four Soul Diadem. Everything we have laboured for together, will go into use here. Let's make good use of it."

After going through the plan, they gave Ju Feng some medicinal pills. The pills would raise his strength, almost a level, for few hours. He would have the strength of almost a Jindan cultivator, albeit only for some hours. Now, his chance of survival had increased and he couldn't contain his delight as he moved around.

"This will be a death battle as we already know, my friends. Are we ready?"

Uttered Barang with a grim face, receiving nods in confirmation.

"To fate, we go."

They all affirmed in response.

"To fate, we go."

***

Ju Feng's soul, stepped out of the Heave-world and into his body n the snowy plain of the Aculum Divinis, before collapsing on the snow. The feel of the frosty air and the falling snowflakes, were both soul and body soothing. He had left his body behind in this snow while his soul had journeyed into a spirit world. How happy he was to be alive, at least for the moment. He pulled himself up and started to chew some spirit plants he could find in his spatial sac.

The words of the oracle echoed in his mind as he headed towards the direction of the grey tree.

"Ju Feng. Son of Ju Huan and Reena Amynthas. As far as death is concerned, YOU WILL CERTAINLY DIE!"

He was only ten and just reached the Zhuji stage, yet, he already had a death utterance on his head.

Ah, such a life.