Dark Continent
In the Darkmoon Tribe, Chief Valencia stood on the plateau's edge while quietly overlooking the bustling activities within the tribe below before glancing up at the ominous crimson glow within the dark clouds above.
"These peaceful times won't last much longer," Chief Valencia softly muttered with a calm look while her hands were linked behind her back.
Suddenly, a warrior quickly arrived and knelt on one knee with his hands clasped before Chief Valencia and reported, "Chief, all the tribal chiefs that accepted the summit summoning has already arrived in the tribe for some time."
"They are wondering that since everyone is already present, they suggested that you should go ahead and commence the summit meeting early."
"There's no rush," Chief Valencia shook her head and said, "Let them wait. After all, the key person has not returned yet."
"Do you really think Leonhardt will be coming back, Chief? What if he doesn't come back at all?" the warrior questioned with doubt before stating, "We've learned that the living conditions in the Human Domain are much better than the Infertile Plains. Leonhardt might not want to come back."
"If he doesn't want to come back, then we can just go over to the other side and have a look. The Teleportation Array is in our hands, after all. Although its power sockets are missing, the tribe has plenty of Demon Cores to power it," Chief Valencia stated.
"The only reason we have yet to send anyone to the other side to confirm the living environment of the Human Domain is to show our trust and respect for Leonhardt. Anyway, we still have a day before the seven-day deadline. I can wait."
"Ahh, you're right, Chief. I have forgotten about the Teleportation Array since it has been placed next to the prohibited area underground," the warrior said.
"Also, you are wrong about one thing."
"What thing, Chief?" the warrior asked with surprise.
"The Human Domain might or might not have good living conditions, but since the Cataclysm has erupted, do you think it would still be the same?" Chief Valencia questioned the warrior calmly.
The warrior froze.
The tribal chief had a point.
According to the information they know, the Human Domain was a sunny place with no looming clouds of darkness blotting out the sun like the Dark Continent.
The mighty sun rays would have devastated the lands and caused the earth to change along with its inhabitants, spawning chaos and death everywhere—according to the ancient texts.
Compared to that, the Infertile Plains did not sound so bad after all.
"I guess we can only wait until the remaining one-day period is up," the warrior nodded shortly before asking, "But what will we do if Leonhardt still doesn't turn up? What if he needs help dealing with Cataclysm problems?"
Chief Valencia paused in thought for a moment before she stated, "I trust his abilities as he helped our tribe overcome our difficult times."
"But like you said, if Leonhardt doesn't rock up after the remaining one-day period ends, we will gather the warriors and head over to the other side to check the situation before acting accordingly."
"Understood, Chief."
…
...
...
Time quickly flew by, and before Leon knew it, Darlene had already reached 9-star Ranked Awakener.
He had lost track of time while musing on the Destruction Law, or rather scenic memories and information that depicted the power of the Destruction Law at work.
'How much time has passed?' Leon wondered.
If Maya was still conscious, she would have been able to tell him. Alas, she needed Spirit Energy for recovery.
Shortly after, Leon shook his head with a sigh. The Destruction Law will be more difficult to comprehend than he thought, even with temporal acceleration.
The Supreme Laws were no joke. It was not wrong to claim that it was not a law that mortals could comprehend.
'Let's check on Darlene's progress,' Leon decided.
Although he could not tell how much time had passed, if he could see Darlene's progress, he would be able to gauge a rough estimate of the time—the minimum time passed, that is.
Swoosh~!
Leon flew over quickly, shortening his distance to Darlene in order to gauge her progress more accurately.
"Oh? Darlene has advanced to 9-star Ranked Awakener Realm?" Leon muttered with surprise before frowning, "At least an hour has passed by the looks of it."
"However..."
Leon's frown deepened.
Darlene was still absorbing Spatial Energy blindly without further improvement to her cultivation.
At this point, she was increasing quantity rather than quality. Not many people increase the quantity of their energy after reaching the peak of 9-star Ranked Awakener.
It was because Darlene had a unique space that could contain a lot more energy than a regular energy center, similar to his Black Vortex Space.
"Darlene, stop!"
"Huh?"
Leon's sudden call quickly snapped out of her focused cultivation before she threw a confused look at him.
At the same time, the whirlpool of Spatial Energy absorption slowed down before dispersing back into the environment ultimately.
"Is there a problem, Leon?" Darlene queried.
"No so much of a problem, but I just want to say that even if you continue cultivating, you will not achieve Transcendence," Leon stated.
"Eh? How come?" Darlene quickly asked, not understanding where she went wrong with her cultivation.
"Is there a problem with my body that prevents me from achieving Transcendence?" Darlene thought out loud.
No, that is not it." Leon smiled and proceeded to explain, "The Transcendent Realm is not the same as any of the earlier realms. It places greater emphasis on law comprehension."
"You have risen too quickly without fully understanding the extent of your abilities. If you want to reach the Transcendent Realm, you need to start gaining an in-depth understanding of the Spatial Law."
"Is that so... I thought I would be able to advance all the way to the Transcendent Realm in one ago, but it appears that it won't be that easy," Darlene spoke with disappointment.
Leon arrived beside Darlene and rubbed her head shortly before consoling her, "9-star Ranked Awakener is still good. You don't know how many people would be envious of your heaven-defying cultivation speed."
Frankly speaking, Darlene might not have even reached the 9-star Ranked Awakener with her lack of understanding regarding Spatial Law.
Darlene's Void Soul Constitution carried her way through.
Still, advancing from the 9th step Awakener to 9-star Ranked Awakener Realm within an hour was just a rough estimate.
Leon did not know how long it actually took.
"Let us end our cultivation here and return to the surface to check on the others. Quite some time must have passed by now."
"Mm, alright. I will listen to hubby."
Darlene nodded.
Only when they are alone did Darlene had the courage to call Leon her hubby. She did not dare to say it in front of the others for fear of earning their ire and dislike.
...
Shortly after, Leon held Darlene close before forming a barrier with Nihility Law and descended back to the surface with swiftness.
Roughly ten minutes later, Leon reached the Desolate Crow Clan with Darlene in his arms.
"Seems like quite some time has passed. The streets are already much cleaner than b—"
"Leon!"
Leon's comment was interrupted by Lilith's suddenly excited call before she flew over in a flash.
"There's another favor I want to—" Lilith began speaking with excitement before she suddenly paused with a dampened mood and shook her head, "No, never mind. Forget I asked anything."
"???"
Leon was confused by Lilith's behavior before he responded with a raised brow, "But you haven't asked anything?"
"Well... there was, but you do not need to worry about it anymore," Lilith stated.
Leon opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But before he could, Uncle Jorn, who followed shortly behind Lilith, suddenly stated, "It's actually like this; the Little Princess wanted Prince Leon to refine Fasting Pills to support the Desolate Crow Clan tide over the food crisis."
"Uncle Jorn!" Lilith cried, not expecting her Uncle Jorn to disobey her and spill his mouth about the matter.
Nevertheless, it did not bother Leon in the least.
"Ahh... so it's this matter. Refining some Fasting Pills is not a problem. However, it won't be for free," Leon stated before shortly adding, "By the way, how long have been gone for?"
"About six hours, I would say." Uncle Jorn answered before saying, "Not being free is fine as long as we can feed the clansmen. Name your price, Prince Leon. As long as we can afford it, we will pay for it."
"Six hours, huh? That's much longer than I thought…" Leon muttered with surprise before shaking his head, "Don't worry. I do not need you to pay for the Fasting Pills. I will be charging the clansmen at an affordable price."
Having said that, Leon quickly left with Darlene to find a nice open spot in the large market square where many clansmen could be seen gathered, taking turns at breaks before returning to work.
After whipping out his pill cauldron and began pill refinement, Leon's showy display of alchemy skills immediately attracted the clansmen over.
"Everyone, take a look! The divine doctor is concocting pills!"
"But what kind of pills is the divine doctor refining? I don't think anyone is still sick…"
The crowd quickly broke out into discussions.
Ten minutes later, the first batch of Tier-1 Fasting Pills was completed before Leon stored them in a pill bottle and held it up to the crowd to see.
"Tier-1 Fasting Pills are officially up for sale! Tier-1 Fasting Pills have the effect of satiating your hunger for a full day. Come and get some! Each person is limited to a single-pill purchase each at the price of three drops of blood only! Very cheap!"