Chapter 498: 498. Divine

The matter about the stele was kept a secret by the forces of the Empire but their behavior clearly showed that they had found something valuable.

Another two heroic cultivators were sent by the Empire to the new continent, the forces of the Utra nation and Papral nation were immediately able to guess that something interesting was happening when they saw the reinforcements reach the enemy camp.

Of course, all three forces were keeping an eye on each other, the arrival of two heroic cultivators wasn't something that could be missed.

Yet, there was something that the forces of the Utra nation and Papral nation couldn't possibly discover at that time: The two new heroic cultivators that had reached the new nation both had a water aptitude!

The Shandal Empire wanted to test if the stele could enlighten every cultivator with a water aptitude or if there were other conditions for that!

The only thing that the heroic cultivators from the other forces could see though was that both cultivators had ventured somewhere after the wasteland containing Steeled tumbleweeds and came back visibly aged but with fervent gazes.

Making a heroic cultivator age wasn't a simple matter, those entities could live for centuries after all, it was clear that what was happening beyond the wasteland definitely wasn't simple.

The other two forces set up a secret meeting, the Utra nation and the Papral nation had to know what the Empire had found, they couldn't let it became stronger than it already was.

However, the forces of the Papral nation backed from the secret meeting just one day before it was meant to happen without providing any explanation to the heroic cultivators sent by the Elbas family.

Elder Eve was one of the three heroic cultivators sent by the Council of the Papral nation, she was exploring the areas past the huge mountain where the packs of wolves continuously fought each other a few days before the appointed meeting with the forces of the Utra nation when she found something peculiar.

The huge mountain was connected to a series of other smaller peaks, creating a mountain chain that expanded diagonally on the continent and that occupied part of its northern side.

Elder Eve was simply exploring those mountain peaks as her two companions negotiated with the heroic cultivators sent by the Elbas family, her dark eyes swept the area below her, trying to find a place where there weren't that many magical beasts.

It was at that moment that she noticed a deep fissure on one of the shorter mountains.

Her white hair fluttered in the wind as she neared the fissure, the form of the crack on the rocky side of the mountain was simply too even to be something that had formed naturally.

An ancient aura was radiated from the fissure, Elder Eve felt as if thousands of sharp blades were piercing her consciousness as she continued to analyze it.

It was only when her mental energy was almost depleted that she moved her gaze away from the mountain and contacted her companions.

The other two elders from the Council took less than a day to reach her and were equally amazed by her discovery.

"It seems as if a mighty expert was practicing its swordplay as it flew through these mountains. We might understand the true meaning behind its forms if we meditate here… Forget the meeting with the Utra nation, we must inform the mainland of this discovery."

Elder Lorna spoke, she was the leader of the heroic assets sent by the Papral nation and it was her role to decide regarding the matters of the new continent.

The forces of the Utra nation saw how, some weeks after the secret meeting was canceled, reinforcements coming from the Papral nation landed on the shores of the new continent, carrying three heroic cultivators with them.

Both the Shandal Empire and the Papral nation now had six rank 4 cultivators flying on the new land, only the Utra nation had still three of them who were trying to figure out the reason behind the behavior of the other two big nations.

However, they soon discovered something too.

Lord Delbert was exploring the lands on the southern side of the continent since the northern ones had been occupied by the forces of the other two big nations.

Professor Roy was analyzing the Silent hyenas, kidnapping a rank 4 specimen every time he dove in the bushland that they occupied, while Lady Eth was trying to set up meetings with the heroic cultivators of the other nations without any success, Lord Delbert simply decided to look for peculiar plants that didn't exist on the Mortal Lands.

As he flew past the rank 5 Silver-yellow wood though, he found a dark gorge hidden under many rank 4 Spiked roots.

The gorge radiated an ancient aura and the density of the "Breath" in the area increased the deeper one went in the gorge.

Yet, soft growls could be heard coming from the darkness of the canyon, Lord Delbert felt a chill running down his spine every time one of those sounds reached his ears.

It was clear that the canyon was inhabited by powerful beasts!

Lord Delbert quickly notified his two companions who reached him in less than a day.

Professor Roy had a heated gaze as he stared at the depths of the gorge, his hands trembled when he heard the growls of the beasts hidden in the darkness but his excitement was clearly shown by his expression.

"What do you think, Professor Roy?"

Lady Eth asked after a while, she was more interested in the utility of that place rather than to the living beings that inhabited it.

Roy scratched the side of his head as he sorted his thoughts, he soon formulated a hypothesis that he explained to his companions.

"This place is surely inhabited by rank 6 creatures but I don't understand why they won't come out in the open, they can basically rule the coast after all. I think this is either a dungeon or a training area created by a divine being a long time ago and it should be worth exploring it."

Professor Roy finished his explanation and turned toward Lady Eth to see her reaction but he was surprised to find her communicating through an inscribed item.

The truth was that she had decided to contact the mainland when she understood that they had probably found traces of divine entities.