Aksai’s path led him across the grasslands, now stretching before him in a sea of pale green under the soft, ethereal light of the sky.
It wasn’t quite like day or night—just a subdued, ambient glow that cast everything in sharp, unusual detail.
As he moved further from the village, the grass gradually grew taller, swaying in gentle waves as the wind swept across. It created a strange, rhythmic sound, an almost soothing whisper that filled the quiet.
He had to say that the nature energy was so much more potent and refined here in the holy land than that of the outside.
Aksai kept his guard up, though; he’d been in too many situations where calm was the prelude to something dangerous.
The journey was uneventful, though, and the silence around him remained unbroken until he arrived at the edge of a dense forest. It was different from the one he’d exited earlier, with trees even taller and more ominous.
Their trunks were dark, and they twisted toward the sky like ancient, gnarled hands. There was something distinctly strange about the forest. Aksai couldn’t sense anything specifically dangerous, but he felt a faint pressure in the air, an awareness that he was entering sacred or restricted ground.
“This must be one of the key locations from the map,” he thought, mentally bringing up the spectral map once more to confirm his position. A small, swirling symbol marked this exact spot.
Aksai took a deep breath and stepped into the forest, following a narrow trail that snaked between the massive trees. The further he went, the quieter it became; even the breeze had died down. The only sounds were the muffled crunch of leaves beneath his feet and the occasional snap of a twig.
Ahead, he spotted a faint shimmer—a pale, bluish light glowing through the dense thicket. Intrigued, Aksai moved toward it.
As he drew closer, he realized the glow came from a cluster of intricate stone carvings arranged in a circle on the ground. Each stone was etched with runes similar to those in the formations he’d seen in the houses, though these were far more elaborate.
Yelia’s voice broke the silence. “Be cautious, my lord. This place may hold more than just memories.”
Aksai nodded, his senses heightened as he inspected the carvings. He noticed footprints on the ground, clear signs of recent human activity. It seemed a group had been here a few days prior.
Aksai had already assumed there would be demonic cultivators from the three major demonic sects, sent to gather information but ultimately trapped. It wasn’t surprising, then, to find traces of their presence. What puzzled him was why he hadn’t encountered them yet.
“Are they gathered elsewhere?” he wondered. According to the map, he was still far from the Holy Land’s central region. Perhaps the demonic cultivators had grouped in areas that offered them specific advantages.
“Forget it. I’ll run into them eventually,” he concluded, deciding that excessive caution would only slow him down without adding much safety.
The site before him seemed to be an ancient ritual space, likely used for summoning, binding, or something even stranger. He could feel a faint hum emanating from the ground, as if residual Spirit pulses still lingered here.
He crouched, tracing his fingers over the engravings. His neural link fabric analyzed the symbols, providing real-time feedback, though much of the meaning remained unclear.
“It’s almost like these are instructions,” Aksai murmured, piecing together fragments. His neural link fabric was beginning to piece together some broken meanings from the old runes based on accumulated data.
But instructions for what? Aksai couldn’t tell.
Aksai moved cautiously toward the altar, keeping his distance from the central platform, where a large array formation spanned about twenty meters across.
He took note of the complex network of runes etched around it, each glinting faintly with a residual energy. He fed the information about the appearance of the Essence Equation runes into his neural link fabric, which began a deep analysis in the background.
‘Check if there are similar formations in the database.’
On a whim, he casually asked the fabric to compare the formation to any layouts he’d previously seen.
To his surprise, the spectral prompts that appeared before him showed a formation with over 60 percent similarity to one in his database.
Intrigued, he selected the entry, which brought up a ghostly outline of a formation that looked remarkably similar to the one he’d encountered in the past—the formation he’d used to obtain his druid Spirit bloodline.
“Hm?” Aksai whispered, eyebrows raised as he stared between the spectral image and the formation on the altar. “This formation… it’s even more advanced than the druid bloodline formation I encountered. But what is it doing here, of all places?”
He felt a chill run through him. This array wasn’t just some relic—its purpose was unmistakably tied to something far more profound. The intricacies of the formation lines, the way they layered upon one another, and the almost elegant flow of Essence across the runes indicated a ritual of immense importance. It was as if this formation were crafted by master druids, or beings with even deeper understanding.
Just then, Yelia’s calm voice filled his mind.
“My lord, as I mentioned earlier, humans in that era would only have been considered servants within the Holy Land Torel, regardless of their cultivation. But there was one way for a human to rise to a position of influence and power within these lands. Can you guess what that would be?”
Aksai’s eyes narrowed, scanning the formation with a renewed sense of wariness. “A transformation,” he muttered, piecing it together slowly. “They’d have to become something more… something in line with the entities that controlled this place.”
“Exactly,” Yelia confirmed.
“Humans who underwent druidic transformations weren’t just gaining power; they were adopting a Spirit bloodline tied directly to the will of the Holy Land itself.
Those chosen could eventually hold positions that surpassed even some lesser spirits in influence. This array,” she continued, her voice almost reverent, “is more than a simple transformation tool. It might be a way for humans to integrate their entire beings with the Holy Land, aligning them to serve directly.”
Aksai let out a low whistle, the weight of it settling in. “So this formation… It’s like the ultimate key to power for any human who dared to enter here. And with a formation like this, they could move beyond their supposed human limits.
Was it common for humans to turn into druids here? How long ago was that? I didn’t see any version of the history of Dadangar Subcontinent related to this. So it should have been a very long time ago that wasn’t recorded. Or at least this part of history wasn’t available to someone like me.”
“Forget it. This area was indeed important in the past but it is of no use to me. I already have a druidic bloodline. Might as well check some other things marked important in the map.”
Aksai turned, ready to put some distance between himself and the mysterious formation, when he froze.
Just a few yards away, three figures emerged from the thick undergrowth, their dark robes marking them unmistakably as demonic cultivators. They wore smirks, eyes gleaming with the sharpness of someone who’d just stumbled upon a prize.
Each of the demonic cultivators radiated a distinct aura, the harsh energy signatures leaving no doubt they weren’t here for a friendly chat. But their body language didn’t scream immediate hostility either.
They exchanged quick glances with one another, sizing him up. Aksai remained still, a flurry of thoughts crossing his mind as he weighed his options.
He didn’t let his body reflect the slightest hesitation. His fingers twitched, then clenched.
‘Hm? Wait a minute. I have memory extraction methods at my disposal. These guys are sitting on information that might save me a lot of trouble here.’
He thought, knowing he had no time to waste and nothing to gain from playing it safe.
With a sudden surge of Spirit Essence, Aksai sprang into action.
He leaped forward, his fingers weaving a quick formation seal, releasing an Ice Spear spell aimed at the leader of the trio.
Since his cultivation base was suppressed, he had to complete a series of hand signs to expedite the Spirit spell. However, he wasn’t at a disadvantage compared to his opponents.
Aksai’s neural link fabric enabled auto-execution for hand signs. His hands moved so fast they became a blur, making it almost impossible for even Spirit Refining cultivators to see the signs with the naked eye.
‘Hahaha. I almost forgot how invincible I was as a Spirit cultivator because of my hand-signs speed.’
Aksai thought to himself and had a smile on his face, which made him look especially creepy in the eyes of his opponents. It seemed that he really liked bullying his opponents.
The flash left the cultivator momentarily stunned, the fierce attack disrupting their defensive shield and leaving a thin trail of smoke.
Caught off guard, the demonic cultivators scrambled, but Aksai didn’t give them a chance to recover.
He closed in on the one to his right, slipping past the attempted block, and landed a swift blow to the side.
His Qi-powered fist connected with enough force to send the cultivator tumbling back, grunting as he crashed against a tree trunk.
Aksai only needed to scan the memories of one of the demonic cultivators, so he decided to eliminate the other two quickly to avoid any potential accidents.
The second cultivator didn’t last long.
Before the third could scream or call for help while attempting to flee, Aksai seized his head from behind.
“My friend, why don’t you stay here? Those two brothers of yours are a bit lonely without you,” Aksai said.
The third demonic cultivator lost consciousness before he could respond.