After Kahn finally noticed the shiny bright light coming from the other end of this final floor. His countenance turned delighted as he slowly kept walking and carefully avoid the lava.
In just 10 minutes, he finally stood at the foot of a tall peak. Even though his senses had weakened, he was still able to find the immense and fluctuating mana coming from a tunnel in the middle of this peak.
Whatever that was inside, undoubtedly it was incredibly powerful because the mana and pressure it was leaking was far more potent and intense than any of the monster cores & mana ores he had seen so far. Even the violet monster core Kahn had eaten failed in comparison.
Step by step, Kahn finally managed to climb to the entrance of the small tunnel. Kahn's black longcoat started fluttering in the air from the waves of mana the was coming out of the innermost part of this tunnel.
Kahn felt like that he wasn't being targeted by the source of this mana or he would've been flung backward just based on the intensity of the waves. It's as if the source of this dense mana was allowing Kahn to enter the tunnel willingly.
As soon as he walked a dozen meters inside the inner part.. Kahn was blinded by an incredibly bright white light and he covered his eyes with his left hand. He couldn't see what was in front of him.
But sooner, the intensity of this light decreased little by little and Kahn finally saw the insides of this tunnel.
A solid floor made up of the hard black ground, similar to the one outside.. But in the middle of this small enclosed space that was of the size of 2 living rooms was an altar and above it, lied a bright and glowing white orb that was of the same size of a car.
This giant orb was pulsating like a heart of a creature and ripples of tangible mana permeated the entire space. But before Kahn could even come closer to this orb, the space was filled with white fog and a phantom started forming above this white orb.
A 10 meter white and wraith-like figure was formed above this dungeon core and a face of an elderly human came to be.
A domineering & majestic pressure was exuded from this phantom and the being opened its eyes.
It gazed around the room and finally looked at Kahn.
"So someone has finally conquered this place. Tell me, who are you?" asked the phantom as he stared at Kahn intently.
"I'm Kahn, a citizen of the Rakos Empire." replied Kahn without any worries. Because he felt no killing intent coming from this phantom.
"So our empire still lives? Our great Emperor would be delighted to know this from the afterlife." said the phantom with a worshipping look as it looked in a random direction for no reason.
[Dude, stop trying to act so mysterious & cool. Just tell me what the hell are you.] cursed Kahn in his head.
"May I ask who you are?" asked Kahn.
"I'm called Lerzon, the first Sage of the Rakos Empire." replied the phantom.
"Young man.. Have you defeated the guardian of this core?" asked the phantom to Kahn.
"Yes, I have. Do you think I would be able to stand here without killing it." he responded.
"This giant orb you see is our Empire's most prized possession. 800 years ago, I hid it at the border of our Empire. If I'm not wrong, there should be few dungeons formed around this place by now." spoke the first sage.
"Yes, there are more than 11 dungeons in 50 kilometers formed around it." explained Kahn.
"Listen to me, young man. I'm nothing but a soul remnant of my old self. A fraction of my soul was bound to this core before I departed the world." explained the sage.
"I do not know what you would do with this core. But as part of the instructions that were given to me by our great Emperor, whoever passes the trial and reaches this place; shall be named as his successor and become the rightful heir to the throne. This decree was already given to the Imperial family. And from now on.. You are the rightful emperor of Rakos Empire!" declared the phantom in a grand gesture.
[But there is no Imperial family anymore.. They were massacred after a coup hundred years ago. Nobody knows about the Emperor or his decree anymore.] spoke Kahn to himself.
"So tell me, young man. Do you accept it as your life's mission to rule and bring prosperity to our Empire? To make it the greatest and undefeatable force in the entire world?" asked the sage's soul remnant.
Whatever gibberish this phantom was speaking, it was something definitely worth knowing. Besides, the word 'successor' sounded cool. As normally, something like this would be counted as a fortunate encounter in a Cultivation novel which helps MC become very OP or gives him powers that'll become his trump cards.
Kahn knelt on one knee and replied with the aura of heroism and responsibility.
"I, Kahn. Swear that from this day forth, I shall make it my life's mission to serve and protect the Rakos Empire with all of my being. And I promise to make it the biggest and most powerful force in this world in my lifetime!" shouted Kahn as he looked at the phantom with the expression of righteousness on his face.
[Like fuck I'm gonna do that! Just give me the goddamm thing you dumbass ghost!] he spoke to himself as he maintained the upright expression.
"Then I, Lerzon the First Sage and the most trusted aide of the great Emperor shall name you as the True Successor and grant you the core of our Emperor, Rathnaar the Conquerer. Who was once a peak Saint Rank Swordsman before he passed away. In his name, I bind this core's ownership to you. I hope that you find a way to utilize it and lead our Empire to greatness." said the phantom.
[What kind of loosely written plotline is this? He isn't even inquiring about my background or testing my true intentions.] spoke Kahn to himself.
Suddenly, hundreds of white threats came out of the core and entered Kahn's body.
[Let 'em freebies come in. My body is ready!]
Soon, the phantom faded and the giant orb started shrinking its size. In just 10 seconds, it turned into a normal orb that was of the size of a football (soccer ball) but it still maintained the white glow.
Kahn placed his right hand on this core as if he had a sense of familiarity with it. He knew touching it won't harm him in any way.
"System, scan it." he ordered.
[Scanning Complete.
Congratulations to the host for acquiring a peak saint's core.
This core can be used as a source of vast mana or can be absorbed to break through the Saint Rank levels when the host is at least a 4th stage Saint himself.] replied the system.
"Heh.. So I can't use it now? Why?" he asked.
[Because the host's body is currently too weak to absorb or sustain any energy from inside this core. With the host's current rank, the host can only use it as a supplementary source of mana. Trying to absorb the core through any method would result in the host getting exploded or reduced to dust.] explained the system.
"What if I cut it into small pieces?" asked Kahn.
[Sure.. If the host wishes to die.] replied the system in a sarcastic tone.
Kahn felt embarrassed after the system's remark and he took a separate space ring that had space big enough to hold this core inside. He put the core in it and returned to Rudra, who was done tearing through, then eating the body & the core of the magma drake.
"Human.. I'm done. But from now on, I will need some time to completely absorb its bloodline and abilities. So do not call me out for another month. Because I will be under a sleeping state from now." spoke Rudra.
"Then what about that? Why didn't you eat it as well?" asked Kahn and pointed his fingers towards a heap of dark and scaly armor-like body parts of the drake.
"Even I can't digest them. So I left them as it is." said Rudra and quickly entered Kahn's shadow.
[Do not wake me up. I won't be able to come out anyway.] said Rudra in Kahn's mind.
"This.. I should make good use of this." said Kahn as he looked at the heap of this scaly and extremely durable body parts of the drake.
These were exactly the places where Kahn's Darkbade attacks failed to penetrate and damage the dungeon boss.
Kahn took this entire heap inside his main space ring and departed from the dungeon. This time, he didn't want anyone to see him in this weakened state so he covered himself under the black cloak.
After spending two hours and finally exiting the dungeon, he reached the city gates.
But suddenly, heaven shaking and ground shattering voice filled the sky and the entire Bromnir dungeon shook.
"THE BROMNIR DUNGEON HAS BEEN CONQUERED."
A loud announcement came from the dungeon and filled the entire sky, it shook the entire Flavot City and the area in nearby 50 Kilometers. No matter where one was, they'd hear it very clearly.
Kahn who nearly fell on the ground after hearing this announcement, cursed inside his mind as he recognized this voice.
[Fuck you first sage! Why don't you declare my name as well!]