Chapter 456: Fate at Work

After Priam stored several dozen bottles, Dandara withdrew her hand, and the Artifact came to a halt. He gave her a nod, and she nodded back with a knowing smile on her lips.

The two turned toward the Sect Master, who remained completely catatonic in place.

There was only one thought in his mind: How the hell had this young woman managed to do something... twice... that no one in the sect’s entire history, apart from the Artifact’s original creator herself, had ever accomplished?

Priam took Dandara’s hand and spoke casually. "I’ll take my leave now. I need to prepare with my sister before heading to that sect."

The Sect Master didn’t even react, still completely absorbed in his shock. Priam left with Dandara, walking through the door.

...

Fortunately, Suien hadn’t received any official missions from the sect yet. When Priam called for her, she hurried over to meet him at the central building.

Priam explained the entire situation without beating around the bush. As she listened to his words, her expression brightened, and her eyes lit up instantly.

Previously, Priam had taken Meien on an adventure, something Suien had been forced to hear her sister brag about and rub in her face countless times. Now, they could finally face each other and trade jabs on equal footing.

Priam spoke calmly. "First, I need you to study the complete and correct technique I received. The Elemental Physique actually exists in all five basic elements. You created something based on water and wind, the elements you’re best at. Now you need to choose just one and then restructure the correct magical runes, replacing the old ones."

"Got it!" Suien replied excitedly as she took the crystal.

Priam had already read and memorized the entire contents.

Just thinking about that knowledge made his heart race.

The technique was truly terrifying and unbelievable. The parts he’d been missing in the past were precisely the most anomalous and unique concepts — properties that transformed elemental power into something entirely different from anything conventional.

Without wasting any time, Suien sat across from Priam in the main building’s hall, and the two began a complex, meticulous process of correcting and refining the technique.

***

Two months later.

*RUMBLE!*

A violent thunderclap echoed across the entire planet, jolting all the disciples awake.

They stopped what they were doing and looked up at the sky. The heavens were shrouded in thick darkness despite it being noon, while black clouds crackled with devastating lightning. It was a heavenly tribulation!

Another bolt tore through the sky.

Its target was an isolated, crystal-clear lake nearby.

Floating gently above the water was Suien, perfectly calm.

She had changed her clothes and was now wearing a tight-fitting black outfit designed to allow agile movements while accentuating her slender, graceful, and alluring feminine figure.

She still wore the pair of earrings Priam had given her. Her long silver hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and her green eyes gleamed with fervent determination.

Lightning struck her one bolt after another, in uninterrupted waves.

With each impact, her pale skin became increasingly stained with blood. Yet Suien absorbed the energy directly into her body without showing the slightest expression of pain or despair.

A short distance away, atop a mountain, Priam watched everything attentively.

His little sister had become a truly strong and tough woman, capable of facing any adversity head-on without flinching.

A subtle emotion welled up in Priam’s eyes, and the image of the old Flora appeared before him. That honest, gentle girl from the past was now living life to the fullest, without any reins or restrictions holding her back.

Many minutes later, the clouds in the sky dispersed.

Then...

A striking, crystalline blue aura pulsed throughout Suien’s body.

This was the true Elemental Physique, but now it had been shaped purely by the water element — the element Suien was most attuned to.

However...

Priam sensed the intensity of her aura and let out a restrained sigh.

’Intermediate level...’

He recalled the knowledge he’d absorbed. All the disciples of that sect who achieved the Elemental Physique emitted a distinctive aura intensity that accurately indicated their power level and talent in the technique.

There were four levels: Low, Intermediate, High, and Celestial.

When Priam had reforged his elemental runes, he’d used the power of his system and the depth of his bloodline to forge perfect runes. As a result, when he activated the Elemental Physique, his aura had reached the Celestial level.

However, when comparing the new structure to his previous physique, he strangely hadn’t noticed any shocking leap in raw power. He had merely gained distinct elemental properties that were highly useful in combat, but nothing revolutionary.

Perhaps what Elder Lione had mentioned about the Celestial Pool was the crucial catalyst he was still missing.

Back in the present, he gave a slight snort, wearing a restrained smile.

’Well, Suien is an Inscription Archmage, so this is only natural...!’

Priam’s thoughts were interrupted when Suien waved her hand, releasing dozens of pulsating inscription runes.

The markings spread across her body, connecting and glowing like multicolored constellations. It was as though Suien were clad in a dazzling, living runic armor.

She was restructuring the inscription technique she’d developed herself, now incorporating the genuine power of the Elemental Physique — something she hadn’t possessed before, let alone in its complete form.

Several minutes passed...

*BUZZZZ!*

The space-time around her body began to crack and vibrate with overwhelming force.

Priam’s eyes widened as he sensed her new elemental aura.

’This... resembles the Celestial level, but at the same time, I can feel an even greater density...’

At that moment, Suien turned to look at Priam in the distance and flashed him a radiant smile. She puffed out her chest proudly and gave him a thumbs-up.

He sighed, laughing at himself. How dare he doubt his own sister’s potential?

...

After a day of rest and preparation, Suien and Priam got ready to depart together.

Dandara and Meien came over to say goodbye. The triumphant look Suien shot at her twin sister was brimming with playful provocation.

Dandara chuckled softly. That healthy rivalry between the sisters was something genuine that sometimes stirred a subtle, warm envy within her. At the same time, a burning heat coursed through her body, making her glance sideways at Priam with a look filled with repressed desire.

Priam simply pretended not to notice the hint and took his flying ship out of his spatial ring.

Over the past few days, he had become absolutely certain that Dandara had a burning desire to have lots of children. Fortunately or otherwise, the more powerful a Mage or Sage became and the higher their level, the exponentially harder it was for them to conceive.

Humanoids were known to boast far greater fertility than the other races in the world. Even so, for Sages at their level, the process could take thousands of years of trying without success.

As such, Priam wasn’t worried in the slightest. If a miracle happened and a new life came into being, then it would simply be fate at work. Because of that, the two of them were making the most of every intimate moment together, holding nothing back.

"Let’s go," Priam said calmly, and Suien leaped onto the flying ship’s deck, overflowing with excitement.

Priam waved goodbye to Dandara and Meien, activated the vessel’s propulsion systems, and they shot off toward the horizon.

He had no precise idea when they would return, but he figured the entire trip shouldn’t take more than a few months.

As soon as they left the inner sect’s territory, Priam plotted their course across the vast western region of the divine plane.

The Heavenly Elemental Body Sect exercised absolute dominion over the entire northern border with the west. The three hundred galaxies in that sector were its sovereign territory, and the headquarters of its inner sect was located in one of those galaxies — Priam and Suien’s final destination.

Since the journey would take several days of continuous flight, Priam turned to Suien and opened the passage to his secret world, inviting her inside.

There, they could relax among the Pristine Wild-Spirits and enjoy the paradisiacal nature of the planets still in the process of formation.

Throughout the journey, Priam devoted himself to talking with Suien about absolutely anything she wanted, giving her the same attention he’d previously given Meien.

However, this twin was considerably clingier, more expressive, and chattier than her sister.

She didn’t leave Priam’s side for even a second, walking alongside him, holding his arm, and chattering excitedly about anything and everything. Priam listened to every little detail with deep fraternal affection.

---

Days later, Priam’s flying ship slowed down and came to a halt in the outer orbit of a monumental planet.

It was a gigantic, radiant planet that emanated such an overwhelming elemental pressure that Priam and Suien immediately swallowed hard.

They disembarked and put away the vessel.

Priam had received prior instructions from the Sect Master regarding the local protocol. Flying ships were strictly forbidden from entering the planet’s atmosphere. Furthermore, no one would come to greet them.

Any visitor was theoretically welcome to set foot there, but they would have to bear the consequences of such audacity themselves.

An unprepared outsider walking around that place was practically signing up for a painful, gruesome death — and it wasn’t just because the local inhabitants were brutally savage warriors.

Suien firmly grasped Priam’s hand, and the two floated together through the vacuum, crossing the upper layers of the atmosphere.

A short while later, they landed gently in front of a colossal mountain gorge. It was the official entrance to the inner sect’s territory.

Before them stood a mountain range towering dozens of kilometers into the sky. The rocks were barren, not a single blade of grass in sight, completely permeated by an ancient, desolate atmosphere.

At the highest peak of that mountain range, there was a narrow passage resembling a ravine carved by nature itself. From a distance, the valley gave the distinct impression of having been cleaved in half by the direct strike of a colossal sword, exuding a wild and untamed aura.

As the pair walked toward the gorge, the surprise on their faces grew.

When they reached a point fifty kilometers from the main entrance, a terrifying, icy energy began exerting suffocating pressure on their bodies and souls.

It was as if an invisible blade were suspended directly above the backs of their necks — a clear warning that if they dared take another step without permission or sufficient strength, their heads would be severed.

"This is the first test..." Priam snorted, turning to look at his little sister.

Suien met his gaze. Her previously chatty expression had given way to a cool, confident calm as she nodded at him.

For almost any ordinary Sage in the universe, that pressure would have been absolutely terrifying. However, for Priam — and even his sister — this initial test was nothing more than an irrelevant obstacle.