Chapter 464: Advance

Before Priam could react, the space around him distorted. A few seconds later, he found himself in an enormous underground training hall.

Countless white runes were arranged along the walls, while the floor was covered with bricks of a vivid blood-red hue.

Standing in front of Priam, a Central Elder grinned maliciously.

"These bricks were originally blue, but after countless years, the blood of countless disciples has turned them red. Every disciple leaves their own color on this floor... Hahaha!"

Priam snorted and clenched his fists.

This was training, not a fight to the death. Besides, he couldn’t use Ananke, his power runes, or his strongest techniques. The only thing at his disposal was his Elemental Physique.

His opponents, on the other hand, were incredibly experienced and powerful figures, each a whole Rank above him.

Given all these limitations, Priam knew exactly what the outcome would be: defeat.

But... he now understood that, within this sect, being defeated was the purest way to hone a disciple’s power.

"Very well. For the next seven days, five Central Elders will help you consolidate your gains from the Heavenly Pool. Your sister is in the other training hall, and the two Central Elders there will take care of her with the same dedication," the imposing figure said with a hearty laugh.

After letting out a deep sigh...

A dazzling gleam appeared in Priam’s eyes, and an excited, almost manic smile spread across his lips.

With a gust of wind, he activated his Elemental Physique.

At that moment, Priam felt as though he were traveling back in time, to when he’d just recovered his memories and started training relentlessly with his cousin.

Back then, he had been a true training addict.

Unfortunately, life happened. Priam had become so busy with countless responsibilities that he’d practically abandoned pure physical training. Now, however, he felt as energetic and motivated as he had in his youth.

Since he was going to get beaten up anyway, he might as well make it the best and most painful training session possible. Priam was already used to suffering through training... and deep down, he even enjoyed it.

After all, that was what living life to the fullest was all about!

"No one escapes this misery. When I was in your place, I got beaten up too. Unfortunately, those old bastards who beat me aren’t around anymore." The Central Elder spoke, slightly confused as he noticed the young man’s extreme enthusiasm.

The Central Elder roared, "Come!"

Completely focused, Priam entered a state of moving meditation. In the blink of an eye, his body became a blur as he leaped forward to attack.

***

Seven days later.

Priam was sitting in the sect’s plaza. Beside him sat Suien, her eyes closed and her head resting against his shoulder.

The warm rays of the rising sun illuminated their bruised and swollen faces.

It was the first time either of them had felt that sunlight could be so comforting, the first time they’d realized that breathing was a true blessing, and the first time they’d felt fortunate simply to be alive.

Over the past seven days, they’d experienced what many would call true purgatory. Seven torturers straight from hell had taken care of them without an ounce of mercy.

It had been utterly maddening. Every hour, every breath seemed to last an eternity. The beating continued until their bodies could no longer move. And yet, inside that training hall, they fully recovered in less than two hours—only for the entire cycle to begin again.

Although Priam had given it everything he had, he hadn’t managed to inflict any serious injuries on the Elders.

The Elemental Physique had never been his primary power. He mainly used his mastery of it to move faster and channel his wind attacks. Whenever he wanted to fight seriously, he relied on power runes and other techniques, never truly exploring the limits of his Elemental Physique.

Now, he was paying the price for that neglect. Those seven days had almost made him question his entire approach to life.

Suien had already cursed and sworn at the two old women until she was exhausted, and now she simply rested against him. She was far too quiet now, almost as if she were asleep, feeling comfortable in a safe harbor.

Fortunately, she possessed unshakable determination. Even though she’d been beaten just as badly as her sibling, deep down, she genuinely wanted to become stronger and more useful.

After seven days of hellish torture, both of them could clearly feel that their physical bodies had grown stronger and become as thoroughly consolidated as possible.

The pure energy they’d absorbed from the Heavenly Pool seemed to be finally fermenting inside their bodies, stimulated by every blow they took. It was as if a sleeping beast within them had awakened and begun baring its claws.

The brutal beatings had worked like the forging of a precious blade. Their auras had stabilized, and, surprisingly, over the past few days, they’d managed to land a few heavy blows on the Central Elders—although they always paid a terrible price for it right afterward.

What neither of them knew was that, despite the seven Elders maintaining an indifferent and casual demeanor on the outside, they were deeply shocked on the inside.

The pair kept pushing past their limits and increasing their combat power at an incredible pace. An innate, domineering pressure had begun emanating from them, making even the Elders feel intimidated.

Normally, disciples became so disturbed and depressed after this intense training that they showed no improvement at first. They would spend months recovering mentally before their bodies finally matured and the astonishing results became apparent.

But these two were clearly reaping the rewards from one beating to the next, growing at a dizzying rate.

Both possessed a kind of domineering will that nothing could shake; it only made them even more powerful.

In Priam’s case, it was an unwavering belief in himself—the conviction that he couldn’t be defeated, forged through countless victories against all odds. And this wasn’t something that had developed only in this life. After all, Priam currently possessed memories of when he was James, but also of when he had been the hegemonic King of an entire universe.

As for Suien, it was her obsession with never giving up and her willingness to die rather than disappoint her sibling. If she didn’t make the most of this opportunity, her family might be killed someday.

Priam already knew this: the twins had always carried an iron will and an obsession with power deep inside them. They’d always felt pressured and threatened, even while living peaceful and secure lives. Perhaps it was a remnant of the tragic way they’d died in their previous life.

In short, after seven days of beatings, both of them were covered in injuries, but by the final day, their fighting styles had become stronger and more fearless. Their bodies and raw power had multiplied. They were practically two monsters.

Priam and Suien remained alone in the plaza for a while.

Both of them passively emanated a strange aura. It was as if they were two demons who had opened a path from hell into the mortal world. Their gazes were so piercing that no one dared look them directly in the eyes.

*Crack!*

Suddenly, a muffled sound echoed from Suien’s body.

Priam turned around in surprise, realizing that his sister had entered the Nirvana state right there. That sound was precisely the sign of her breakthrough: she’d finally broken through the bottleneck and become a Philosopher Sage.

Priam nodded in satisfaction. Then, he closed his eyes and used the connection with his Creation Rune to sense his planets inside the secret world.

’Oh! It’s finally enough!’

Dozens of his planets already displayed vibrant, thriving natural life, all thanks to the special inhabitants living there and their abilities.

Seizing the opportunity, Priam took a deep breath and began channeling that enormous amount of power into his own body.

It didn’t even take half an hour.

*Crack!*

A deep, muffled sound echoed from within him, and a majestic aura blossomed around his body.

Priam opened his eyes, feeling infinite power emerge from his entire being.

’I’m an Exalted Sage now! The final Rank before immortality!’

Priam turned and met Suien’s shining gaze. They both smiled, excited about their breakthroughs and sharing genuine happiness.

They stayed in the plaza, relaxing peacefully for several hours.

While they rested, it didn’t take long for a few disciples to approach them. Noticing the uncontrolled energy radiating from their breakthroughs, they congratulated them. This gave the siblings a chance to befriend their fellow disciples.

The disciples’ attitude was incredibly simple: since they’d already welcomed the two of them, they now treated them as part of the family.

As Priam and Suien talked with them, they realized just how pure and straightforward these people were. Aside from training, the only thing on their minds was fighting. Their thoughts were linear, and they settled practically everything with their fists.

The women were no different from the men in this regard, although their physical training methods differed. They preferred not to develop their muscles too much, focusing on flexibility and agility rather than brute force.

Besides being their preferred fighting style, this also kept them athletic without sacrificing their femininity.

It wasn’t long before a few central disciples showed up. Seeing the siblings covered in bruises, sitting there looking miserable and licking each other’s wounds, they couldn’t take it anymore.

"Come on! I’ll fight for justice on your behalf!"

"It’s fine. We just need to rest a little longer," Priam said, shaking his head, at a loss for words.

These guys really loved fighting. Whether they were eating or sleeping, all it took was one word to set off a brawl.

Priam still hadn’t fully adjusted to this new pace of life. He had no interest in this so-called "fight for justice" and suspected it was just another excuse for them to fight among themselves.

"Come on! Let’s fight for justice!"

Someone else called out to them, this time a very tall woman using exactly the same words. Priam refused again, but to his surprise, more than ten people walked past him, shouting in unison, "Let’s fight for justice!"

"What’s going on?" Suien murmured thoughtfully.

At that moment, another figure approached them.

He was an extremely tall man, but unlike most people there, he wasn’t so muscular that he looked like a bull. His face had fine, elegant features, and his hair was short and white. His eyes were a bright shade of red, and a faint electric aura crackled around him.

Moreover...

Priam was surprised to sense the power of a Celestial Specialist emanating from him. In fact, this was the first time he’d sensed a Celestial among the disciples of this sect—which had always struck him as very strange, considering it was one of the largest sects in the northern region.

"Let’s have a little fun," the man said calmly.

Priam was intrigued and asked, "Why don’t you go fight for justice like everyone else?"

"Ah! You’re the new disciples! I’m Barak," he introduced himself calmly. "With my recent breakthrough, I’ve become number two. Aella is the number one disciple of the sect."

Priam and Suien nodded, sensing his somewhat chaotic aura, which was quite different from that of the other disciples.

Barak smiled. "Sorry about my aura. When you arrived, I was in seclusion, on the verge of advancing from Veteran Celestial to Specialist Celestial. Since I broke through the bottleneck only recently, I still haven’t fully mastered the Lamb in Wolf’s Clothing technique."

Suien and Priam had never heard of this technique, but its name was pretty self-explanatory.

At that moment, Priam finally understood: the sect possessed an extremely high-level concealment method, one capable of hiding even a Celestial’s power. He himself had been fooled into mistakenly believing that the sect had no Celestials among its disciples.