Way of the Knights

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The Divine Realm is a one massive plane of land littered with many fantastical creations of shapes and sizes. It's the true paradise lands for humans and the place they govern for the longest of time. 

It is safe to say that the Divine Realm is specifically created for humans, and due to their rule the race as a whole experienced a great transformation and became one of the leading races over all. But even in a place teeming with crouching tigers and hidden dragons, there are still some existences that shouldn't be disturbed unless one wants to court their own deaths. 

These existences might be in a form of a sect, organization, clan, and etc. And they mostly mind their own business and will only interfere if the situation calls for it. It is also common for these existences to stay away from the spotlight and control things behind the scenes, they also usually reside in a very isolated or off-limits places.

One of these sleeping giants is called the Old Elysium Sect that resides in a place called the Atlas Star. 

This sect is one of the most secretive sect but also one of the most terrifying ones. Raven didn't have much information about them but he could remember wanting to join them before due to a simple rumor that he heard during his past life. The rumor was that, the Old Elysium Sect raises War Gods. 

This rumor was baseless, but the neither confirmed nor denied it. But back then, there are three known War Gods, when someone asked whether they hailed from the Ancient Elysium Sect, these people refused to give an answer, which made the gossipers even more curious. 

He had seen the capabilities of these so called War Gods, and their title accurately fits their strength. One of these War Gods became one of the closest friend of Raven, because of that Raven came to know that the rumors were true. That being said, he didn't ask many things since it wasn't his business, but for a sect to raise three people that will be known throughout the whole Divine Realm, it's quite obvious that they are formidable. 

His friend once told him this: 'It's a pity. Should you had the chance to posses a piece of the Atlas Star, then we might've been Sect Brothers. With your attitude, you'd be a perfect fit for a War God position as well.'

He laughed at him as a response, but inwardly he was wishing for the same thing as well. 

But who would've thought that he'll be given a second chance? More so, encounter the very thing that will allow him to do just that? 

Fate really loves toying with people sometimes…

***

Each bag these people possess contains a piece of Atlas Star. Raven had taken them out one by one and had been staring at them for a while now. 

He didn't try to touch them since he felt some kind of trepidation upon doing so. He figured that he should just observe them closely before interacting with any of them and that's what he had been doing all this time. 

Raven wasn't able to deduce much, but he is sure that these are pieces of the Atlas Star. He had seen one before and he even seen the entire thing with his own eyes so he had no doubts about it. And of course, he will taking this from the hands of these people. 

And just as expected, they cannot be stored inside a spatial ring. Thankfully, Raven could just place these at Spatial Abode and leave it here until he could interact with it safely. 

Once he got over the rocks, he then turned his attention to the people he abducted. 

He walked towards them and since they were still unconscious, he could still do anything that he wants to them. He placed his hand on the head of one and started scrying his memories. Raven wanted to find out more information, he wanted to know where they found these stones, what are their plans for it, and more. 

Raven scanned the memories of each person and managed to get some answers.

They excavated these in place not too far from here, they were given orders by the emissaries to gather the stones in secret, offering a high reward to those who could bring them back unscathed to their camp. Of course, since this is the depths of the Red Zone, this mission was incredibly dangerous. However, they also couldn't ignore those rewards, so they swallowed their fear and attempted the mission. 

A pity, they almost made it back. They just had to encounter Raven of all people…

"So that's how it is." Raven said as he gazed coldly at the unconscious enemies. "Who would've thought that there is a camp nearby? What to do, what to do?"

A sneer appeared on his face as he lifted every single one of these people. He then went out of the Spatial Abode and threw them on the ground. 

The force of the throw managed to wake them up, but they were still oblivious about what's going on. Raven fired several beams of light using his fingers and each beam struck the groggy minions, causing their consciousness to awaken due to a painful sting on their abdomens.

"I would've ended you in a blink of an eye but you guys are lucky that I'm in a good mood." Raven stated, "I've sealed your cultivation base. If you can go back to your camp without dying, remember that it was I who spared pathetic lives. If you can't, then it's been real. Be a kind person on your next life."

After saying his piece, Raven disappeared like a phantom and left the pale faced workers to their own accord.

Was Raven really considering to spare them just because he got the pieces of the Atlas Star? 

Of course not.

In fact, he purposefully dropped them off near a lair of Tier 4 Demonic Beasts. If he was really sparing them, he wouldn't take them there of all places. 

Why is he not sparing them? Simple.

He scanned their memories before. These people used taboo techniques to raise their cultivation. One through cannibalism, the other through human sacrifice. The rest either used females and sucked their Vital Essences through sex in order for them gain strength, or consumed infants to achieve the same thing. 

Not even in Raven's best mood, would he ever let go of these criminals unscathed. In fact, dying and becoming food for Demonic Beasts is already considered as Raven being merciful.

People like that doesn't deserve to live.

***

Raven could hear the desperate screams of the people he left before got onto the Spatial Abode. 

He didn't even need to check what happened to them, it was certain that they did not survive the attack of demonic beasts after he left since they had no access to their energies, thanks to him sealing them away. 

Not an ounce of pity or remorse was on Raven's emotions, he remained at peace and serene from what he did. 

He drove the Spatial Abode forward and went towards the excavation site. He wanted to see for himself if he could search for more pieces of Atlas Star. Although it is very unlikely that he'll see more, it wouldn't hurt to check if there's more. He would rather waste time searching for the smallest chance of finding one rather than not searching only to miss some due to his laziness. 

Raven arrived at the excavation site. He wasted no time and erected an isolation barrier thanks to the help of the Spatial Abode. He then began actively searching for Atlas Star Fragments shortly after that. He unfolded his senses through their maximum degree to help him with his task and thanks to that, he excavated five more fragments, totaling of 10 pieces that he currently owns. 

Once he was sure that there's nothing more, he got inside of the Spatial Abode and placed them all together. 

At the instant that the pieces were gathered at the same room, a magical scene that caught Raven off-guard occurred. 

All fragments flew up in the air, seemingly attracted to each other. Each piece shone with a brilliant flash of light temporarily blinding Raven. 

Once his vision adjusted, Raven was shocked to see that instead of the pieces combining together to form a huge piece of rock, what he saw was a very impressive piece of obsidian crystal floating in front of him. 

Before he could even think of anything, the crystal sliced his finger and sucked his blood. After it tasted his blood, the crystal transformed into powder and formed a strange sigil at the back of Raven's left hand. 

A series of important information flowed through Raven's brain. Simply put, that crystal just now is a proof of his qualification. He just needed to settle a few more things in this realm and once he ascended, the sigil will lead him to a place where it will all begin. 

But since there's still a long time before he needs to worry about this, Raven threw this thought at the back of him mind and focused on other things…

"Now, where is that camp again?"