Having set her goals and having calmed down, Cely went below the ground and continued cultivating as she absorbed the surrounding Qi at a terrifying pace.
If before her Evolution her Talent was 998, her Talent now actually reached 999. This was a terrifying improvement! It was around ten times the cultivation speed. It would take her only around 10.000 years to reach the Transcendent God Realm (Tier 10: Divine Fusion).
Before on Earth, she needed a full million years for the same task, which was already terrifying, as her talent in the Path of Slaughter was 996. The average talent in any path lies at just 500, with anything above 600 being Genius, above 700 being Hero, above 800 being Great Hero, above 900 being True Hero, above 950 being Legend, above 975 being Supreme, above 990 being Great Supreme, and above 995 being Unparalleled.
Each rank is more exaggerated than the last, with only one singular being per plane being able to attain the title of The One, a being with a talent of 1000 in any path.
------------------------------
City of Freedom, Grimm
Grimm was a great city located between the Human Central Continent and the Demonic Western Continent, right at the border that separates the two. Nimmer Forest spans the entire border, which is 25,000 kilometers long. That is two times Earth's diameter.
Nimmer Forest contains vast mountain ranges, great lakes, raging rivers, and deep secrets hidden within the vast greenery. The forest is mostly uninhabited, as monsters rule over most of it, with only a few smaller roads that connect the two continents being safe.
The outer edges of the forest tend to be inhabited by mostly Tier 1 animals. Most of them are normal, though there are still a lot that can truly dish out against a normal person and easily overpower them.
As soon as you get into the forest, though, any living being you come across tends to be a monster with strength ranging from Tier 2 to anywhere in the Tier 8 range, when getting to the heart.
Anyway, inside Grimm, City of Freedom, in a large hall supported by 99 Pillars, 99 Figures sat. Each of these figures held great strength and authority within the city. Dan van Dennisen was the Head of the Adventurer Guild in Grimm and the great-grandson of Edward van Dennisen, the Hero of Grimm.
Many years ago, it was Edward who freed the city from the rule of Duke Unrik Grimm, an oppressive Duke who exploited the civilians under his rule, enslaving millions.
"Are there any other important topics to talk about, or are we done with today's meeting?" Dan, a Wolfman of slightly bulky stature with dark gray fur and lighter fur in the front, asked into the round of people from multiple races sitting at the large roundtable.
Klain Deri, an elderly Dwarf, sat up, which only elevated his height slightly, but still, the entire round noticed this with practiced ease as they immediately focused on him.
"We are currently running short on precious metal supplies. If this goes on, we will not be able to meet demand anymore, which will make weapon and armor prices skyrocket.", he spoke clearly, but it turned slightly muffled due to his graying beard, which went half his height, so about 50 centimeters.
"Understood. We can't let that happen, as we may need to be prepared, as the monster activity in Nimmer Forest has increased. Send a messenger to Abyss City. They are to increase our share of metals. Of course, they will get the usual rates.", Dan said, and as he looked into the round, dumbfounded expressions were looking back at him.
"Did... Did you just say monster activity increased in Nimmer Forest? How bad is it?", a scholarly-looking man looked at him through his slightly tinted rectangular glasses.
"3 Stars.", Dan said nonchalantly as he looked at the scholarly-looking man, whose expression turned blank in return.
The whole room turned silent as all of them looked at Dan with blank expressions.
Dan smirked, seeing this as he looked at those faces.
"Haha, would we have gotten anything done if I told you beforehand? Also, 3 Stars are nothing. Even if it got to 4 Stars, I can just call him out of seclusion to get us out of the predicament. Anyway, as long as there is no Tier 7 present near our City like in Death Forest, we are totally okay. And even if a Tier 8 from the central regions of Nimmer Forest came here, he could handle it."
Hearing this, everyone relaxed. They forgot that the fossil was still alive, sitting in his chamber cultivating.
"Since there won't be any more things to talk about, I will conclude today's meeting. We will meet again next month like usual.", Dan said as he went back home. Coming inside, he saw a beautiful Demi-Human Neko sitting on the sofa, sleeping.
"I am home, darling.", he whispered, kissing her on the forehead, making her black cat ears twitch slightly, a smile emerging on her sleeping face.
After this, he went into the basement, passing hundreds of restrictions before finally arriving in front of a small basement door.
"Come in." An ancient voice echoed from the room.
As he entered, he saw an ancient-looking Wolfman sitting on the ground cross-legged. He looked emaciated, and his fur was completely gray-white. His skin was wrinkly, and his eyes were sunken, looking like black holes. If you were to look inside, you would feel like you were falling into a terrifying abyss.
"Great-grandfather, you called me?" Dan asked, smiling, as he bowed to the ancient-looking figure.
The old man looked up slightly, making his bones creak and crack from the small movement.
"Lucifer killed Maria in Nimmer Forest.", the old man said.
Hearing this, Dan felt like a bomb just exploded in his head as his thoughts became chaotic.
"W-what exactly happened?", he asked, his voice filled with absolute disbelief.
"Maria succumbed to the corruption of that thing and, after Lucifer found out, he killed her.", Edward calmly replied.
Dan slowly fell into contemplation, though that would not last long, as Edward was about to drop another piece of info on him.
"Lucifer told me to make someone retrieve something from there for him. You are to go where he killed Maria and receive someone called Cely who took over Maria's body."
"WHAT?", Dan exclaimed, his thoughts predictably falling into chaos again. Edward smirked slightly, looking at this. He loved teasing his little great-grandnephew like this. The boy always had such lively reactions.
"You don't have to think too much about it. The Cely person you are looking for is a mycelium that has taken over Maria's body. But she is not normal in the least. Her background is terrifying, so be careful and don't get on her bad side. She is like a cockroach. No matter how often you stomp on her, she just stands back up. And every time you try, she just comes back stronger the next time.", Edward explained calmly, his old eyes becoming visible for a second as he talked about her with interest and recognition.
Edward used to be an adventurous man. He roamed worlds to find opportunities, always striving to help when he was anywhere. At some point, he decided to settle on Neal, considering it was the second most powerful world, though not without trying to find out about Earth.
He didn't get it. Such a small world, being ranked as the most powerful, and so, he went to test. He didn't get far, though. The moment he entered the outer border of the Milky Way, he was intercepted by a large, dark-skinned man. A red symbol in an ancient script of the number "8" was in his pitch-black eyes.
"Get lost, little wolf. This is not a place for you to enter." The aura that man flared after was engraved in Edward's mind. That man was a Transcendent God, and not a weak one at that. A Tier 10 entity reduced to a mere guard.
Later, Edward found out that this man was one of the so-called "Numbered", the direct subordinates of the two Overseers of Earth. Cely was one of the Overseers. Edward didn't know for sure if this Cely was the same one from Earth. He just hoped Dan would not provoke her.
Breaking out of this long thought that took but a blink of any eye for an entity of Edward's strength, he looked back at his descendant.
After Dan calmed down, he nodded at Edward. "I will try to find her and bring her back then.", he said, bowing to Edward before leaving the room.
As the door closed, Edward looked forward calmly.
"He is a good kid.", Lucifer calmly said, emerging from behind Edward.
"Indeed he is.", Edward gave a weak smile.
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Nimmer forest, shortly after Cely broke through and stabilized her cultivation at the seventh stage of Qi Refinement Realm, a presence was slowly approaching her position. Slightly surprised, she extended her senses and quickly found the presence.
"Wolves?" She wondered as she focused on the distant wolves that were wandering and slowly approaching. They were black in color with large bodies of over three meters. A single horn protruded out of these wolves.
"Shadow Unicorn." Her system informed her, as it automatically analyzed the creatures. Smiling to herself as she read through the information that had appeared inside her memories about these wolves, Cely approached them quietly.
But as she started her approach, her conscious thought started to blur. It was no longer her acting, but her body. Since she had improved her strength to the Qi Refinement Realm, Cely's speed had increased sharply. So, without notice, Cely had quickly appeared below the group, spreading out to every corner, before suddenly, thousands of thread-like roots sprang out of the ground.
The Shadow Unicorns were surprised and couldn't react in time before all the roots bound them, making them incapable of fighting back. Howling in fear, the wolves could do naught but flail and squirm before those tendrils burrowed into them from every angle. They started screaming in agony, their painful yowls echoing through the surrounding forest.
Cely almost moaned as she slowly sucked out their life energy and blood. Her roots devoured their insides and even pierced their souls. And, with a final pull, all the Shadow Unicorns melted into a mass of roots that retreated into the ground.
As Cely woke up from her daze, she enjoyed the orgasmic feeling of the foreign energies being refined into her own cultivation and power inside of her body, and not too long after that, she calmed down.
"I think I overdid it.", she smiled wryly to herself, thinking about the previous experience. Controlling her instincts was something she definitely had to relearn.
Soon, as she was about to refine all the energy, her Realm broke through to the 9th stage of Qi Refinement.
'So this is the true power of this bloodline.', Cely thought, deciding to go hunt for more monsters to increase her own cultivation, and definitely not for the feeling of it.
.....
...
.
A few minutes later, Dan's figure approached the spot where Cely ambushed the Shadow Unicorns before. As he walked toward the spot, he picked up a familiar scent.
"Shadow Unicorn? But why do their traces end here...", he mumbled to himself, slowly looking around the area, before looking at the ground where he found multiple miniature holes, indicating something had pierced through it.
As he thought about what it could be, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Found you.", he said, a smile materializing on his snout as he looked in the direction Cely went.