Chapter 42 – The Fear of The Double Awakened

Kieran had spent the last two days wandering on the island, searching for the coasts. During those two days, he spent most of his time training with the Dance of Heaven and Earth and hunting crystal beasts to train his movements on them.

Despite being far from mastering the foundational steps of the double-bladed sword art, his movements began to take form. With each practice, he experienced a gradual release of pressure on his wrist as his actions flowed with greater fluidity.

Kieran was currently in his lycan form, facing five Bronze rank cyan wolves.

Cyan wolves possessed coats of vibrant cyan fur and exhibited a remarkable ability to manipulate the element of wind to a certain extent.

Holding Shard of a Broken World in his right hand, he placed his right arm behind him, leaning his forearm against the handle of Shard of a Broken World. Inclining his upper body, he suddenly lunged forward, letting deep marks on the ground.

In an instant, he appeared in front of the cyan wolves, his right arm swinging forward before he grabbed the handle of Shard of a Broken World with his left hand, turning it in his hands.

With a single movement, the double-bladed sword cleaved through two cyan wolves, dividing them instantly. Spinning the weapon around his body once more, he charged toward the three cyan wolves attempting to encircle him.

Compared to two days ago, Shard of a Broken World seemed to dance in Kieran's hands.

He slashed forward, cutting one of the cyan wolves in half, quickly pivoting his body. He made Shard of Broken World turn with him, cutting off the other two wolf cyans who tried to attack him from the sides.

He stopped in front of the corpse of the three cyan wolves. His right eye began to shine with a golden shine before disappearing. He wiped the blood that had squirted on his face.

"You're improving quickly, considering that just two days ago, you injured yourself just trying to spin Shard of a Broken World around you."

Runihoril was genuinely surprised by Kieran's speed of improvement.

'This youngster has a talent for using a double-bladed sword. All the disciples I had before him could never bear to use the double-bladed sword after a month of training, but him... Even if it's only been two days, it's clear that he had no discomfort with this type of weapon.'

Runihoril's eyes sparkle with excitement as he watches Kieran.

'I may have found a worthy successor to my art!'

"I'm only just getting used to the movements. If I could have moved faster, I could have eliminated the five cyan wolves in an instant." Kieran said.

"You're still in the middle stage of the Iron rank, but you're not happy that you killed five Bronze rank crystal beasts in less than a minute. I really don't know what the others would say if they could hear you."

"They were only at the beginning of the Bronze rank. With my double awakening, it's not a great achievement."

"You indeed have an advantage with your double awakenings, but the double awakening is not a 'free' blessing as you imagine. Once you breakthrough to a new rank, you will understand why the double awakened are afraid to breakthrough."

"Will my body be unable to sustain the crystal essence charge when I breakthrough to the Bronze rank?"

"You cultivate the Heavenly Sun Body. Your whole body is greatly improved, you may not have felt it, but your current body is much stronger than an early stage Bronze rank, even without using the crystal essence to strengthen it. It's not the crystal essence charge that should worry you. Double awakened are an irregularity that goes against the laws of the universe. They cannot be tolerated by them, unlike normal cultivators who will experience a Heavenly Tribulation when advancing to the Transcendent realms. A Heavenly Tribulation can appear at each breakthrough for a double awakened. Not only do they have to undergo a Heavenly Tribulation before reaching the realm of the transcendents, but they do not even know when it could appear if a double awakened is unlucky, the Heavenly Tribulations could occur with each breakthrough to a rank, but it can also become a blessing if you manage to resist them."

Runihoril's words came as a shock for Kieran. He had heard about Heavenly Tribulations before, and even though it was just stories like a myth for ordinary people, several Human Transcendents had given information regarding Heavenly Tribulations.

Going to the realm of the Transcendents was extremely dangerous because of the Heavenly Tribulations. If a cultivator was careless, not only would he fail, but he could also lose his life. To reach the realm of the Transcendents, one had to be ready to pass a test of life and death, but if one could pass this test, then the strength and the lifespan would increase drastically, being incomparable to what it was before reaching it. It was not for nothing that those existences were called 'Transcendents'. They could no longer be called mere mortals at all.

"I've never heard of that." said Kieran.

"There may be very few double awakened in your race. Unless any of them choose to disclose this information, your race might perceive the double awakened individual who perished during the Heavenly Tribulation as simply succumbing to an overwhelming surge of crystal essence."

Kieran wants to doubt Runihoril's words, but thinking back to the history of humankind that had disappeared before the Dark Ages, he begins to think that Runihoril might be right.

"Are you scared?" Runihoril asked.

"It would be wrong to say that I feel no fear, but since I was young, I have dreamed of exploring the universe and its countless worlds. Even if there is a great chance I will die following my dream, I won't stop no matter what!"

Runihoril looked at Kieran's eyes, he could see absolute confidence hiding in them. A slight smile emerged on his face.

'I don't know how long it's been since I was locked in my dimension, but I'm glad this youngster found me. I may not stay on my planet once we reach it. I want to see what this kid will accomplish in the future.'

"Haha, those are big words you have there for just an Iron rank. You're going to have to train hard if you want to achieve your dream. Let's start by finding the sea."

Kieran nodded and began to recover all the valuable materials from the cyan wolf's corpses.

Runihoril glanced behind him.

"More soul crystals?"

"Yes." Kieran said, holding several soul crystals in his arms.

"There's something weird about your body. I don't know why, but every crystal beast you kill forms a soul crystal as if the collapse of their spiritual world is being controlled to form a soul crystal slowly."

Kieran was silent. He thought of his ability to see the paths of evolution of the crystal trees.

'Is it related?'

He trusted Runihoril, but he didn't want to talk to him about his ability to see evolution paths. Although he didn't know much about the universe, he knew the importance of evolution paths for a cultivator.

"It doesn't matter if it comes from your body or from your insolent luck. If you can get a soul crystal every time you kill a crystal beast and have a complete evolution path, your future is unlimited. But you must Be careful not to reveal this information. You don't realize how many people would be looking for you if they find out."

"I understand."

He nodded and continued on his way through the forest.

As he walked, he suddenly felt a wave of energy enter his body, making him stop. He turned his head to the left, trying to see into the distance.

"Did you hear that?" Kieran asked.

"Hear what?"

"Didn't you hear a call for help?"

"I didn't hear anything."

"It seemed to me like someone was crying for help."

A new wave of energy crossed the forest before reaching Kieran again.

"There! It's happening again. Didn't you hear it?"

Runihoril frowned.

"I didn't hear anything."

"It was in this direction."

As he progressed toward the source of the energy waves, their frequency appeared to intensify, growing in number with each step he took in their direction.

"You should be careful. We don't know what may appear."

"I know, but it's a strange feeling like someone is begging me to help them."

After an hour, he saw the end of the forest and a beach, and without hesitation, he rushed forward.

"It's the sea!"

A huge expanse of water appeared in his eyes as he admired the view, a new wave of energy passed through him.

He continued to walk along the beach, following the waves of energy, when he saw a form lying on the beach.

"That?! That's a whale?"

Stranding on the beach was a whale ten meters long with blue skin, a translucent white horn was at the top of her forehead while light blue lines formed a mark at the base of her horn, extending over her entire body.

The whale's body was filled with bloody wounds all over her body. Her body moved slightly when she felt Kieran's presence close to her.

"I've never seen this kind of whale in all the information I gathered before coming here. It looks like it's injured. Is it her who called for help?"

Runihoril looked at the whale for a moment with a surprised look.

"Its a young Bronze rank spiritual whale. It's a very rare race. I didn't expect to see one alive again after all this time."

Kieran slowly approached the spiritual whale before caressing it.

"Spiritual whales possess the remarkable ability to communicate with their souls through their horns, emitting waves of energy that can reach the souls of all those they reach, which is also one of the reasons why they have become a rare race. Countless cultivators desire this horn."

Kieran started to look at the wounds on the spiritual whale. He felt his heart tighten a bit when he saw the wounds all over her body.

"These wounds are too deep for me to help."

"You can give her all the crystal cores you have acquired so far. It should help her recover. If you keep hunting on this island for a few days, you can help her recover fully."

"Let's do that!"

He took out all the crystal cores from his aurora collar, whether they were from the Iron rank or Bronze rank. Seeing all the crystal cores in front of her, the spiritual whale opened her mouth, slowly extending her tongue toward the crystal core. Kieran saw that the spiritual whale had trouble catching them and decided to help her.

After swallowing all the crystal core, a faint blue light emerged around the spiritual whale's wounds, slowly healing each of its wounds, but the process was extremely long with such a large body.

"She’s starting to heal. In a few days, she should be back in good shape. If you want to heal her, you must take care of her during this time. Let’s try to find some medicinal herbs to help her recover faster."

"I don't know any medicinal herbs."

"Don't worry. I'll guide you."

"Yes."

Kieran gently caressed the spiritual whale, which emitted a faint sound.

"I come back soon."