Defiance of the Fall Chapter 1410: Emergent Pool

As they observed the distant feeding frenzy, Ogras grumbled, “You really jinxed us with your doomsday theories.”

To evade involvement, Ogras and Tavza had allied to cloak themselves in Abyssal shadows. Zac pondered whether this concealment would hold as a mere stopgap. The inhabitants of Emergent Pool seemed utterly deranged, poised to assault any hint of energy the instant their true foes dwindled.

Following three days of navigating descending plateaus and probing gravesites, they located the subsequent realmgate effortlessly. Just as Ogras noted, certain ones held funerary artifacts or relics, yet their condition typically fared worse than the scant souvenirs he retrieved from his excursion. The majority had forfeited all spirituality, even amid the enriching influence of the fertile soil.

Merely the mightiest treasures preserved any practicality, though their potency had eroded to irrelevance for Hegemons. They chose to abandon them. Expert Restoration Artisans might restore the pieces nearer to their former splendor, but the expense and duration would exceed forging a fresh Spirit Tool.

On a brighter side, their explorations of the graveyards yielded valuable insights. For instance, the graves resembled the boulders encountered in Crushing Hell. The tombstones formed components of vast formations that merged artificial arrays with Natural Formations. Though long inactive, patterns allowed someone like Tavza to extract numerous hints by following the designs.

The graves marking primary array nodes appeared indistinguishable from surrounding ones, and endless erosion had obscured further indicators. Nevertheless, solely the most formidable martyrs could rest at those positions to maintain the formation. Often, it was precisely there that treasures lingered with traces of usefulness.

Understanding the burial spots of various corroded remnants would grow increasingly beneficial ahead. The Hollow Chasm's plateaus created a loop where fresh graves radiating Killing Intent gradually surrendered to nature. Departed warriors nourished the Fertile Earth, channeling their power back to the Empire rather than the Cosmos.

The graves they had met thus far resided in advanced phases of this shift, explaining the futility of discovered items. Greater odds existed for unearthing Natural Treasures on those plateaus, although the soil resisted yielding its gifts. Conditions would alter descending to inferior tiers, where some graves seemed freshly placed. Genuine potential for valuable finds awaited there.

The following realmgate transported them to one of the Nine Gardens, evoking in Zac visions of the twilight ocean. This realm drowned in liquified energy, derived from Pure Life over Twilight Energy. No visible surface existed, as far as Zac discerned, without chance for deeper probing. Tavza recognized it as the Ninth Garden, Emergent Pool.

One faction comprised brown, robust fish exuding the robust pressure of body tempering. Their scales formed thick barriers, resembling drifting pinecones. Yet, defense wasn't their sole focus. The breed featured vicious horns capable of firing penetrating energy blasts, with leading ones harnessing true intent. They also boasted burst speeds, enabling direct skewers of opponents.

The opposing group consisted of a tinier school of lithe silver fish. Remarkably, they could shed unique back scales and wield them akin to a sword formation. Leaders manipulated thousands of keen-edged scales, even uniting for potent joint strikes.

The fray grew wildly disorderly with thousands of E- and D-grade beasts engaged, but the schools had descended into madness. Though primarily assaulting rivals, ample internal strife erupted post-kill. The fish behaved as ravenous specters, willing to slay kin for scraps. At this rate, Zac wouldn't marvel if a lone survivor endured.

“No, this is precisely how Emergent Pool operates,” Tavza stated.

“Should?” Ogras queried.

“I never anticipated entering the Lower Planes in this trial, and the Nine Gardens escaped my studies. My scant knowledge of the inferior seven stems from rumors or chance fragments during ancient record translations,” Tavza explained. “Regarding the two principal gardens? I'm as clueless as you.”

“Whatever you share aids us,” Zac replied.

“This plane functions as a colossal Insect Rearing Furnace. Ascension through consuming adversaries. Observe the transformations unfolding.”

“They’re expanding,” Ogras whistled. “Hold on, did that lead hornfish just shed its horn? It's wielding it like a flying sword!”

“Ingesting sufficient foes from another race lets victors assimilate the enemy's bloodline powers. Likely, these school heads deliberately bred offspring since only vast battles supply ample biological essence,” Tavza elaborated.

“Sacrificing heirs to foes, then devouring the foes?” Ogras chuckled. “Sufficiently brutal.”

“Beyond fresh powers, they're acquiring more. Certain frail survivors have leaped two minor realms already. A handful even ascended to Beast Kings amid combat,” Zac murmured. “How could that occur?”

“The Dao of Life in Emergent Pool has liberated all evolutionary barriers. Moreover, these aren't standard beasts. They are spirits adhering to distinct rules from genuine lifeforms. They'll persist advancing provided biological material abounds.”

“What cheats,” Ogras grumbled.

“A cost accompanies it,” Zac observed, scrutinizing the energy currents in the frenzied beings. “Their lifeforce burns like kindling, and consumption fuels the blaze further. They'll fade swiftly once sustenance depletes.”

“Emergent Pool offers no cultivation paradise. It embodies insatiable hunger and despair,” Tavza stated evenly.

“What's the boundary? Could they reach Supremacies by endless feeding?” Zac inquired.

“Doubtful. Rapid integration of alien traits invites inevitable breakdown. Should they endure, would the Realmlord tolerate a rival's emergence? Besides, this sealed area's energy sustains nothing past Early C-grade. Intriguing, the surrounding energy dips below prior realms,” Tavza mused, casting a quick glance at Zac. “STOP!”

Zac halted right as he neared a bite of jerky. “What? Their starvation started influencing me.”

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“Curb the impulse. Though not spirits, we remain subject to the Ninth Garden's Laws.”

“We are?” Zac questioned, promptly inspecting inward.

Similar to Tavza and Ogras, he had barred ambient energy from entering since arrival. He recalled his organs nearly awakening sentience in Poised Meadows. Thus far, all seemed fine. Neither [Purity of the Void], [Void Heart], nor [Immutability of Eoz] detected invading energies or effects to purge.

Concurrently, Zac sensed hunger sharpening fiercely, verifying an anomaly. Triggering [Void Mountain] yielded no result. The Ninth Garden's governing Laws exceeded his constitution's countermeasures, implying [Void Zone] offered scant efficacy at most.

“Consuming beast flesh or even flora will infuse you with their attributes,” Tavza restated.

Opting for caution, Zac stored the provision. “So, what's our course? Mere minutes here, and hunger grips me.”

“Restraining power and shunning clashes should lessen the impact. When endurance fails, we'll ingest pills in a shielded space. It remains risky, yet pill refinement's purification may curb mutations. We'll address remnants post-departure,” Tavza proposed after deliberation.

By discussion's end, the supreme winner emerged: a scale-wielding silver fish leader. It eroded its chief foe's unbreachable guard via a scale whirlwind. Each scale bore dense flesh chunks inward, eviscerating the Beast King internally.

Its sparse surviving kin appeared to grasp victory's peril. Just two swift ones fled promptly, the others perishing as fodder. The lone champion lingered, devouring maximal blood essence before vanishing into golden depths.

The Peak D-grade's dorsal scales peeled away, its rear vibrating soon after blood absorption. Employing pulses to locate prey, it departed swiftly. Zac gauged the gore feast extended its existence by a month utmost. The spirit endured ceaseless evolution. Exhausted reserves would prompt cellular cannibalism.

“Depart before blood scent lures worse threats,” Zac urged.

“Recall, restrain yourselves and evade fights,” Tavza instructed, eyeing Zac prolongedly.

Planning proved simpler than execution. Natives, trapped in eternal famine where skipped meals spelled doom, honed acute senses. Their joint stealth evaded some, but frequent pursuits ensued. Even E-grade weaklings endangered by summoning fiercer pursuers.

Fortune favored them as frenzied Beast Emperors broadcasted glaring energy auras, simplifying dodges. Their sustenance desperation led to location broadcasts, sparking remote titan clashes and tempests.

Zac observed powerless as Ogras felled a Middle D-grade sea slug, sensing déjà vu. Bearing a Life-attuned Constitution—perhaps due to it—he endured worst in Emergent Pool. Despite maximal sealing, agonizing hunger assailed within hours.

Tavza managed slightly superiorly. Unlike Zac, she continually invoked her bloodline against the Life environment. Her robust constitution, nearing Zac's, provoked intensified evolutionary reactions.

Ogras cleared paths this instance via his odd constitution. His form blended shadows and illusions from [Spiritlock Physique] practice, remaining hunger-free despite scouting and hunter repels.

When Zac and Tavza neared breaking, they hollowed a cavern in low-energy locale. Tavza erected Abyssal-empowered isolating arrays, draining all vitality from the space. Shadow cocoon followed, then [Void Zone]'s void. Inside the null zone, the trio devoured fasting pills voraciously until hunger receded from dominance.

“An issue persists,” a wan Tavza uttered after time.

“I sense minor anomalies, but post-exit fixes seem straightforward,” Zac assessed, body-scanning. Some skeletons bore verdant patches radiating herbal essence.

“Not that,” Tavza clarified. “Spirits are scarce.”

“Scarce?” Ogras scoffed. “I've battled nonstop today essentially.”

“Per my knowledge, the Ninth Garden boasts densest populace. They breed relentlessly, the realm spawning species ceaselessly. Life should teem universally, yet we've spotted barren submerged isles and vacant expanses,” Tavza noted. “As if the realm hemorrhages, fracturing its cycle.”

“This constitutes the diminished Emergent Pool?” Zac winced, vowing distance from the authentic version. “Sangha scheming anew?”

“Warrants probe, though extended residence dooms us,” Tavza affirmed. “I've pinpointed the next realmgate's approximate site.”

“Uncover what we can. Resolving it grants further Imperial Merit,” Zac decided.

Five days of searching unveiled the offender. Unexpectedly, the Buddhist Sangha cleared suspicion this round, barring responsibility for implanting a massive coral reef in the pocket realm.

Typically havens for sea life, this reef echoed with silence. Elevated ambient energy intensified the foreboding. Fauna wisely avoided proximity, justifiably so. Zac's hunger surged alarmingly near it.

Tavza toiled urgently unraveling the enigma. The reef turned lethal via microscopic algae secretion, heightening Ninth Garden's evolutionary drive. Upon discovery, she unleashed Pure Death orb, eradicating life mile-wide. Instantly, laws normalized.

“These are primordial,” Ogras murmured, eyeing vibrant corals. “Living?”

“Indeed,” Zac verified. “Their lifeforce stabilizes extraordinarily. They've attained immunity to local laws.”

“Ah, the truth emerges,” Ogras assented. “This entity devours energy for gradual expansion, its algae deterring beasts from approach or assault.”

“Beyond defense, I suspect,” Tavza opined, probing a vast cavity laced with root-like filaments. “This passage filters water deliberately.”

“Filters what? Energy density matches elsewhere,” Zac remarked, then spotting nuance. “No, hold. The energy's purified somehow.”

“Purged of perpetual blood essence spills realm-wide. These serve digestive paths, dozens identical observed,” Tavza detailed.

“Thus, this static rock preys on millions of beasts—Beast Emperors included—motionless,” Ogras marveled. “Ultimate predator.”

Zac abruptly lunged, axe cleaving nearby structure. He dislodged merely a palm-sized coral fragment. The strike prompted fresh algae bloom, compelling Tavza's second purge.

“Eradicating entirely timely proves unfeasible. Target the core flaw,” Zac declared, viewing myriad tendrils in closest “mouth.”

“Commence. Prolonged stay imperils us,” Tavza urged.

The fibrous tendons resisted fiercely, demanding multiple Zac strikes to sever. Fortunately, merely 23 channels spanned the coral expanse, the structure lacking active retaliation. The colossal entity persisted algae generation, only for Abyssal Death to annihilate it.

By dismantling filters, they severed the reef's energy renewal. Devoid thereof, it would exhaust reserves, ceasing algae output and courting famine. So theory held. Verification impossible without lingering, risking overlooked contingencies or filter reconstruction.

Zac's starvation birthed abhorrent visions of allies as meals, echoed in their gazes. Meanwhile, his form neared critical mutation thresholds. As mutations integrated inherently and Creation Energy depleted, manual excision loomed. Unchecked spread to cellular cores or marrow risked indelible harm.

The group fled instantly post-final tendon severance. No cataclysmic blasts or beast swarms validated success. Solely minor destiny influx in seals accompanied their realmgate dash, abandoning a quiet demise to foster renewal.

Given Emergent Pool's frenzied life tempo, ensuing Sealbearers would confront a vastly livelier vista.