Chapter 227 – The Divine Elements

“Every time I talk to you, I get nothing but bad news.”

A deep and mellow voice echoed on top of an abandoned hill.

“Master…”

Zieter continued but was immediately stopped by the voice.

“You haven’t discovered why Zarvel failed in his mission, nor did you find out who killed him. Moreover, I ordered you to send assassins into the human city to get rid of any obstacles and yet, you followed neither of my commands. Maybe, I should put someone else in charge of the Darklings.”

A cloud of dark mist hovered above the Darkling General, exuding a dense and powerful aura.

The aura of an Immortal.

“Forgive me, Master, but the situation is somewhat delicate. The Darklings are a fearsome army; however, they lack the proper intelligence to carry out complex orders. I wanted to wait until we were closer to the city before sending out a troop of assassins into the city. As for Zarvel, we located his corpse but can’t figure out who killed him. In the next few days, I promise to look into this matter personally.”

Zieter lowered his head.

Fuck, what else am I supposed to say? Should I tell him that I already sent over fifty assassins into the city and none of them returned? He’ll kill me for being a failure. Better live as an incompetent leader than a dead body. Damn those humans!

Zieter shut his eyes, praying his Master didn’t delve any further.

“If I wasn’t pressed for time, I would have replaced you long ago. Things are escalating in the Divine Realm as we speak, so we don’t have long to bring our plans to fruition. Before the others realize what’s going on, we need to have everything ready here. Also, what’s the status of the other mission?”

The dark mist trembled with excitement. And hunger.

“The Red Woman is still looking for them. She believes that she sensed one of them near the human city and another one up north.”

Zieter finally brightened up. He had at least one good news to deliver to his Master.

“Hmm… I wonder which ones these two are. It’s been a while since I met my fellow Divine Element Inheritors.”

A hearty chuckle rumbled within the dark mist.

……………………..

“That was dangerous, Calron.”

The familiar voice of the Grand Elder confronted Calron inside his mind. He couldn’t physically see the old man’s soul but could feel his presence around him.

“What happened?”

Calron thought out load, still dazed by his earlier experience.

“You tried something which even the Heavenly stage experts dare not. You merged your soul with another creature.”

The old man’s scolded Calron, evident displeasure within his voice.

“I wasn’t trying to merge my soul with it, I was merely trying to observe.”

Calron responded, trying to recall his memories.

“Yes, but your observation led to you unknowingly join your soul with the ant. You have to remember, Calron, that in your soul form you are very vulnerable. If untrained, the moment your soul gets close to another untrained one, you both will start to resonate until the two souls merge. That’s why newly Saint stage cultivators don’t use soul power except to freeze someone's body momentarily. Blindly experimenting with the soul will only take you down an irreversible path.”

The Grand Elder explained.

“I’m sorry, Grand Elder, I was curious and didn’t realize what I had done until it was too late.”

Calron apologized, glad that the old man was there to pull him out.

The Grand Elder grunted in response, and Calron felt his presence starting to leave him.

“Wait! I want to ask you something. Where are the other Elders? I haven’t seen you or the others near the camp.”

Calron floated towards the direction where he sensed the old man.

“You’ll find out in a bit anyway, so no harm in telling you now. The Darkling army is approaching our area, Calron. The other Elders and I have been busy with preparing the defenses of our new city.”

“Huh? Doesn’t the Darkling army have to pass through Selior city before they can come to us?”

Calron inquired, baffled at the sudden news. He thought he would have more time to train until war broke out, especially now with his crippled body.

“Correct, and according to our scouts, they are almost there. However, their General is known to not play by the rules and who is to say that he’ll attack us only after conquering Selior city? None of the ex-slaves are trained to fight in wars, and if a battle does take place, it’ll be up to the Raizel clan to protect them.”

The Grand Elder floated above the sky while Calron trailed behind him.

“You sound like you already know that Selior city will fall.”

Calron had an ominous feeling.

“The King and the Tower clans have some of the strongest cultivators of the human kingdoms, but against an immortal, it’s all useless. The Patriarch has already told you a bit about the one I’m talking about, and you’ll remember that the Darklings are not the enemy to fear. It’s the god they worship and the one who rules over their race: the inheritor of the Divine Element of Darkness.”

The Grand Elder sighed and finished in a quiet voice.

“He’s like me…”

Calron murmured silently. However, he couldn’t fathom that someone with the same power as him was an Immortal and worshiped as a god. The Azure Lightning was definitely mighty, but Calron didn’t believe that it was comparable to an omniscient power.

“No, Calron, he’s nothing like you. Your Divine Element has yet to mature and is still in its infant stage. Whereas, the Divine Element of Darkness has existed for over hundreds of thousands of years! He had long surpassed the realm of common Immortals, and is in a league of his own.”

The old man stated to an astonished Calron.

“Aren’t there other Divine Element inheritors to stop him?”

Calron had a feeling that something was strange. How did the Divine Element of Darkness grow this powerful, and why the sudden interest in the mortal world if he’s already an Immortal?

“The situation in the Divine Realm is hard to explain, but there are only two other Divine Element inheritors known in that realm, the inheritor of Water and Earth. The remaining inheritors have been lost to the world for centuries, and that’s why we have kept your existence hidden from the rest. We don’t know how the Divine Realm will react with the discovery of the Divine Element of Lightning, and things are already unstable there. Enough with these questions, Calron, you don’t have to worry about them now. You’ve stayed out of your body for a long time, so it’s best you return.”

The old man abruptly ended their discussion and vanished, leaving a conflicted Calron behind.

He’s hiding something.

Calron brooded while slowly flying towards his hut. Since the beginning, the Patriarch and the Elders knew he had the Azure Lightning and Calron always felt like they knew more about it than he did.

The only problem was, what was it that they kept trying to hide it from him.

Who am I really?

A/N: So it looks like a lot of people freaked out when I didnt release the yesterday's chapter in time. Chill out guys, if you've been following TDE for a while now, you know that I always explain my actions and don't shy away. I didnt say everything in last chapter post because I was simply exhausted and had to deal with transfering my stuff to the other laptop. So let's start :)

First of all, I'm a university student in my final year. I don't write full time as I still have to focus on my education. For the ones saying how can I fall behind a three-chapter-a-week routine, you need to understand that I study engineering. It's a demanding degree with tonnes of work and stress. Even those three chapters a week is tough for me, but I still do it because you know what? I plan on going full time after I graduate, and writing is truly my passion. It lets me forget the stress university brings and I can immerse myself in the TDE world I created.

I don't only have to attend classes, but as a final year, I have multiple projects I have to finish and one of them requires going to a factory several times a week for certain manufacturing tasks. I have to stay late sometimes for group meetings and other assignments for various classes. Midterms are coming, so that's another stress for me right now.

Here's my schedule at the moment: https://imgur.com/kPzxdZ0, as you can see my monday was filled with classes from morning to 7.30 pm until evening without rest. In that short break at 12.30, i had my breakfast and then didnt get time for lunch the whole day. I filled myself with snacks from the vending machine. I was utterly exhausted when I returned to my room but I remembered I had to release a chapter so I quickly posted it and set an alarm for a few hours so I could nap. However, I slept through it and woke up in the middle of the night and remembered I hadnt eaten all day. i couldnt order food as it was too late, so I had to manage with a sandwich from a cafeteria on campus.

I have to manage my social life, studies, family, writing, etc all at once and it takes a toll. I'm not complaining, but letting you guys know that just because i release 3 chapters a week doesnt mean I do nothing else on the other days :D

I dont even look forward to christmas or new year because my finals are around then, as Turkish Universities dont give us holidays for christmas (so I still have to go to classes on 25th december) and only a two day holiday for new years. I actually have an exam a before the 1st and another on the 3rd :(

Now, I dont like going too much into my personal life as it is quite hectic at the moment. Im exhausted 90% of the time, but eventually after this semester all of this will be over and I can finally go full time into writing. Obviously, I won't just be doing 3 chapters a week then :P

Anyways, just wanted to put this out there for the readers mad at me for being late with the chapters. I still love you guys as you being mad at the tardiness shows you care that much for TDE (^.^)/

Cheers,

Daman

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