Chapter 4451: Den Of Death

"Patriarch, why did you send her to that place? We finally had a kin who is able to give birth, but you dare to send her to her death!?"

Yin became emotional and burst out right in front of his face.

The Patriarch reeled back, looking tired and exhausted, "Don’t blame me. She’s the one who wants to go inside. Besides, if she really did have no racial curse plaguing her anymore, then she might finally be able to do it."

"Do what?"

Schleya strode forward, her crimson eyes gleaming with a solemn light, "You have not told us anything."

The Patriarch blinked at Schleya, "But I have told her, and she still decided she wanted to go. Who are you to intervene in the affairs of the clan?"

Schleya clenched her fists. She suppressed the intent to simply draw out her twin curved blades and moved her lips, "I’m her sister, married to the same man. I have all the privilege in the world to ask about her whereabouts and safety."

"Perfect, we’ll rile up the truth of the situation from her. This is too suspicious."

"Yom, enough of the suspicion. Here, they cannot do anything, so you’re just being rude to our guests."

"But Patriarch-" Yom seemed disgruntled.

However, he eventually went silent, glaring at Schleya and the others to not make any stupid moves. His gaze was full of warning.

Illumina inwardly heaved a sigh. The Nether Springs Death Wolf Clan was more civilized than they expected. Considering that they could speak the Sky World Language fluently instead of the language widely spoken here, which seemed to be a language from the Nether Devils, she presumed that most of them were from the Celestial Transcendent Galaxy or, at least, the higher-ups of at that time like the Patriarch were from the Celestial Transcendent Galaxy.

From top to bottom, it shaped their culture, although they didn’t seem to have anything going on other than peace and quiet until an intruder stepped in.

The Patriarch of the Nether Springs Death Wolf turned to look at Schleya, "I have informed her that-"

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Nadia took a deep breath and stepped into the Den of Death, the sacred cave of the Nether Springs Death Wolf Clan.

She walked inside slowly in her beast form, her steps light.

Unlike the wild dens scattered around the territory, this cave appeared to have been built and glorified.

Chiseled obsidian walls stretched tall on either side, adorned with murals that bled with a faint purple glow. There were depictions of ancient wolves descending upon Nether Devils, devouring enemies by moonless twilight, and bathing in the nether springs to receive power. The very floor was etched with ancient sigils, inscriptions that resonate with the soul, carved so precisely that each step Nadia took reverberated with a strange energy, resonating through her bones.

She felt this energy was from her ancestors.

The entrance corridor was eerily silent, with the nether haze outside unable to penetrate the cave. Here, the air was thick with nether-death energy, making her feel empowered.

At the end of the grand tunnel, the path opened into a round sanctum. In the center stood a massive statue of black stone carved in the shape of an ancient wolf with obscure features, seated on its hind legs, fangs bared, and its pitch-black eyes giving off an aura of dread.

As Nadia stepped forward, the eye began to gleam.

A pulse echoed through the chamber.

A voice boomed in her soul.

"If you wish to seek the history of this place and the truth behind the bloodline suppression, withstand the pressure."

The next moment, a terrifying amount of pressure struck Nadia, causing her body to bend unnaturally. The nether-death energy that made her feel empowered was now like poison, seeking to send her flying.

She narrowed her eyes, tremblingly raising her head and staring at the ancestral statue that didn’t resemble a Nether Springs Death Wolf. However, she could feel that there was a remnant soul inside the statue that laid dormant.

She took a step forward slowly, brushing past the frightening nether-death energy, and moved forward.

She couldn’t believe this kind of pressure even had an effect on an Emperor-Tier Wolf like her, finally allowing her to understand why Yin and the other wolves didn’t seem to know about the true history or they knew but weren’t willing to speak due to karmic burden.

"Mhmp~"

Nadia harrumphed with arrogance. Her prowess roared into encompassing her presence, allowing her to walk through nether-death energy with ease. She easily withstood the pressure and walked ahead thanks to the power of the Gilded Realm Ascendant Pill, further aiding her prowess.

The contraptions placed here were unable to stop her. Even the pressure increased the further she walked. However, it was no longer capable of stopping her as she felt it to be weak.

Soon, she was in front of the statue.

The pressure abruptly disappeared, and the statue shook ever so lightly, a soul manifesting out of it in the shape of a wolf. Its features were not clear since it was shrouded in darkness, but its crimson-purple eyes were visible like a pair of evil orbs, causing Nadia to be shaken.

"Descendant..." A low yet solemn female voice echoed, "You have cleared the first level of the Den of Death, summoning this old self from slumber. Is there anything you wish to know-uh? You... you are an Anarchic Divergent?"

Nadia blinked.

She wondered how this remnant soul was able to tell. People other than Heaven’s Warriors should not be able to tell as it was not something that they could sense, but today, two individuals discovered her divergence.

"Yes," Nadia repeated the same thing- that she became an Anarchic Divergent for breaking the bloodline curse.

"You’re claiming that you broke the bloodline curse? How can that be possible? Let me see... mhm? It is not gone but fractured. It may not affect you now, but the choices you make ahead will determine whether it returns or not. Sigh, all of the death-attribute wolves above the Saint Beast Rank are cursed, never to give birth again. If that wasn’t the case, we wouldn’t have gone extinct."

"..."

Nadia was simply speechless. Again, how was this wolf able to tell if she still had the curse or not?

In her mind, even Davis couldn’t do that, so no one should be capable of that.

Nonetheless, she retained her composure, "Then what should I do?"

"That is not for me to say. Perhaps it will be good for you not to be burdened with the knowledge of the bloodline curse for now. This way- you will be able to remain ignorant in the eyes of the heavens and make further gains, unlike us who were unable to."

"What? I want to know." Nadia demanded.

However, the remnant soul began to wisp away.

"Beyond this gate, you will find two more paths. Opening one path takes a significant amount of energy from me, but you are worthy of both, so I will allow you to step into both when you wish."

A faint seal appeared in the air with the mark of the crescent before it descended and fell on Nadia’s forehead, imbuing into her purplish-black horn.

"Wait-"

Nadia echoed, but the remnant soul simply disappeared, leaving her sighing.

She walked around the statue and saw two gates, one to the left and one to the right. The aura of death was more on the right, causing her heart rate to plummet. She could sense that many Nether Springs Death Wolves had died on the right path.

However, she had chosen to take both paths because-

============

"I have informed her that at the first level, she will be tested if she is worthy, and then the ancestral spirit will answer her questions. This should clear most of the suspicions we have about her true intent. Next, there are two paths she could take: one to become like me, a being entrenched in the ghost of ancestral spirits of our Nether Springs Death Wolf Race, emulating what you would consider a Mythical Tier Beast."

"Mythical Tier?" Schleya’s pupils shrunk.

Verena and the others were also stunned. What was that?

"Yes," The Patriarch sounded proud, "Although we’re only emulating it and not exactly becoming one. Entering the Bloodspring Chamber and withstanding the incredible pressure from the hopes and hatred of those souls without allowing them to consume her should allow her to become extremely strong. When she uses the Divine Nether Totem, she could easily battle against Peak Exalts like me."

"...!" Nyoran and the others shuddered.

This race was simply too overpowered. They couldn’t help but feel the heavens suppressed them for good. However, this was only possible in the Nether Dimension due to the totem, so it didn’t make sense to suppress them everywhere.

"Lastly, the path to the right is where most of our brethren have fallen."

The Patriarch’s old face turned glum when he said, "The Deathhowl Crypt is where a Nether Springs Death Wolf must die in order to undergo evolution to become a Deathhowl Revenant Wolf. After reaching the Immortal Emperor Beast Stage, only through forced hibernation, death from exhaustion, and arousing Will to overcome death can we seek to evolve. Pretty simple yet difficult, but regardless of how we do, it fails every time because of the bloodline curse. That’s why you see none of us manage to enter the Grand Saint Magical Beast Rank even though we’re all Emperor-Tier and King-Tier beasts."

"...!" Schleya nearly threw a punch out, her fists raised, "You’re asking her to die!?"

"If her claim that she broke the bloodline curse is true, then she should be able to become a Deathhowl Revenant Wolf easily!"

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