"I am not convinced."
Xinyue's bold words rang through the halls of the golden palace without care.
Damien smiled in response. It wasn't as if this wasn't what he expected from her.
"What are you not convinced by? You've seen my strength, you've understood my status, is there still something that needs to be proved before I can inherit what's rightfully mine?" He asked.
Xinyue gritted her teeth. This method of speaking about the Ancient God Clan like it was an object…
"I cannot accept someone like you as the owner of our Ancient God Clan!" She yelled, defiantly staring into his eyes.
Damien flashed, appearing not even a few inches away from Xinyue, allowing their breaths to mingle.
"Then, what would it take for you to accept me?"
Xinyue pushed away from him and hardened her eyes.
From what she understood about Damien's personality, he wasn't this type of disrespecting and lecherous person. For him to be acting this way…
'Is he testing me?'
Of course, it wasn't some sort of extremely important test, but it was a test nonetheless.
Rather than testing Xinyue, he was more testing the Ancient God Clan's attitude, something which Xinyue could represent easily with her status.
And from Xinyue's reaction, it became clear that subordinating themselves to someone wasn't the problem.
The problem was "who" they subordinated themselves to.
In that case…
"Tell me, is there some kind of trial or something? From your reaction, it seems you only want 'worthy people' to control your clan. It shouldn't be too hard to take that position, don't you think?"
Xinyue furrowed her brows. He wasn't wrong. The Ancient God Clan did have their own Trial Land that would usually be used in situations like this. In fact, there were several people who tried to control the Ancient God Clan in the past who failed the trials and died.
However, if the Ancient God Clan was truly created by Void Palace members, didn't that mean the Trial Land wouldn't pose any problems for Damien?
After all, the entire clan was made for him to inherit.
Honestly, the fact that several hundreds of thousands of years of effort had been put in for this single purpose was still unfathomable to her.
'Then again, I have yet to read the clan's ancient records.'
The ancient records could only be read by those approved by the Clan Head. A portion of the highest elders were the only ones who received this honor aside from the Clan Head herself.
Xinyue was supposed to be granted this authority if she performed well in the Void Corridor, but currently, she didn't know whether she'd still be able to.
Nevertheless, she couldn't decide on such a matter, and in the end, she wasn't the one in control of the Ancient God Clan.
"When the Void Corridor opens, come with me to meet my mother. Your goal of conquering our clan will depend on her decision." Xinyue said indifferently.
Damien sighed lightly. "It seems you despise me now?"
Xinyue shook her head in denial. "No, I'm merely overwhelmed by the things that I've learned. It is natural considering that my entire lifeblood has been reduced to a tool that was created for others."
"Hmm…"
Damien cracked a wry smile, not knowing how to respond.
After all, wasn't this sprung on him out of nowhere as well?
It was just that, after the conversation he had with Dante, this level of news couldn't surprise him anymore.
Void Palace had always existed behind the scenes of Grand Heavens Boundary even though the force itself was located in the Heavenly World. Damien was smart enough to understand that a good portion of his development was likely influenced by Void Palace's guiding hand.
Now that he'd grown, this guiding hand showed itself before him, allowing him to decide how to use it.
"Very well," he said, "I will accompany you to the Ancient God Clan once we leave the Void Corridor. Until then, do as you please. The resources in the palace are free to use."
With those words, Damien vanished, entering the Sanctuary to train by himself.
The atmosphere between Elize and Xinyue froze the instant he left, making it evident that some extremely emotional conversations were about to take place, but that was between the two of them.
Damien had no interest in what the Ancient God Clan felt about the truth of their existence. In the end, he had nothing to do with them before he met Xinyue, which also meant that their problems were unrelated to him.
At least, until they accepted him as their ruler.
When that day came, they'd receive the same treatment as his subordinates.
But before that, he didn't deign to waste time on them.
There were more important things to be done. Mainly, increasing strength.
'Regardless of how long it's been, the Bloodlock Clan's pursuit will begin soon. I need to be prepared to face a few extreme peak masters at the very least. In the worst case scenario, I need to have countermeasures against a Supreme.'
Damien sat in his own personal training area with the heavenly vine's "life sack" in his grasp. He lightly cut open the top, using space to maintain the sack's shape and disallow the liquid from spilling.
Immediately, a strong aura of life and death blasted the atmosphere.
Damien inhaled this breath with his eyes closed.
'It's more life aura than death, however, the duality of the two concepts is still reflected here. Unlike my previous life and death comprehension, however…'
The concept he felt within the heavenly vine's lifeblood was intrinsically tied to the concept of "siphoning."
The Life Laws taught one how to siphon other people's life force for oneself or even share their own lifeforce with others. This concept was similar to [Heal], however, [Heal] was a far more refined version.
[Heal] was able to siphon life aura from the universe itself for healing purposes, which was why it was so sure-fire.
Nevertheless, just as it could siphon and control Life, the vine also learned to emulate these effects with death.
'It's like a curse. The concept is just like the Life Bullets I used to kill the Nox at the first few strongholds, but before today, I wasn't able to perfectly define these laws.'
Damien had been using a rudimentary form of this ability without knowing how to grow it. The addition of the heavenly vine's comprehension into his own would be a massive boon, more than he ever expected to receive from this "life sack."
'Devour.'
His mana enveloped and consumed the entirety of the liquid and even the pouch it came in. Furious waves of power tumbled through Damien's body as he accepted and acclimated to the heavenly vine's power.
Damien quietly incorporated this new strength alone in the void, and as he remained unaware of time, it passed faster than ever before.
It was unknown how many days passed before he opened his eyes, but when he did, he was immediately met with several urgent messages requesting his presence.
According to those desperately contacting Damien from the outside world…
The Void Corridor was finally opening again.
