Way of the Knights

Chapter 737

Raven bolstered through the following trials. The 4th, 5th, 6th…

Each one of these trials caused him to spend a gross amount of time in them that Raven completely stopped caring about it altogether. The kinds of trials he faced were somewhat absurd too. The 4th Trial was a hell-like place where he needed to continuously slaughter enemies without a single moment of rest. To complete it, he had to make sure he stayed alive with sanity remained intact after a five years. 

The fifth trial made him learn how to a farmer. He was asked to cultivate spiritual fruits and ingredients until they reached the level of an Empyrean-ranked. It was incredibly time consuming, but one that Raven really enjoyed a lot.

The 6th forced him to solve 10,000 riddles with escalating difficulty. The 7th trial asked him to build and Burial Labyrinth. The 8th Trial made him create 1000 Monarch-ranked Battle Arts.

And the current trial he's at…the 9th Trial, the final one. 

He was tasked to complete his Heavenly Secret Origin. 

It was a tall order really, considering the fact that it forces him to directly confront the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm itself. But this is something he had to do either way so he gave it his all. 

Thankfully, he was transported into a place which provides him with clues as to how he should go on.

Sadly, this is yet another very time-consuming trial. Raven stopped asking the Trial Administrator how long he had spent so far since it will just cause him to be distracted. 

For now, he just hoped that the sect can hold on without him. He would really hate it if, once he got out, he'll find that the sect is no longer there to welcome him. 

He had also pushed aside the longing he had for his wife. With how much he yearned to be with her, it would be a miracle if Raven can function properly. Therefore he put these feelings aside for now. 

As Raven gazed above the starry skies above him, his eyes were unfocused. He had been like this for quite some time right now. 

His seated body was flashing with a mixture of Golden and Silver radiance. His aura will form Runic inscriptions without his consent. The space around him was twisting into different shapes, some times air would appear out of nowhere, sometimes he will be submerged in a nebula of water, encased with the crest of earth, turn into a metal man, grow branches and vines from his body, transform into a blazing fire elemental..

All of this changes occurred and not single transformation was noticed by him. 

The more absurd part is that, he surrounded with a cluster of constellations, each releasing a strong brilliance as if they're competing with each other. If one looked closely, very closely, these constellations are composed of runic inscriptions the size of sand grains.

Similarly, Raven is not aware that he's doing this. He's currently in a very sensitive state where he basically forget everything, even his own name. He's being enlightened by the laws.

His many Avatars worked hard as hard as he does to interpret and integrate the signs. Feeding them to Raven in order to extend his enlightened state. 

They had been doing this for a long time now, they already dropped other matters behind and just made sure that the main body gets to complete the final task without any problems. 

Raven's Heavenly Secret Origin – the Runic Origin, is something truly unique and mystical. 

From his past life to the current one, Raven had always been fascinated with Runic Inscriptions. To him, they're not simply ancient carvings that; when arranged in a certain manner, does something neat – no, their existence goes way deeper for him. 

Raven believed that Runic Inscriptions was the basis for all kinds of language. Elven, Demonic, Human, Beastmen…Abyssal, all of them derived their ways of communication from runes that they saw. 

Runes doesn't always look like a complicated connections of dots and intersection of lines. For example, a sword scar can be considered as a rune since it contained profound charm that represents the way of the sword. 

Even things that are as simple as; say, claw marks in a tree. Such is a depiction that this is marked by a beast. Although it doesn't contain any resemblance of modern language, people understand what it means. 

And because people understood the messages contained in these 'random but common signs' in their world, that they learn an effective way to understand each other. To use language to communicate. Communication is a way to pass down knowledge and history to the latter generation, either with hopes of continuing them or warning them of an inevitable disaster. 

They can use it to teach them a lesson, to help them extend culture and prosper.

See, it the very simple things that caused everything to spiral into something bigger and greater. And these simple things for Raven are Runic Inscriptions. 

With his growing understanding of runes, his passion and desire to trace them back to their origins grew as well. 

To Raven's eyes, the world no longer looks like a soil, oceans, clouds, sky, animals and people. To him, everything was a unique arrangement of runes, and if he could understand how they work, he could understand how everything works. 

Such is the path that Raven chose to follow for himself. 

He got assistance from people around him which helped him to build his foundations. Now, it is time to see this through the end. 

—

In his unconscious state, Raven remained seated in the same space without moving an inch. 

He was like a peaceful monk who passed away in his meditation…if it weren't for the face that's he literally shining as bright as the yellow sun. 

Raven is amidst the final stages of his task. 

Completing his Heavenly Secret Origin will allow him to solidify his path and no longer be obstructed by the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm. The moment he completes it, is the time where he can theoretically stand up to the Heavenly Laws as equals. Both will tolerate each other's existence and respect boundaries. 

Right now, Raven's basically carving a piece of the Divine Realm as his own. It's not technically stealing since it doesn't belong to everyone but the fact that he's whittling down the ego of Heavenly Laws surely pissed it off.

The Heavenly Tribulation already descended. In fact it has been bombarding him for quite sometime by now, but Raven was completely unfazed. 

The frightening Heavenly Tribulation can't even harm a single hair on Raven's body, it' not even loud enough to wake him up from his enlightened state. The reason why it's ineffective is because of Raven's Domain. 

With the nearing completion of his Heavenly Secret Origin, Raven is making his own 'world' per se. One that follows his rules…

One where he and only he, is absolute. 

The Heavenly Laws has no power over this still pseudo-world since, it doesn't there. The Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm doesn't recognize this space but so does this space…it doesn't recognize it as well, and just as well, Raven is inside that space which caused this stalemate. 

That being said, Raven's world doesn't have any power to go on the offensive. So far, it only exist. It's nowhere near complete as of now. 

After what seemed like an eternity, it was the Heavenly Laws that got tired and retreated. If it had a mouth and can speak, it probably said: 'You know, screw this! I don't give a shit anymore.' And left.

Adorable, really…

After it went away, Raven's world got back it's peace and calm. The serenity and tranquility of this space lingered. The lull and calm was tempting and can cause anyone to easily get immersed in it. 

Then, stars lit up one after another. They're like tiny pearls emerging from the dark and revealing their brilliance. Inside this world where only Raven exist, these stars were its first denizens. 

For now, these stars doesn't really have any purpose for existing, they're just there…existing. A time  will come when they will reveal their uses but it's still a little far from now. 

Then, slowly but surely…piece by piece, Raven's consciousness returned. 

He felt as if he was in slumber for far too long, but he doesn't feel stiff of paralyzed. Just a bit lost.

The more of his consciousness returned, the more Raven's mind became active. His physical body resumed it's functions and warmth suddenly returned to him.

His eyes gradually opened. The first thing he was total darkness though. It didn't take long before stars coalesced and began illuminating him. These tiny pearls surrounded him, like happy little children greeting their father for the first time. 

When Raven saw these stars, an inexplicable sense of closeness bloomed to his heart. A smile unknowing appeared on his fiendishly handsome face. 

He regained his motor skills, stood up and look around. When the entirety of his consciousness returned to him, Raven's eyes transformed into torches shone brightly like the sun followed by a massive eruption that shook the entire trial space. 

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