As time passed, the dark space became populated with thousands of figures, and they continued to increase. A common feature among all the monsters was a black mark in the middle of their faces, whereas the human-like creatures exuded a dense stench of blood, accompanied by a suffocatingly gloomy atmosphere.
At the forefront of the army stood five figures, and the space around them trembled faintly, clear evidence that their strength was reaching the limit of the dark space they were in. Other than their voices as they spoke to each other, nothing else could be heard. A short distance away, the army soldiers, along with the beasts, had their bodies frozen and were faintly seen trembling in fear as the terrifying auras of the five generals swept continuously towards them.
"Lord Vincent, the estimated time for the army formation to complete is 2 hours. After that, we will be ready for the orders from above," one of the figures reported.
"Lord Vincent, the king-slayers have arrived," another figure announced.
In the middle of the five figures was a young-looking man, seemingly in his early twenties. He could have been mistaken for a human if not for the red eyes and the small horn on his forehead. He exuded an aura of nobility. The other four figures stood a step behind him, even though they were of the same rank.
Like the others, the young man, referred to as Lord Vincent by the other five generals, wore a red cloak with unique, distinct emblems and silver inscriptions on the shoulders, indicating their ranks.
Waving his hand, a crystal ball appeared. Moving tiny figures could be seen within it. Once you focused on these people's features, you could see Thomas, Jhonas, Allen, Charlotte, and the rest of the group who were running while fighting a group of giant spiders.
A devious smile appeared on Vincent's face as he said, "Inform the beast-taming squad to send more members to the upper hall. Tell them that as long as half of the targets are eliminated before they reach the designated location, their military contribution will be doubled."
As Vincent spoke, one of the generals immediately took out a strange-looking crystal that is used as a communication device and started relaying Vincent's words.
On the other side, an aged voice resounded in a secret room near the hall where the group was.
An old man with a crystal in hand had a concentrated expression when his eyes suddenly started shining with greed. He turned his head to look at the other beast tamers with him in the room.
"Kee kee kee... New orders have arrived. We must eliminate half of the targets before they reach the designated location. If we succeed in this mission, our basic rewards will be doubled."
However, at that moment, another aged voice interjected, cautioning, "Do not let your excitement cloud your judgment. We must not underestimate our targets."
A third voice chimed in, "It will not be an easy task. Even though two of the captains appear to be injured, their injuries are not severe. And we still don't know the limit of the third captain's abilities. Moreover, the Aeon family's young scion likely possesses a hidden ace up their sleeve..." An old woman interjected as she caressed the head of a giant snake that lay beside her, the snake hissing with a sinister glint in its eyes.
Time passed as the group moved through the hall. From their starting point near the gates, they continued walking through the darkness with their limited light until they reached a narrow corridor where they faced a horde of giant black-scaled spiders. At this point, everyone had become aware that something had gone terribly wrong.
While the three captains had noticed some clues from the monsters' behaviors, the current situation didn't offer them any other options. They were being led along a specific path, and every time they tried to move in another direction, the spider attacks would multiply. At some point, demonic blood wolves joined in, and the pressure on the group more than doubled. Some of the weaker members of the team had to retreat to the center to seek protection while the stronger ones formed a barrier with the three strongest vice-captains in a triangular formation to lessen the pressure on the others.
Meanwhile, the third captain was going all out, slaughtering the blood monsters right and left, with none taking more than four moves. After a round of frenzied killing of the spiders and wolves, he would return to the center, covered in their blood, to take a rest. That's when another captain would take his place to slaughter the monsters.
While this was happening, Thomas kept his place beside Allen and Charlotte. Strangely, his focus seemed to be somewhere else entirely.
The weakest of the monsters were at the early stages of the Minor Origin realm, while the stronger ones had battle prowess equal to that of the captains at the Great Origin realm.
At the Origin Transformation Great Realm, the first stage is the Minor Origin realm, followed by the True Origin realm, and then the Great Origin realm.
In places like the Myriad Dao world, where the world's spatial fabric suppresses the cultivation of its inhabitants, the limit transforms into a great chasm that only the unimaginably talented could break through.
In a world where strength decides everything, those with higher cultivation are respected and feared, while the weak are nothing. Within the Myriad Dao realm and other similar realms, cultivators at the Minor Origin realm are given the title False Origin due to the fact that the Origin tier spiritual energy they control isn't as strong or pure as that of the Other Origin realm cultivators.
Meanwhile, cultivators at the True Origin realm are given the title Lord. In strong empires like the Celestial Empire, they could hold the rank of a 3rd tier/Earthly Marquise. The stronger ones would either have 2nd tier/Profound Marquise or a 1st Tier/Golden Marquise title.
Cultivators who surpass the True Origin realm and reach the Great Origin realm would have developed their origin to the peak, giving them the realm title of Origin King Kings. Each cultivator is bestowed a unique title according to their affiliation and abilities.
In the rare event that someone surpasses the Great Origin realm, they are bestowed the title of an Emperor. Powerhouses like this could sweep through the world unchallenged.
The current five great families of the Myriad Dao world are grouped together not only because they have the deepest roots and many powerhouses but also because, at some point in time, past or present, they had an Emperor-level powerhouse.
In the present day, only four Emperors exist on the surface. Two of them belong to the Celestial Empire's Aeon family, while one is from the Great Cyrus family, where Seraphina is from, and the fourth is from the Augustine family, who lives in seclusion.