CHAPTER 303: PRIMORDIAL DUALITY

Darian only felt a force pulling him toward the mirror. In the next instant, he passed through it and saw the same mirror quickly shrinking in the distance. A sky of deep blue surrounded him as the mirror drifted farther and farther away.

Only then did he realize... he was falling!

When he turned, a distinct world revealed itself below. It looked like a vast circular island, perfectly bordered by a strange, opaque scarlet sea.

Still far away, he looked to the edges of that world... beyond the massive red sea, there was a spatial distortion. This wasn’t a planet at all, but a closed-off, separate world.

Looking back to the island, he saw that it was divided concentrically. At the same time, he felt the terrifying concentration of primordial Yin and Yang radiating from it. That was, without a doubt, the core of everything — while the sea seemed to be something additional, made from a strange substance he didn’t recognize.

During freefall, he focused on the island. The island’s outer edge looked like a yellowish ring; it seemed to be a vast desert. Moving further inward, the scenery shifted abruptly.

To the left side of the island, under a subtle aura of Yang, stretched a green tapestry of dense forests, cut through by winding rivers that snaked down from gray mountains.

To the right, in contrast, under Yin’s dominion, rose towering peaks in shades of gray and brown, forming a harsh, imposing landscape.

At the heart of the island was where the two halves met in an eternal dance. The ground was hidden beneath thick white-and-black mist swirling together without mixing. There pulsed the center of all primordial Yin and Yang. It was so dense, so tangible, that Darian’s heart pounded like a drum. (See the image in the auxiliary Chapter.)

Darian kept falling for several minutes, and the island below grew exponentially in his vision. What had first seemed small now revealed itself as unimaginably vast. The island was massive — maybe bigger than all the continents of Earth combined.

He kept falling, analyzing everything around him. Looking back again, he noticed the blue sky full of tiny shining dots that looked like stars.

But soon he was sure: they weren’t stars at all, but frighteningly powerful runes, maintaining the existence of that world.

In the sky, on one side, there was a massive ball of fire resembling a red sun. On the other, something like a moon — but in truth, it was an absurd concentration of an energy he had never seen before.

He continued falling... the distance he had dropped was colossal, but he was heading straight toward the island. Only then did he start to worry: how was he supposed to survive such a fall?

By the time he was close enough that he could hardly see the sea anymore, only the island on all sides, suddenly, his body stopped in midair.

Something was controlling everything, but Darian couldn’t sense who or what. That force had brought him here, and now it calmly moved him, making him float toward the Yin-dominated part of the island.

He was carried to the outer ring, where the desert lay. From what he guessed, the distance from the scarlet sea to the innermost region in a straight line had to be more than ten thousand kilometers.

He was guided toward the shoreline near the sea, then gently descended to the ground.

The moment he stepped onto the yellowish sand...

[The Trial of Primordial Duality has begun]

Darian was slightly surprised at the sudden appearance of a green screen before him. But he had seen something similar before, back in the Empire’s array.

[Current Status: Mortal Realm]

[Primordial Points needed for next realm: 0/1000]

[Do you wish to read the tutorial?] [Yes / No]

"Yes."

Several options divided into topics popped up. He immediately selected the first.

[You are in the Desert of Ruins. This is where all newcomers to the trial begin. All kinds of dangers exist here, as well as opportunities. The goal of the trial is for you to assimilate the entire inheritance and become the new owner of the Primordial Heart.]

[The trial is divided into three phases, and you must advance through four power realms. To complete the trial, you must complete *everything*. You can only leave the first phase, the outer region, after ascending your realm for the first time. Each phase of the trial has its own rules, but in short, you must gather Primordial Points to rise.]

[There are two ways to earn points. The first: think about the Quest Menu.]

Darian murmured in his mind, and another screen appeared before his eyes.

[Select Quest Type:]

[Hunt Quest] – [Upon confirmation, a quest will be given] [+25 Primordial Points]

[Search Quest] – [Upon confirmation, a quest will be given] [+25 Primordial Points]

[Group Quest] – [Upon confirmation, a quest will be given] [+25 Primordial Points]

[Special Quest] – [Find the Secret of the Primal Sea] [+System Upgrade]

He read everything curiously. The special quest already spelled out exactly what he needed to do, but the others would only be revealed after confirmation.

Then he sighed... the reward was only 25 points, while he had already seen that he needed 1000 to advance.

Right after, another green screen appeared over the first:

[By completing quests, you earn Primordial Points or other rewards. Once you accept one of the first three quests, you cannot choose another until it’s completed. The special quest, however, is shared by everyone: you don’t need to confirm or accept it, but you also won’t get any information beyond the title. When someone completes it, another will appear for all.]

[The second way to gain points is simpler and more direct: just eliminate other competitors, and you’ll receive two-thirds of the points they’ve accumulated.]

Darian read everything carefully. The system was simple, but definitely much easier to explain than to actually carry out. These quests couldn’t be anything simple, while the 25-point reward looked way too small. So... that special quest probably existed for a very obvious reason.

Finally, he reached the last topic:

[You have: 01 Enhancement Point available]

[Realms have levels, ranging from 1 to 5. Every 200 points, you advance a level and receive a new Enhancement Point. Think about the Enhancement Menu to view it.]

He did.

[Available Laws: 05]

[Earth Law] [Cost: 01 Enhancement Point]

[Wind Law] [Cost: 01 Enhancement Point]

[Water Law] [Cost: 01 Enhancement Point]

[Darkness Law] [Cost: 01 Enhancement Point]

[Almighty Law] [Cost: 03 Enhancement Points]

[Laws are the manifestation of the system’s power, created to benefit the user. When you want to use them, just think about it and confirm to the system.]

[NOTE: Laws can be enhanced endlessly, and you can pick as many as you want. Every time you enhance, your level of control and power over the law increases. Also, the number of times you can use them per day equals two times the enhancement level you’ve got.]

Darian got excited. He still had some doubts, but since he had one point available, he could test it right away. He just had to decide which one to pick...

"These laws seem like raw elemental power. Since I’ve got two techniques that use the wind element, that’s probably the best choice to start with."

[Wind Law added for use]

[Daily uses available: 02]

[Time until charges restore: 23H : 59M]

He immediately thought of activating it. Another screen popped up, asking for confirmation. When he accepted...

[After the law is released, its power will stay under your control for 1 minute. If it isn’t consumed, it’ll return to the system automatically.]

Suddenly, a spatial distortion appeared in front of Darian. In the next instant, a dozen wind elemental runes emerged and connected to him.

A wide smile spread across his face.

It was free support! He didn’t need to spend any of his own energy to gain it. Without hesitation, Darian activated his ring, sealed the power of the runes, and stored them inside his soul-space ring he called inventory.

10 seconds...

30 seconds...

60 seconds...

Nothing happened.

Darian took a deep breath and pulled the runes back out. They were still perfectly usable anytime he wanted.

The screen was clear: after one minute, if unused, the power would vanish. But he wouldn’t have that problem—thanks to his power and his inventory. He had barely arrived and already found himself an advantage over the other competitors.

"Perfect. I can also see the cooldown timer. If I don’t use it within 24 hours, I can just store it and stack everything up for later."

He let out a breath and looked ahead at the endless desert.

Inside that world, everything felt like a game—points, rewards, and system support. His goal, though, was very clear right in front of him.

He thought again about the Mission Menu.

Going through the options, only one really caught his eye:

[Special Mission] [Find the Secret of the Primordial Sea]

"Primordial Sea..."

It looked simple, and a system upgrade could be extremely useful this early. In games, any early bonus usually snowballed massively in the end, making the player way stronger than normal.

He turned toward the scarlet sea. He could only see about a hundred meters ahead; past that, a strange distortion completely blurred the view. From above, he had seen only the red sea and nothing else... but most likely, that distortion was hiding something he could only discover by getting closer.

Taking a deep breath, he activated the ring on his wrist and focused on sensing what lay beyond...

"!"

In less than a minute, his eyes widened.