Rising god
Chapter 40: Evolving Rather Than Flexible

Chapter 40: Evolving Rather Than Flexible

The dust of war had barely settled, but even before Baines and his team reached the Darkan main family, news had already spread. The branch family, still recovering from the aftermath of the civil war, had wasted no time in sending a report detailing the events.

Yet they weren’t finished.

There remained one final task: ransack the blood deplorable’s headquarters. Whatever twisted force had helped him create the blood orb, they intended to locate it, understand it, and destroy it. Afterward, they threw a celebratory feast, a grand one. Still, it carried an emptiness.

Baines wasn’t there, and while no one said it aloud, the absence left a hollow note in every cheer and toast. Eventually, they left him be. Perhaps he preferred silence to celebration.

But that was only the branch family’s perspective.

The main family of Darkan had been thrown into chaos.

For them, the idea of a branch family quelling a civil war, and one involving a 7th star-class threat no less, was almost absurd.

Unprecedented. Even scandalous.

The pressure was immense. During the thick of the fighting, the Darkan family head had remained bound to the capital, unable to leave, forced to maintain a posture of strength under the watchful eyes of their rivals. Any sign of weakness would have been blood in the water.

But when the report of success arrived, when it was confirmed that the blood deplorable was dead, the family head finally let it all out. And for the first time in weeks, he slept with a smile.

Then, more news followed.

Rumors, reports, and stories spread like wildfire across the land. The tale of their victory, the schemes, the traps, the strategy, all credited to a single name.

Jin.

The people were obsessed. What captivated them most was not the victory itself, but the calculated genius behind it. The fight he staged between the Church and Darkan as part of a greater ploy shocked even veterans of war. It was no surprise that whispers and awe followed him. Civilians from the outer sectors, once discharged from the evacuation, spread the tale with fiery enthusiasm.

Then came the unearthing of older records, his days at the Last Front, his strategies against the Outliers, his training feats, his combat discipline, and his unshakable composure under fire.

In the few hours it took for him to reach the Darkan capital, Jin had become a figure already, and it also reflected in the way they were received back in the family.

He was greeted like a commander.

They received the dragon knights’ welcome and were directly led to report the mission to the family head. Civilians lined the streets. Trumpets rang out through the sky like thunder.

His presence commanded awe.

They were escorted directly to the family head, through golden gates, endless courtyards, and finally, into a throne room where nobles and warriors with matching red hair crowded like fire around the throne.

The family head, perched confidently on his ornate seat, grinned recklessly.

Before all present, Jin recounted everything. From the first whisper of suspicion about the Church’s betrayal to the final cry of the blood deplorable before his death.

At several points, the chamber erupted into stunned silence... and then laughter.

Not a mocking laughter, but a disbelieving one. The sheer absurdity of the story, the audacity of his methods, and the scale of the war. It was enough to make any warrior pause.

...

When the throne room finally emptied, leaving only the Darkan family head and his daughter Tasha, their conversation shifted.

A weight hung in the air.

"What do you think of him?" the father asked quietly.

Tasha didn’t answer immediately. She understood what he was truly asking. After a moment of thought, she replied:

"He’s looking for something. Or someone. Desperately. So much so, he doesn’t care what he does or who he uses to find it."

Her father nodded solemnly. "I felt that too," he said. "And we can’t let someone like that use us, right? We are the dragons here. There is nothing above us, only beneath."

Tasha’s eyes widened. "You... you’ll tie him down? But how?"

His face saddened as he spoke, "The Council has made a suggestion. They want you to marry him."

Her breath caught.

"What?" She visibly trembled.

"Don’t think too much about it," her father said gently. "If you don’t want it, you can refuse. No one can force you while I still breathe."

And so, while the entire Darkan land celebrated, the ruler and his heir sat in silence, pondering their next move.

...

Meanwhile, across the continent...

Newspapers flooded the streets.

-The Empire’s Rising Star from Darkan: Jin, the Young Sun Commander. Who is he really?

-What is the full story of the war?

-The list of his achievements is as follows: tweaked the techniques of the...

-The Mage Behind the Blood Orb: How did the Older deplorable become so powerful?

-How did the Darkan defeat a 7th star threat without their leader?

-Tactical Breakdown of a Historic Victory. What Caused the Deplorable Civil War?

-The Darkan Chronicles Uncovered.

In every town square, every café, every noble court, Jin’s name was spoken. Inevitably, other lands got to hear about the story, his intelligence, scheming mind, strength, and use of powerful plants.

The journalists requested interviews from the Darkan family, however, they barred their gates and refused to answer any questions.

What shocked the public even more was the next announcement from the Darkan:

"With the defeat of the blood deplorable and his brother, 60% of the continent’s underground criminal forces in Darkan have been eradicated."

The world spiraled into chaos. Everyone wanted to know more.

What is the Darkan family planning now?

What will they do with Jin? Adopt him? Use him? Fear him?

Is Jin even his real name? If so, what was his last name? After all, someone that talented had to be from a famous family.

And in the center of this whirlwind of curiosity and fame...

Jin was alone in his room.

He spent his days in silence.

While the world praised him, he reflected.

In truth, the battle had left him unsettled.

His strategies had succeeded, but just barely.

Several close calls had made him realize how fragile even his best-laid plans could be. If the older deplorable had maintained his 7th star power longer... if the reinforcements had been delayed... if the Abyssal Lotus hadn’t reacted as it did... everything could have collapsed.

More importantly, he had learned that there were other energy systems besides mana, aura, divine power, and his ashenfall. He also had to take that into consideration because his plants, as potent as they were, only affected mana and aura users.

Divine users and other unique energy wielders would remain untouched.

Still, the effectiveness of his plants against even a weakened 7th star mage proved their value. And yet, a deeper concern festered in his mind.

He was so readily bringing out plants and weapons, what if he was asked about their origin?

In Darkan, they let it slide, maybe due to his impact, or it wasn’t just the right time to ask.

But elsewhere? That would be a problem.

With no answers yet, he decided to focus on what he could control. Mixing plants. Studying combinations. Testing reactions.

The time it took to find accurate mixtures kept dropping; likewise, his time to rest. He was adjusting, learning, and mastering them at a fast pace. How the plants reacted differently to air, water, fire, mana, aura, and even ashenfall.

He logged every variable.

Then he turned his focus to one of his most dangerous techniques, aging. More specifically, decay.

The creator had said, "To understand aging, one must first understand decay."

So, he did.

He didn’t just train his sword. He studied entropy. When something is said to decay, it is said to be dying, but why wasn’t it called death or dying instead?

Thoughts like this were brought about as he studied more on decaying, and each time he made a discovery, his understanding increased..

He also practiced Absolute Cut and Destruction, repeating their forms to embed them into his very muscles, and for Void Steps, he tried to increase his limits with each leap, after all, the goal was the reach the skies in one go.

Yet, a deeper puzzle gnawed at him.

He had formed stars in his heart core using Ashen-Origin Arts. But what about his stomach core?

If he didn’t form stars there, he would remain no stronger than a typical 5th star.

So, he asked the one entity he could trust with such questions.

’Eye, what should I do?’

[ORIGIN ARTS IS NOT LIMITED TO ONLY TWO AURA CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES]

’What? Then... what’s the limit?’

[LIMIT OF ORIGIN ARTS: UNKNOWN]

His breath caught.

He had misunderstood.

All this time, he thought Origin Arts was flexible.

But it wasn’t just that.

It was evolving.

He had been waiting for the perfect cultivation technique when he could just accept everything, and with what Eye was telling him, when he was ready, he could just tweak the stars then.

’If I fully incorporate aging reversal and absolute cut and form stars with them, and with these plants.’ His power would surge, even before reaching the 6th star.

His body trembled, not in fear, but in anticipation.

Without hesitation, he abandoned his research station.

He sat down.

He began forming his stars.

And just like that—

A month passed.

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