Arcane Academy: The Divine Extraction Legacy Chapter 1234: Discovered

The Time Manipulators refrained from joining the Chaos Immortal's invasion of Vale's Shadow Domain because of the crucial assignment bestowed upon them.

Evidently, they were tied to a quest that demanded absolute isolation. Any meddling could have spelled their doom.

This quest wasn't about combat, but exploration.

Vale had charged them with a duty needing utmost caution and discretion. Their goal was to locate a subordinate realm ripe for domination, which could ultimately lift their own realm to greater heights through Vale's guidance.

Vale hadn't gleaned this knowledge from the Shadow Realm directly, but from the Time Manipulators themselves.

Only they grasped the intricate prerequisites for a realm's elevation. Key among them was the Realm's Will.

The Will needed sufficient power to host Immortals, to challenge them, and to inflict curses for breaking unspoken rules, like the ban on massacring mortals. Lacking this might, a realm could never ascend.

That prerequisite was already met.

The Realm's Will possessed the strength to suppress even High Immortals. Yet it fell short. A link to another realm was essential, with their own holding dominance.

Moreover, Vale's ambitions stretched beyond. He sought expansion for his followers, conquests, and readiness for impending realm conflicts. Thus, he pursued not merely a link, but a domain for harvesting vital resources.

To achieve that, discovering a fresh lower realm was vital... It created an ideal opportunity for him...

In truth, advancing this realm would allow them to finally harvest Divinity!

Truly, Immortals ascended primarily due to the scarcity of Divinity here.

'Soon...' Vale whispered, envisioning the realm gaining divinity in the distant future.

***

One year prior, three figures labored relentlessly in the Shadow Realm's depths.

Following Vale's orders, they concealed themselves from all prying eyes...

They'd set up a hidden outpost impervious to casual Immortal intrusion.

Liora, petite with keen eyes, fine-tuned the Formation Array inscribed on the ground.

Cyper, a sturdy, broad-shouldered man, waited close by. His short dark hair and green eyes lent him a fighter's appearance, not that of a time wielder. Still, his grip remained firm as he positioned the massive Divine Crystals fueling their probe.

Elysia, elegant and towering, with her lengthy black hair appearing moist, glided her fingers through the void to weave temporal strands into the arrays.

She connected most deeply with time's currents, tasked with securing their probes to prevent descent into disorder.

United, they comprised Vale's cadre of Time Manipulators.

Their mission involved employing the secretive realm coordinates known solely to the Time Faction, assessing which ones were ripe for seizure.

The endeavor dragged on, fraught with monotony.

Every trial demanded synchronizing numerous arrays, directing temporal forces, and fortifying the delicate links spanning realms.

Unsurprisingly, one error could trigger total destruction.

Their initial foray connected to a superior realm.

As the coordinates fixed, the Will's force crashed over them like a raging surge. Cyper faltered, his frame quaking beneath Immortal edicts' burden. His aura fractured, and briefly, he feared utter obliteration.

'Pull him out!' Liora cried, her rapier slicing through the temporal bonds holding them.

Elysia's fingers danced rapidly, shattering the coordinates before the Will could damn them. The arrays flickered, then failed, leaving the trio panting in their subterranean lair.

Cyper sank to one knee, perspiration streaming down his brow.

'Thank you... both of you. If you hadn't extracted me, I'd have been cursed irreparably.'

Liora scowled. 'That was far too risky. We can't allow such errors again.'

Elysia nodded, her tone steady.

'Our coordinates are simply too undependable... We must proceed with extreme care.'

***

Weeks later, after full recovery, they attempted once more...

Elysia took the lead this time, meticulously threading the coordinates until the array revealed a passage...

This drained heaps of Divine Crystals, but such costs were irrelevant now...

Regrettably, peril erupted anew as the passage formed. The contacted realm teemed with turmoil, its fractured and volatile Will unleashing shadows that grasped at their essences, seeking to haul them into oblivion.

'Cut it!' Cyper bellowed, pounding his fist down to shatter the array.

The chamber quivered, and the coordinates began to unravel.

'That's...'

Elysia reeled away, her hair lashing across her features. 'That was even graver. Lingering longer would have doomed us.'

Liora breathed out harshly. 'Better coordinates are essential. These ancient ones prove too fickle.'

Cyper agreed solemnly. 'We possess over a hundred coordinates... We'll test them gradually, regardless of the years required. Vale entrusted us with this duty. We won't return without success.'

In this manner, weeks morphed into months.

The trio toiled without cease, probing coordinates, steadying arrays, and charting the tenuous bridges across realms. Every setback yielded fresh insights. Each narrow escape steeled their determination to uncover a viable option...

At last, after almost a year's devotion, triumph arrived.

Coordinates synced perfectly, arrays held firm, and the gateway unveiled a realm wholly unprecedented in their experience...

The Will's influence loomed, yet without crushing force. It enforced decrees adequately, without smothering them entirely.

Crucially, the realm lay unclaimed. No Divinity or Immortal traces remained, no superior realm had encroached!

'We've succeeded!' Cyper whispered.

'Hold on! No celebrating yet!' Liora warned, suspecting it could be a snare!

Soon, she ventured down using her Temporal Body...

Through this, they caught sights of woodlands, peaks, and crucially, mortal settlements!