God Of Immortals

Dargehk moved to a location on the right side of the walkway which overlooked the garden, and made hand seal gestures. Suddenly, an arcway to a new path appeared before him, and he gestured for them to follow. They moved behind him to the opened entrance leading to the garden. They expected to see what they already saw from outside the arcway, but what they were seeing was a different scenery from the one they saw on the outside.

The first sight was that of a path of marble stones that looped around the garden. Ruby beds of grass which were accompanied by what seemed to be mutated ruby-flower bushes and shrubs. There was a runic fountain of mist which stood near the back of the garden, spouting mist high up into the air.

Behind the ruby flower bushes and shrubs, were the plants and different types of spirit grasses. After them were the ancient huge trees with single fruit each. But most of them had no fruits since they had been plucked already.

Ju Feng and the other three disciples could only look on in utter alarm at the scenery in front of them. What had appeared to be a peaceful and beautiful garden on the outside of the invisible arcway, turned out to be the exact opposite on the inside. Now, they realized the need for them to thread carefully there.

"This is different from what we saw from the outside?"

"Doesn't look the same garden?"

"What's with the place?"

Zhang Xiu Ying and Cao Wang Xiu turned to their divine and spiritual sight respectively. After careful observation, they found no sign of any deception.

"What did we missed?"

"This is the true state of the garden."

Degarhk said as he turned to look at them with indifference.

"The ruby beds are ancient death beds that would entrap anyone who forcefully enters or disobey the garden rules. The same thing with the misty fountain. But how could you have seen it from the outside? This is a godly domain after all." 

Shrugging his shoulder, he continued.

"True, you're seeing this place in your mortal world, but it's not part of the mortal plane. You're both golden core cultivators. Even if you couldnt see this place from the outside, you should've known about it once you saw it. Well, maybe not."

"Are you an ascendant?" 

"Or an hegemon?"

The highest a cultivator could go in the mortal plane before being ejected from it, was the ascendant stage. Ascendants were nascent soul cultivators who had reached the gates of godhood and had traces of the godhood traits. If an ascendant didn't want to be sent out of the mortal plane, the ascendant would have to let go these traits of godhood. It was then the ascendant would be able to undergo a different tribulations from that of ascension.

The Mirth tribulations.

This tribulations would turn an ascendant into a permanent hegemon, but with no possibility of any future ascension. Hegemons were ascendants who refused ascension into the heavenly plane and would forever be on the mortal plane.

"Ascendant or hegemon?"

Dargehk asked as he glared at Zhang Xiu Ying and Cao Wang Xiu in dismay.

"Ah, what a pity. I, mighty Dargehk of the giant race. A once renowned powerful figure from planet Zorda. My fame was known throughout my birth world and different parts of the mortal plane. So mighty I was in those days that few cultivators ever confronted me."

He looked at the them before shaking his head.

"You have no idea who I am, do you? Hm, I don't fault you. You definitely had never seen me before now. I became a lowgod when most giants were still trying to form a nascent soul. It never took me long to even become a highgod. But my ego got the better of me... I Dargehk, how many could face the wrath of my Oblivion?"

Suddenly, Cao Wang Xiu remembered a text she once read about an axe called Oblivion, owned by a mighty giant. The giant who caused chaos and destruction in the Mightybound realms which eventually attracted the intervention of the celestials.

"Dargehk, the barbarian?"

"Aha, so you've heard of my name before."

Elder Cao Wang Xiu, in utter alarm, could only nod her head but kept her mouth shut. The others didn't know who the giant was, but from the expression of elder Cao Wang Xiu, they realized the giant must be of tremendous power..

Seeing their tensed state, Dargehk made a gentle but bitter laughter.

"Hahaha. You don't need to worry. In here, you are totally safe with me as long as you maintained the rules of this place. So, relax yourselves and enjoy the place. Now, back to the garden. There are many trees you can choose from, each tree as you can see only has one fruit which had taken thousands to millions of years to reach this stage."

With a swipe of his hand, he sent six golden tokens to them before continuing.

"Take these tokens, and place them under any tree or plant which connects to you. Do this before taking the fruit or the plant. Remember, only one fruit tree or plant. You can begin."

Ju Feng watched as everybody contemplated on Dargehk's words, and the whole happenings. Although the state of apprehension had receeded and they were already warming up to the giant, they were still cautious of the place. After all, it was a godly place according to the giant.

He turned his attention to the trees. Despite many fruits being taken over the years, there were quite a number of coloured fruits still left in the garden. Moving around cautiously, he examined the trees and fruits. He could see some of the others placing their tokens under the tree of their preferred fruits. None were choosing the plants. He couldn't blame them. Fruits were more enticing than plants.

Ju Feng continued until he came to a tree with a yellow fruit freckled in red. He observed the tree and the fruit for a time before deciding to move on. He had started moving when he suddenly changed his mind and stopped. He turned back and inspected the tree again before placing his token under it. In complete amazement, he watched as the tree lowered its fruit enough for him to pluck it. The power of the token.

In his hand, the fruit seemed a bit strange with the freckles, but the robust look couldn't be denied. He was already loving its appearance, so he would take it.