Elder Baldwin joined his son as he went along with Elder Spacewarp into an ancient door situated on the side of the main peak where the Sect Leader and other Elders were going into.
They were going into the Ancestral Hall of the Profound Astral Sect where the Sect Leader and other important Elders normally resided, but this Ancestral Hall also had another meaning. It was known that the most important treasures and techniques of the sect were placed in this Ancestral Hall, and if one ever saw a disciple invited to enter, it was because they were receiving a great treasure or technique from the sect!
Yet Noah was being led by an entire procession of Elders and the Sect Leader himself as he passed through the ancient door and felt it close behind him, his gaze turning to the bright Ancestral Hall where multiple exquisitely erected pillars divided the area into multiple sections.
Some areas led to huge libraries, others led to areas glowing with resplendent weaponries, others to living quarters for the upper echelons of the Profound Astral Sect that held Spirit Lakes vibrant in essence and mana that made the entire area feel like a paradise filled with knowledge and treasures.
Noah turned his attention to the Sect Master of the Profound Astral Sect, who along with all the other Elders letting out powerful auras at the Void Rank, with very few letting out auras as the Saint Rank similar to Elder Baldwin, glanced towards him.
The Sect Master was a middle-aged man that did not seem to be more than a man in his 40s, his eyebrows sharp as an unstable fiendish purple aura danced all around his body.
This unstable purple aura signified that this man was halfway through to a breakthrough of the rank above the Void Firmament Realm, and was on his way to the Soul Forging Realm!
Cultivators called it the Soul Forging Realm, while Noah would only come to know this level as the Soul Rank in the simplified levels given by his home planet's Planetary System.
A being breaking through the crucial Void Rank stage and going past it was extremely rare, and that was why even this Sect Leader of one of the three most powerful organizations in a Prime World such as the World of Cultivation was only halfway through breaking the limits of the Void Rank and Entering the Soul Rank.
The Soul Forging Realm was a level where the being would stop focusing on the physical aspect of their strength, and begin working on the very tight rope of strengthening their very souls. It was a dangerous realm where those that were too proficient could cripple themselves or be left with dangerous wounds in their origins that would take a tremendous amount of time to heal.
Noah watched as this being halfway through into the Soul Rank spoke.
"You performed extremely well in this Infernal Hunt, and even grabbed the attention of the Celestials that have invited you to join their ranks."
The Sect Leader motioned with his hands as an Elder came from behind carrying a pristine looking book and a shining storage ring atop a silver square plate.
"Your rewards are plentiful, and you would normally receive them after the celebrations have finished. But you hold an entirely different identity now, and your time has to be spent wisely as you prepare to head off to the Celestial Star."
The Sect Leader that held a serious expression this entire time revealed a slight smile as this Elder carrying the tray came forward and brought it up to Noah, his voice resounding in the Ancestral Hall once more.
"The ring holds an abundant amount of Medicinal Herbs and Spirit Stones that will be useful as you consolidate your power at the Saint Realm, and this…"
He pointed to the pristine-looking book lying beside the ring on the silver tray.
"...is a copy of the Absolute Space Technique of our Profound Astral Sect for you to take and study. This is the technique found by our ancestor thousands of years ago during his perilous journey in the Letalis Expanse, the technique called the <
…!
Chapter 285 - A Plan of Action
Noah looked at the sight of the Sect Master of the Profound Astral Sect showing extreme goodwill towards the disciple that would soon be leaving their sect to traverse the stars to join a cause for something greater. Noah's heart remained calm as his face showed extreme emotions, his voice ringing out dramatically in the Ancestral Hall.
"This disciple will always remember the favors of the Profound Astral Sect!"
The words were the key to open the floodgates of happiness as this was the only thing that the Elders and Sect Leader were looking for, an acknowledgment that this disciple would provide them backing once he obtained a place in the Celestials' ranks!
"Haha good! Now go and prepare. We will modify one of our small vessels to protect you as you traverse through space."
Noah nodded his head as he recalled the first mission he was given by the Celestial Grandmaster- to arrive at the Celestial Star safely and by any means necessary!
He was only a 'cultivator' at the Saint Realm, and shouldn't have been able to easily travel through the void of space without quickly suffocating, yet his first mission was to get past this issue and successfully arrive for him to be considered a full-fledged disciple.
He could complete this mission a couple of ways, and one of the easiest would be to use a small vessel that was powered by the essence of a Void Realm being in the form of Spirit Stones that his Profound Astral Sect would even provide for him!
Of course, with the sub-abilities in the [Lesser Cthulhu] skill tree, even at Saint Rank, traversing through space was not a problem for him, and he would not even need to expend energy while he did it. But he would be playing along with the normal and ingenious means that a cultivator would use in order to safely arrive at the extremely dangerous location that was the Celestial Star.
Noah had been thinking very deeply about this invitation to become a Celestial Disciple, which provided the amazing opportunity of allowing him to infiltrate these extremely dangerous enemies as one of their own.
He held many ideas on how he could possibly match the Celestials, but what better way was there to do it than taking down your enemies from the inside?
It would be extremely perilous though, and he would be walking on a very tight rope. He had to prepare extensively before he even stepped foot into that dangerous star. The first phase of these preparations was this Absolute Space Technique of the Profound Astral Sect that was just handed to him on a literal platter, along with an abundant amount of refined [Cores]that ranged from Phantasmal to Saint which the cultivators called Spirit Stones.
He made the technique that would allow him to escape any situation where space was locked down and no teleportation was permitted his goal when he returned to the World of Cultivation, and he had successfully achieved it.
But this would only be used in the worst-case scenarios, when everything had broken down and he could do nothing but escape. When it came to this new path that led to the den of the Celestials, he had to obtain covert techniques that could counteract the mysterious techniques of the Celestials!
He had to be absolutely sure that when his body landed on that Celestial Star, the terrifying powerhouses situated all over would only see him as nothing more than a genius cultivator with a lot of potential.
When his thoughts came towards this road, only a single image popped in his mind.
The Pureblood Vampyre, Prince Cassius!
Cassius had been able to evade the detection of the powerful observing Celestial Grandmaster while he killed his disciples through the use of a mysterious skill that Noah would only be able to find in the Vampyre's homeworld, the Underworld.
So before he even went near the Celestial Star, he would first pay a visit to the Prime World that held beings which were situated in the Light Expanse where Celestials controlled, and yet they were hidden enemies of the Celestials.
He would go there to obtain more information about the Celestials and the powers that opposed them, as well as use the chance to learn the stupendous skills of the Vampyres that allowed them to escape the detection of Celestials ri
ght under their nose.
Many plans flowed in Noah's mind as there were also a few other things he had to do before he set off on a brand new adventure. He turned to his smiling 'father', Elder Baldwin, who was shaking emotionally, and left the Ancestral Hall with him as the Elders and Sect Leaders began to buzz with discussions for the future. It was a bright atmosphere as at this moment in time, the future of the Profound Astral Sect looked extremely bright!
The emotional Elder Baldwin continued to look at the 'Crixus' in front of him as he saw the young man turn and speak to him as they flew back to their Pill Pavillion Mountain.
"Father, I want to undergo closed cultivation for at least a few weeks as I prepare. I want to be at my best before I begin traversing through space to go towards the Celestial Star."
The proud father looked at his son as he nodded emotionally and said,
"I'll make sure not a single being bothers you in your cultivation abode. Take as much time as you need, and only come out when you are ready! I'll make sure the Sect Leader prepares for you the best Interstellar Ship to guarantee your safety."
Father and son looked at one another with tears in their eyes as they came to an understanding, with Noah ignoring the buzzing disciples on the Pill Pavillion Mountain as he went inside his Cultivation Abode and watched the ancient cavern door close behind him.
The emotional and proud face instantly wiped away as it turned calm and calculating, letting out light breaths as he finally got a break from being surrounded by powerful beings on all sides.
The stupendous set of events that led to a Celestial Grandmaster sending him an invitation that at the same time didn't feel like an invitation played in his mind as he breathed out once again and calmed himself.
He was already making plans on top of plans on how he could handle the many possibilities that could come out of this as he sat down. He would take things step by step, and do what he could do for now.
The thing that he could do now...was to enjoy the success of obtaining the Absolute Technique that even the Devilish Time Unveiler was not given access to when he was still a member of the Profound Astral Sect.
There were many secrets and behind the scenes movements when it came to the Devilish Time Unveiler and the Profound Astral Sect, but none of this mattered for now as he had already obtained what he wanted.
He wouldn't delve into the politics of how the being he had seen in the devoured memories who had hunted down and heavily injured the Devilish Unveiler until the schemer faked his death was actually the current Sect Master of the Profound Astral Sect. There was no time or luxury to dwell on all this information at this point in time, as a whole new path had already opened itself up for him.
The words of the Sect Master indicated that these exquisite treasures were obtained from the Letalis Expanse where the powerful Ancient Races resided, but that was also a subject and an adventure for a whole other time as at this current moment, Noah focused on the pristine book situated on top of the silver plate as he placed his hands on it and watched it disappear into particles of light.
Chapter 286 - <>
Many of the close calls that Noah faced in the past were because someone proficient in spatial techniques would simply lay down a spatial lock and that would close off all exits.
The first time he felt this feeling was during the True Apocalypse of the Lost World where the power of the Celestials blocked off spatial transmission for an entire planet. The only reason he kept his life during that time was because of the mysterious Karmic Sect Leader that had faded away in front of his eyes some time ago.
The other time was during the first exploration of the Treasure Abode of the Devilish Time Unveiler, where running away was once again made to be impossible. Noah didn't like this feeling, so he strove to get his hands on a skill that would render this problem obsolete.
That was where the Absolute Space Technique of the Profound Astral Sect, a major power of a Prime World, came in. His eyes shimmered as he observed the brand new skill appearing in shining blue lights on his stat panel.
<
[Marker] :: Multiple locations that the user can teleport to at a moment's notice can be marked. The user is able to teleport to previously marked locations or any locations observable within their field of vision. The uniqueness of the Astral Connector will allow the user to be able to move to the desired location regardless of any established spatial restrictions.
[Connector] :: A special title gained by the beings proficient in the Law of Space. Grants +300% to all abilities affected by the Law of Space.
[Astral Traveler] :: Countless stars litter the unexplored Universe, with many unique locations just waiting to be explored. The Astral Connector will be transported to a random unique location across the stars, the only thing limiting their travel being how much mana they can use while activating Astral Traveler.
[Expansive Space] :: A wide area of space that the user can use as their own storage area. Its size is only limited by the energy the user can provide.
[Star Destroyer] :: An ability rarely used by the Astral Connectors because of its heavy requirements in mana, and because of its ruthlessness. The effects of Star Destroyer can range from a tremor being caused on a wide area of a star, to the destabilization of the core of a star, and ultimately to the destruction of a star. Most Astral Connectors will only ever be able to cause tremors on wide regions of a star as too much energy is required to achieve the full effects.
Noah's heart trembled as he slowly read through all the abilities contained under the <
This Absolute Skill was quite different from the <
Depending on who was using this skill, that might be correct. But in the case of Noah, almost every limiter placed on this skill was not a problem for him. He was happy when he read the abilities of [Marker], which would allow him to mark any coordinates in space and be able to return to that position whenever he wished, even if a spatial lock was placed on the location he was currently on.
This was the main thing he was looking for, but he never expected the abundant surprises that came with the other abilities of <
One of the unique ones that Noah would definitely try later on in the future was the [Astral Traveler]. The ability was unique as it would teleport him to an unknown location that he had never even been to, but this location was termed unique in the description of the skill, making Noah curious to check this skill out fully in the future as to what these unique locations might be.
The [Expansive Space] was a simple and yet extremely useful ability that made his storage rings or bags obsolete as it contained an extremely wide area of space that seemed endless, providing him with an intuitive feature that was helpful in many ways. It was different from the ability provided by the [Amorphous Space Beast] skill tree, the [Miniature Space] ability that allowed him to pull his own body and the bodies of his enemies into a small isolated space.
It was the last ability that made him do a double take though, the only offensive ability of the <
It was an extremely shocking skill, as was described in the skill panel, where many of the previous users of this Absolute Technique in the Profound Astral sect were only ever proficient at the first level of this ability, being able to destabilize wide regions that they targeted and cause t
remors and quakes that could cause a tremendous amount of damage.
But they never had enough energy and prowess to be able to destabilize an entire planet, nonetheless bring about its destruction as the skill name suggested. Noah wondered whether he himself would have the ability to do something as stupendous, and already had an idea in mind that he confirmed as he sent his thoughts towards the Planetary Systems he was connected to.
[It should be used to the fullest extent on Minor Worlds or even possibly Middle Worlds.]
[Yes. Though it might also work against a Large World, we won't be too sure unless our three worlds continue to increase in Rank and start stepping into the level of a Prime World.]
His thoughts were confirmed as he conversed with the Planetary Systems, the subject of upgrading the level of the Worlds he was connected to reminding him of the thing he wanted to do next as he finished reveling in the successful accomplishment of the goal he had set for the World of Cultivation while spending more time on the descriptions of the new abilities he had collected for himself.
He had achieved his goals for this world, and was already looking forward to something he had put in motion behind the scenes. He was thinking about the freezing world that he had sent his Harbingers of Sin and a particularly arrogant penguin into.
Chapter 287 - The Icebound World
Noah glanced at the abilities of the <
His thoughts went back to his life these past few months as he counted a few times which he could say he was just relaxing, but these times seemed to be getting fewer and fewer as he mixed himself with the surrounding powers of this Light Expanse region he found himself in.
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