Greed and Ascension

Clay is blankly staring at a crystallized Heaven Qi energy as it floats in front of him. It has been six hours now since his conversation with Dalkaga and to entertain himself, he took out a few crystals from the floating island within his spatial rings.

Earlier, he wanted to agree to Dalkaga’s proposal but upon hearing they will end up being enslaved, his excitement turned into disappointment.

In the cultivation world, slaves are expendable commodities and rarely does it end up in a good way. His maid, Merea alone is a proof of it and even he experienced it himself during his prior incarnations. To have been made a host for a sacrificial offering or to become a laborer and concoct pills, who knows if he will end up a sperm donor for someone’s experiments.

It is true that the Upper World may have abundant resources but for someone like him who has the ability to create Heaven Qi Veins, his need for cultivation resources has been greatly reinforced.

Since that escape from A’U planet, he had decided to pursue cultivation first then later, get his way to science and find more clues about the universe. For now, there is no need to rush to the Upper World. It may take him a few thousand years to reach the peak of Ascendance but still better than blindlessly heading to a place where he will be treated as slave.

Having made up his mind, he harvested a few Heaven Qi crystals and absorbed its energies and attempted to elevate his cultivation.

To his surprise, no matter how much he circulated the energy to his meridians, the Qi Nodes involved for 2ND Rank Ascendance just won’t connect and not even the slightest sign of breakthrough. He remembered that during the earlier stages of cultivation and that if he forcefully connects his Qi Nodes without his body being properly reinforced, he would usually feel pain and tearing which is a sign of not being ready yet now is another problem.

While he was thinking about trading crystals for knowledge, Alex interrupted his thought.

(Captain, I’ve received a message from Dalkaga.)

Clay woke up from his stupor and said, “What’s it about?”

(It’s about Mur Brung and details of his 50 year disappearance.)

“Continue.”

(It says he ventured to the Upper World to further test his theory but his primary objective is to speak to a prisoner who is suspected to be a Nosfera soldier. The prisoner is currently under the custody of Kyan Han Sword Sect of Andara Galactic Federation. Dalkaga will give you the entire file upon arrival at the spatial tear entrance.)

Clay got to his feet upon hearing the name of the sect. “Show me the message.”

Clay read everything and after a minute, he cursed.

Ten days later.

Ramdaman Star System, Division 70 Moon Base 1

Inside a VIP office, a High-Elven who looks in his early thirties is currently seated on a sofa and opposite him is a scientist who looks like in a bad mood. If Clay were present, he would recognize the other party as this person was part of Clay’s first mission as a Captain.

“This type of void crack or tear in space even when abandoned by the native spatial beasts that created it, it would still require at least 100 thousand years before it shows signs of decay. The Spatial Formations that is supporting its fabric is hidden almost close to 2ND Subspace Dimension and cannot be shaken even if we detonate a thousand Luvianga bombs.”

“There is no need to elaborate the details. I just need to hear your conclusion, Doctor.”

Few wrinkles formed on Doctor Arkoni’s elongated forehead. He was on route to his home planet and he was about to board one last spacecraft however he was stopped the last minute because of a particular summon. His accommodation suddenly shifted to first class and got him excited thinking that someone would take interest and recruit him only to find out he has been called to be interrogated regarding the Captain that he recently work with.

When he joined that said mission, he was required to write a report regarding the events and since the Captain refused to answer, he can only write a vague report. What he wants to know now is why he is being questioned instead of the Captain and it is irritating him that this Elven does not want to listen to his story. Even so, he still composed himself as he knew that the person he is speaking with must be an important figure.

“As you may already know, the most important factor to tear the fabric of space towards deeper subspaces is Dao. Since the number of cultivators with sufficient Dao Comprehension and since those willing to participate in scientific experiments can barely be counted with fingers, scientists developed a catalyst we call Topaz Matter.

And to my knowledge, that void in space we encountered needs at least Topaz Matter 5TH Form imbued with 2ND Level of Dao and tactically detonated to destroy the foundation of the spatial tear and restore the space dimension.

To have the ability to resonate to the 3RD Subspace using Luvianga bomb, a bomb which barely has composition similar to a Topaz Matter is making me conclude that Captain Clay has a Dao Comprehension past 3RD Phase or maybe even stronger, who knows.”

“That’s quite the deduction, Doctor.” The young Elven casually responded as he looked at his fingers.

Doctor Arconi felt irritated looking at the Elf before him but still maintained his sincerity. “You don’t look like the type to listen to this old man’s fairy tale so if you pardon me, I have a trip catch. Everything I know is on the report I submitted.”

Arconi may be an average scientist but he still has his pride so he stood up preparing to leave.

“Thank you, Doctor for your time. You are an asset to the Federation.”

As soon as Arconi left his seat, the young Elven thanked him but at the back of his mind, he wanted to slap the bastard that wasted his time.

“Unfortunately Doctor, you know too much.”

The atmosphere suddenly turned dread freezing Arconi to his feet.

“I did not mean any disrespect and may I remind this young master what our role is..”

*Swish!

Arconi was in the middle of his sentence when a cold and terrifying around enveloped his body completely petrifying him that even the beating of his heart stopped. His eyes is still wide open as he saw the young Elven instantly appeared in front of him.

“I’m sorry doctor but blame your luck if you must.”

The horror in Arconi’s face could not be painted as he watched the young Elven touched his forehead. He wanted to resist and plead for his life but consciousness blurred until everything went dark and after a second, Arconi’s soul came out of his forehead.

Meanwhile, the young Elven summoned multiple paper-like talismans and let his wrist dropped a few dips of blood and whispered an incantation which then activated the talismans and surrounded the white wisp that came out of Arconi’s forehead. He is now ready to perform a forbidden technique cultivators call Soul Search. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

Searching someone’s soul is like reading an entire bookshelf of encyclopedias and to make the process more convenient, the subject must be triggered to remember a certain memory prior death to easily find everything the subject knows otherwise, it may take a few months or years to read everything.

After an hour, the young Elven opened his eyes and flicked his fingers igniting Arconi’s body into dust.

*Exhale

He sighed as he walked towards a table and took out an electronic tablet then read information of a certain human.

The High Elven’s name is Avash and he was the disguised expert who was playing board game with the 18TH Master of Navarum (Chapter 174) and the information he is reading is about Clay. He may look young but he is actually more than 80,000 thousand years old. It is due to his cultivation level that he had manage to maintain his youthful appearance.

As a hidden Master from Immortal Azure Sky Soul Sect of the Upper World, it was coincidence that he would encounter a person familiar with Immortal Green Mist Soul Sect. At first, he came up with the same conclusion as the disciple of 18TH Master however after a few months, follow up reports made him change his mind.

There are countless galaxies in the Upper World yet somehow a few organizations have managed to have their names known throughout the Upper Plane for their power and one of them is Immortal Green Mist Soul Sect. There is not much record about this illustrious sect as no one had lived to tell the tale of their encounters and whenever cultivators would investigate, they would only find remnants of souls imprisoned within a spatial crystals from an extinct species of emerald dragons.

To be imprisoned within that emerald crystal is one of the cruelest forms of torture and since no one can figure out the origins of those crystals, cultivators named the organization after the emerald crystals within the forehead of the dragons and called it Emerald Soul Sect.

If not for their Grand Ancestor, even he would not know of their identity.

Looking at the profile of the human he had been investigating, even he is confused. The human emerged from the same planet where Immortal Rimar and Immortal Liom hailed from and the very same planet he had been task to observe.

On the surface, Avash descended as part of their regular visitation on subsidiary galactic allies but his primary objective is to actually protect A’U planet as part of their agreement with the two Immortals who long ascended to the Immortal World.

After reading the report one more time, he is still conflicted if how should he deal with Clay. At first, he wanted to recruit Clay.

To have been able to comprehend 2ND Phase of Dao or even 3RD Phase like the doctor’s assumption should earn Clay an Elder status just like him and this should further boost their offensive power as a sect should Clay join their ranks. And if Clay has indeed knowledge or relations with Immortal Green Mist Soul Sect, then this might be an opportunity for them to learn more about this mysterious sect. But what’s worrying him is if the human has relation with Nosfera Harbringers.

Although millions of years had passed since the destruction of Ukacha super galaxy, a deep seated animosity lingers to present that those in power will not hesitate to kill any cultivator proven to have affiliation with Nosfera. They will be executed in public together with their families and relatives to the point that the organization that person belongs to is implicated as well.

Based on the reports, it is highly unlikely that Clay is related to Nosfera but Avash is not the type to take chances. Clay has no historical identity and this fact remains. Even the slightest possibility he is related to Nosfera is still a possibility.

However if there is one thing that he is really interested in with is how Clay came to know of the actual Green Mist Soul Sect. In the Upper World, some sects tend to have similar names when pronounced and in fact, within the galaxy where their sect belongs to has at least two Green Mist Soul Sect. His biggest clue is that Clay immediately asked for Immortal Green Mist Soul Sect right after asking about Immortal Emerald Soul Sect.

He did not want to over think but after watching the first time Clay had the chance had access to a planetary database (Chapter 158), he has this hunch that Clay might be a disciple of the real Immortal Green Mist Soul Sect.

He can’t help but think that Clay is among the intruders from 40,000 years ago who took advantage of the chaos when Nosfera forcefully infiltrated A’U planet. And unlike Nosfera who were after the mysterious Spiritual Veins within the lands of the planet’s natives, he has reason to believe that Clay is after the real inheritance of Rimar which is the Naraheim Enlightenment Tree.

*Exhale

Avash sighed again. He hates dealing with complicated matter. In truth, his hunch is still a hunch. There are thousands of talented cultivators who are after Rimar’s inheritance and Clay may actually be affiliated with a completely different sect. He knew he had been selectively biased after he heard Clay mentioned Immortal Green Mist Soul Sect and it is his mind playing him.

It has been more than 20,000 years that he had not been able to breakthrough and every thousand year that passes worries him that he had been seeking for treasures that may assist his cultivation. He already has spatial gardens where he is nurturing special herbs but the time for a fruitful harvest is close to half a million year.

There is no guarantee that those special herbs would actually mature and planting them again and waiting endlessly may actually outlive him so the moment he heard Immortal Green Mist Soul Sect from Clay, his greed started to take root. If he has an Emerald Crystal, he can create a spatial garden where time ticks five to times reality which shortens the time he can harvest the herbs he needed to concoct breakthrough pills.

While there is a big chance that Clay is not related to the Immortal Green Mist Soul Sect, he is still willing to gamble. If Clay is indeed a disciple of the mysterious sect, there is a possibility that Clay may have an Emerald Crystal with him given his Dao Comprehension. And speaking of Dao Comprehension, this is the first time he had encountered someone who can manifest 2ND Phase or maybe even 3RD and Clay only recently broke through to Ascension.

He believes that Clay must be hiding a heavenly treasure.

If he move to recruit Clay, he may not be able to find his secret so he made a resolve to Soul Search him. It is still unclear as to what Clay’s real identity is so to avoid unforeseen circumstances, he will play it safe.

After careful planning, he found a group of humans lead by a cultivator named Dalkaga and gave him information Clay is after.

He has to lure Clay and bring him to a safe place where he can make his move.

“You may be careful but you’re still an ant. I will soon find out your real identity.”

Avash made a sinister smile.