"How is it?"

"It's a bit difficult to move, Sir," Alex replied.

After much struggle, the convoy finally arrived at the control room.

"Eden, sit down in the center and try to overclock the Array inside the vase. We'll need that."

Eden was already at one of the corners of the Formation Room, looking at the fountain that produced Synthetic Cores.

"Alright, Dinna taught me how to!"

"The two of you join Eden. Leave the cylinder there. I'll take care of it. You completed the carrying job and only need to wait now."

Deniz and Pax nodded and crawled to the center of the room. While they had the will to help, they knew they couldn't.

"Sit down and turn off. While the experience might feel terrible, you won't die."

Alex Lux couldn't hold it and had to sit down and strengthen his icy armor.

"Good choice, sit there and wait. I'll prepare the deployment first and then come help you."

Everyone was curious about the place Ben talked so much about, but, unfortunately, no one could spare the time to explore.

The whole adventure was thrilling but felt very restricted to Eden.

Ben was the only one free to act.

So, he took the second compact Array by himself and brought it to the opening of the dual vein, as close to it as possible.

Seeing the hole going down, Ben fixed the cylinder in place. And only after making sure it was safe did Ben go back to Alex.

"I'll help you adjust," Ben said as he sat behind Dinna's right hand.

Alex didn't respond as he focused on the armor. But he did allow Ben to intervene.

While Ben and Alex prepared for the deployment, the other three sat at the center of the room while meditating.

After stabilizing the armor, Alex walked closer to the cylinder and began working on it.

Ben constantly helped this time since the danger around was minimal. Yet it still took much longer due to the Array's complexity and high energy concentration around them.

Meanwhile, the room stayed dim-lit and silent as everyone else focused.

---

"I can't believe we've done it!" Dinna celebrated.

"We should send the first package immediately," Eloise commented.

"Yes. Alright, our work just began."

For the next few days, the Faction worked tirelessly on solidifying their connection to their new home.

However, outside, most of the news focused on Ginn's fight. It sounded like a made-up story, how someone from the younger generation went up against a horde of apex cultivators.

But while the common folk could repress the shock by assuming it was false rumors, the people at the top got immediate confirmation of the sequence of events.

Yet, even for the happy ones, the surprise was too much. They knew that those many deaths would stabilize the world refinement situation, but they couldn't believe Ginn did it alone.

Some even forgot to question how that organization got so many cultivators of that level to go against Ginn.

But Ginn didn't, as he carefully took note of everyone present attacking him.

Yet while the battle above redrew the landscape, the group inside had also changed the Formation Room drastically.

"We're close. Once we finish it, we can rest while waiting for Ginn." Ben commented happily.

"Is Dad really okay?"

"The longer he takes, the more people he had to fight. It's simple. I don't think he can lose. At worse, he'll be burning some lifespan or maybe run away for a bit and then come back."

"I hope he comes soon."

"Hope no more, then."

Ginn appeared out of nowhere inside the room, and no one could notice his approaching.

"Good timing, as we were almost without what to do." Ben chuckled.

"Dad! How was it?"

Eden ran and hugged his father.

Carrying his kid around, Ginn answered.

"It was great. It was a success. We should be safe for quite a while. And it was also invigorating since it's been a while since I could go all out."

"Did you kill all of them?" Eden asked.

"Nope, it was impossible, and around a third got away."

"How much was there? Ben guessed a couple of dozens."

"There were almost one hundred. Although only around five were troublesome, the rest were low-level. It was even questionable if some were truly at the apex."

"How could they get so many in the open like this and not be noticed?" Ben asked, confused.

"At first, I thought those cultivators were old people that went to sleep for a while. But more than half were from organizations in the open. Names I do know well from the still active generation."

"I would've been surprised if the first option was the case. Sleeping death off doesn't seem as effective to cultivators here. If it worked well, we would hear more about it."

"The five I fought were the oldest I've seen so far. Likely close to 15 thousand years. There were slightly older than Volcano's Defender."

"Can they get that old?" Eden asked, surprised.

Ginn put his son back on the floor before replying.

"It seems so. I was also surprised."

"I'm truly amazed by how much force they used this time," Ben whispered.

"I also didn't understand it. That's close to the same force we saw in the last 100 years of war while you were asleep."

"From both sides, right?"

"Yes."

"Weird. And the group also stuck around a lot, for two-thirds to die in your hands. They didn't want to give up, it seems."

"To say the least, it was surprising when I saw familiar faces I fought alongside with."

"Will there be more fights?" Eden asked.

"Unlikely," Ginn replied.

"Many have narrow views, but few would throw themselves at an unsurpassable wall. Once Ginn shows enough strength, it was only a question of time until they all hide with their tails between their legs."

"After interacting with them so much, I know they'll hole up. It was why I kept concealing. Once our enemy turtles up, it'll be hard to find them. And I won't stay here forever. So, they will bide their time, hoping to wait my time out."

"But Dad is at the apex. Won't you live a long time?"

"We will. But even then, it's only a question of time. The stronger you are, the more challenging it is to stay at the peak."

"And being in the open also doesn't help. If you chose to hide away and act sneakily, I'm sure you could prolong your life. But the world isn't kind to the tall trees." Ben added.

"I can't waste such an opportunity, though. So, I must get to the top and bring as many with me."

"Most would be surprised to hear you talking that you aren't at the top."

"I've seen the Defender from Volcano in action. I wouldn't be able to kill him. And I'm sure he isn't even at the limit of what could be achievable."

"So Aunty Joice would say they still underestimated Dad!"

"I don't know much about the unseens, but I'm sure one hundred is still way too much. At that point, moving someone at the level of a defender would likely be cheaper. But even then, you might not easily kill them without hurting yourself too much, but they also wouldn't be able to kill you." Ben said.

"To be fair, it felt like an excuse. But that's only my instinct talking. The organization behind the attack sent those to say they can still recruit more people." Ginn noted.

"If that was the case, it backfired terribly."

Eden fiddled with a device for a while before interrupting his father.

"Mom wants to talk."

"Catch up with Eloise, and I'll finish this. Everyone else passed out from overworking, but we have it almost finished."

"Alright, I'll come help after."

Ginn walked out of the room with the artifact in hand.

Eden and Ben kept working on the modifications to the Formation Room.

While they had many unanswered questions about the attack, they still had other priorities.

For Ben, if the sky fell, he would wait for Ginn to hold it. And if he couldn't, he would dig a hole and shut himself off.

So, he ignored the shock value of the news and focused on finishing his work.

By the time Ginn came back, he had already completed the modifications. Or at least the parts that he could do it. Powering it up would still depend on Ginn's almost infinite and precise well of Spirit.

"You guys were quite fast."

"See, Dad! I helped a lot more than my Uncles!"

"I noticed how you were still quite energetic. The technique worked extremely well."

"On the first day, I felt bad! But by the second day, I was feeling so much better."

"That's good to hear. Your mother was worried."

"Should we start immediately, or do you have something else to do first?" Ben asked.

"I already cleaned above and checked Dinna's Array close to the entrance. So, let's do this! But first I got to say this though, this place is wonderful."

"The moment you showed off when we met again, I knew you would like this place. It would be worthless otherwise, but with you to help us cheat it, this place became perfect. You'll likely save a thousand years of work because of this. And I mean the whole faction working for a thousand years."

"Our new home is really amazing! After I watch Dad working for a while, I'm going to meditate more."

"I wonder if I'm the true cheat here," Ginn whispers.

"Let's do this, or those guys will be mad at us for prolonging their suffering. And I'll need to fully focus on it for a while." He added.