ACC Chapter 23 Breakthrough Starts

As I was seated within the cabin, pondering on what kind of power a Deity Transformation stage cultivator would have, everything surrounding me faded to reveal the starry sky, with the Sun appearing in the distance that the Behemoth was speeding towards.

This was a 360° virtual reality construction, that allowed me to see and feel what the outside sensors of the ship were capturing.

I felt the light from the Sun as if I was back on Earth, sunbathing. Then there was the deep silence of space, as if every single sound had vanished. Though, a cultivator at the Core Formation stage and above could adapt their body such that any waveform, including light itself could be perceived as sound.

Then a shadow appeared, blocking the light. It was in the form of a 2 dimensional circle, blacker than even the void of space itself!

Gazing at its round form was as if the abyss was looking back at you, or even a black hole. Even with the immense size of the Behemoth, it was just a small vessel in front of this circle.

It wasn't a mere two dimensional circle though, but a sphere. The reason why my eyes were giving me such false information was the fact that the darkness, was an amalgam of material and array, created with the ability to absorb almost 99% of all light, making it so that the little percentile reflected didn't even register in my eyes, thereby making me feel as if I was looking at a 2D object.

It had taken many trials and errors, not to mention simulations, to even create this material. It was so valuable that it had far surpassed the value of spiritual gold. The reason was simply because of the cost required to create the material. The level of technology and expertise needed were on another level.

My chest was puffed with pride. It had taken a moderately large team, composed of about a little over 50 scientists, with myself included, to give birth to this miracle, the Deity Maker.

I was a little bit nervous since there was the slim chance that it could fail. But we had ran simulations. And they had all come back positive.

Like a ball, having its upper and lower half's sinking into each other, the 2D circle within my eyes started to vanish until only a circular line remained, which from the angle of my view, had become a large ring with a transparent platform suspended within its centre.

The image sensors of the Behemoth zoomed in, to the point that I, and the rest of the crowd could make out the man standing within the platform in the middle of the black ring, which was now lighting up.

The President had dropped his disguise, bearing his true appearance in all its glory.

Crimson hair, long enough to reach his shoulders, stood out like a sore thumb to me, not to mention the matching pupils, which were now flashing with red lightning. He had activated his core, and it was most probably causing spiritual energy to rampage within his body.

Red steam escaped from his pores, somewhat obscuring him from me, but I could tell through the glint within his eyes, that Mr. Taylor was excited. As far as I could recall, very few things had excited him. And the most important one had been battle. But ever since he had taken on the responsibility of being the President, he hadn't engaged in any life and death fights.

But now, the chance had come! He was going to be engaging with the very heavens themselves!

Looking at him, I wished to be in his position, but with I still in the early Nascent Soul stage, that was going to take some time.

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Now, all that I, and the rest of us could only do, was pray.

This was also going to be the moment of truth. What really happened when someone became a Deity Transformation cultivator?

A theory, penned by a renowned researcher a few hundred years ago suggested that the core must shatter, merging with the body itself to become one.

Where had such a theory originated from exactly? Because there had been geniuses who had managed to create the five needed deity arts. Information at the time had been kept under tight lock and key, making it so that many Nascent Souls had failed to achieve that prerequisite... But there had still been records of breakthrough attempts by the prodigies.

Their cores had all shattered, and since there hadn't been enough spiritual energy to catalyse their breakthroughs, they had ended up as cripples or destroyed by the Heavens themselves.

A crimson sphere, an illusory projection of Mr. Taylor's core, materialised around him, sheltering him from the void. A spear, all red, appeared in his right hand, with the end of the shaft resting on the platform, while the tip was pointing upwards, just like his eyes. Scratch marks adorned its entire length, a testament to the struggles it had accompanied its owner through. Taylor caressed it as if it was his lover, one he hadn't seen in a while.

I sat down upon a materialised seat, placing my palms upon my knees. This was the most nerve wracking moment of my life. Even my own breakthroughs hadn't given me as much pressure as this one.

There was also that nagging thought at the back of my mind about the possibility of a Devil hijacking Mr. Taylor's mind. And because of the fact that we lacked enough information about those in the Deity Transformation stage, there was this nibbling doubt that we might fail to detect the Devil until it became too late. Then, there was also the fact that the man's entire abilities were specifically tailored for battle. Fighting him would be the same as pitting a mortal against a feral bear or a tiger.

"This history making moment deserves some popcorn, don't you think so?" Asked the intruder, Livia, who had just let herself in with a bag of popcorn.

For a moment, I wondered whether this woman had any true worries. Wasn't she worried that a Devil might possess the President.

"How I wish to be you. You essentially lack worries."

"What would be the point? Its not like I can do anything about them. Its like worrying about the future when it hasn't even arrived."

"So, why are you really here?" I switched my expression to one laden with seriousness.

"According to a little bird, Ming's punchable ass was on the ship a whole ago."

I raised an eyebrow at that, while holding back the questions that had surfaced within my mind, waiting for her to continue.

"He vanished. Though, there was some transport ship that headed towards the other side of the Sun..."

"The area under the jurisdiction of the Demon Empire?"

Before she could answer though, the stench of blood overpowered our senses, causing us to look towards its source, the President.

His core had just shattered forming a cloud of red mist, obscuring his surroundings, while also invading the arrays of the ship, leading the overpowering stench.

Mr. Taylor was a close combatant. That didn't mean a relation to body tempering cultivators, but a path almost equal to them, galvanised by his blood core.

Actually, the man had lamented more than once about his regret at not having fate with path. The resources needed for simply starting on the path were so astronomical that during those days, that it far outweighed the advantages.

Even those large Sects couldn't afford to support a body refining cultivator once he or she reached the Core Formation stage.

So, he had decided to do everything within his power to create something close to those body refiners, his blood core.

I was confident in my strength, but unlike the ease with which I had handled Simba, there was absolutely no way I would even dare to get into close combat melee with the man even if we were at the same level.

There had been many legends and even video evidence of his battles. The man was a monster. That's the conclusion I had reached.

Before the mist could expand even further, darkness blocked some of the light from the Sun as the Heavens themselves acted, manifested dark clouds above the man. And it was so seamlessly integrated into the scenery that it appeared as if we were back onto the surface of the planet.

The tribulation clouds had just appeared. What shocked me was the fact that the lighting was golden, as opposed to the previously normal lightning. I became curious about its attunement, but a jolt from the vessel alerted me to the fact that it had just come to aa abrupt stop.

Judging by the fact that they had even applied the emergency spatial brakes, they too, feared getting caught up in the tribulation.

We were merely going to be reduced to spectators, though, better than most because of our front row seats.

"Interesting! What fascinating things are we going to discover today?!" There was unmistakable excitement within Livia's voice as she eagerly gazed at the tribulation clouds.