White Lotus Sect, on a mountain near Qinling Peak.
Yu Chen and Kierra were sitting on the wooden chairs that the archwizard made a bit earlier. The sky was cloudless, the moon was bright, and the stars were shining brilliantly.
Yu Chen sat there blankly, admiring the beautiful sight. She'd been buried in cultivation these years, so taking a breather like this was not bad, she thought.
Kierra, on the other hand, was trying her best to read the stars.
To begin with, her journey as a wizard started with a summoned creature, then accompanied and supported by summoned creatures. One such being that Kierra met was a total surprise for her.
In fact, she was so impressed by this creature that she decided not to bind it by any contract, instead treating it like a simple friend, and this was when she'd already become the world's best.
The Spawn of The Universe - Cosmos.
No one knew what it looked like, when it was born, how strong it was, and what its purposes were truly—except for Kierra.
It and Kierra had a lot of similarities. They were both unimaginably strong and equally bored. That was why they collaborated to stir the universe up for some simple fun, and they eventually reached this point where Kierra was in a whole different universe.
How did Kierra know that it was another universe?
'The star formations here are nothing like ours.'
To call upon the ancient being, Kierra needed to grasp the general star structures of wherever she was so she could accurately create an appropriate summon circle. After all, wherever there were stars, Cosmos would always be present; that was what the creature itself promised her.
Memorizing millions of visible stars in the sky was virtually impossible, but with a brain like Kierra's combined with some other techniques, it was not just a pipe dream.
Merely ten minutes later, Kierra was ready.
She stood up and pulled out a can of magical paint, the type that was usually used for summoning. Using simple telekinesis, she began to draw an intricate magical formula on the ground.
Yu Chen, who was engrossed in watching the stars, got lifted away together with her chair by Kierra because the archwizard needed to paint on the part she was sitting on.
''??''
'Evicted' from the giant formula, Yu Chen could only stare blankly at the concentrating Kierra.
Eventually, it was completed.
Standing in the middle, Kierra poured a little bit of mana into the formula and began to chant.
''BORN FROM THE SEA AND THE WAVES, FROM A COSMIC ARRAY,''
''SHAPED BY GALAXIES,''
''VEILED BY NEBULAS,''
''FUELED BY MOLTEN RIVERS OF PLASMA,''
''AT THIS MOMENT, I CALL UPON YOU—THE CREATURE OF STARS!''
As soon as Kierra finished chanting, a burst of brilliant cosmic mana surrounded her. The energy seemed to be recreating the universe itself, swirling around intensely with the archwizard as its singularity.
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''...!''
Yu Chen, who could now perceive mana faintly, marveled. It was easily the most incredible thing she had ever seen or felt.
The cluster of cosmic mana gradually began to shrink itself, gathering in a spot before Kierra. The light cut off completely, and what remained there was a small sun-like white sphere. It radiated a gentle aura, spinning lazily in the air.
''Cosmos.'' Kierra smiled.
[Kierra]
A neutral voice sounded from the sphere.
''Nice to see you again.'' Kierra continued. ''Let us discuss what happened under the stars.''
[Gladly]
So Kierra went over and sat beside Yu Chen again. After a brief introduction of both sides, Kierra began to recount her story. Cosmos, who was floating beside Kierra's head, listened in silence.
''Cosmos, can you access our pocket dimensions now?''
[I am afraid not—this universe is foreign to me, so my power is limited]
''As expected.''
Kierra noticed her partner's strength had significantly shrunk since she summoned it, but she asked just to be sure.
''Do you need any help recovering your power?''
[It would be much appreciated]
''Alright.'' Kierra nodded. ''Yu Chen, guide me to the library later.''
''...I understand.''
Cosmos was an entity closely related to the origin of the universe. And in the universe, one thing was constant—time.
The reason why it grew to become strong enough to devour planets was because it existed for a mind-bogglingly long time. But time itself was not necessarily Cosmos's primary source of power, but the things gained from time were.
Knowledge.
Cosmos thrived on knowledge. The more it knew about the world around it, the more it became stronger. It seemed to Kierra that this universe had a totally different set of principals compared to her old one; that was probably why Cosmos got weakened.
So, to recover Cosmos's strength in this world, feeding it as much information as possible was needed, and the library was the perfect place.
After relaxing on the mountaintop for a little more, Yu Chen guided Kierra to the sect's library. It was a relatively large and tall building with a total of seven floors.
''Books here are categorized by how rare or valuable the information they contain is.'' Yu Chen explained. ''The higher the floor is, the more precious books you will find.''
''Any restrictions?'' Kierra asked.
''I, as the martial master of the Qinling Peak, don't have any, but the lower disciples have.''
''I see.''
'It's similar to our tower's library.'
''In any case, I can get you permission to access our entire library. I assume the books are important to your friend, am I correct?'' Yu Chen smiled lightly at Kierra.
''They are. I appreciate your help.'' Kierra smiled back.
''It's natural. I still have lots to repay.''
After some talking with the person in charge of the library, the three entered the building.
''Cosmos, feast to your heart's content.''
Kierra petted the small sphere lightly.
[Gladly]
Just like that, they began their journey in the library. While waiting for Cosmos to absorb the information in the books, Kierra went on to read some of the more interesting ones according to Yu Chen's recommendations.
She was mainly interested in the history of this world, as well as the general powers existing currently. As they ascended the floors one by one, books about combat techniques and cultivation methods began to appear more frequently.
On the seventh floor, only one bookshelf was available.
''These are our sect's most valuable books, Kierra.''
Kierra nodded. The protection array was indeed more potent here.
While thinking that, it seemed Cosmos had already gone to 'eat' the books. She noticed her partner was somewhat more enthusiastic than usual.
''Hm... are they all cultivation methods?''
''Yes. Each sect will have their own unique methods that they have developed throughout the years.''
''Unique, you say...'' Kierra pondered. ''Cosmos, are these very good?''
[Very much so—I can recover very quickly if there were more of them]
''As expected...''
Kierra scratched her chin; her eyebrows narrowed a bit.
''...Kierra, don't tell me you're going to invade other sects as well...?'' Yu Chen asked nervously.
''I don't see why not.'' Kierra shrugged. ''In fact, I changed my mind.''
Kierra checked her mana reserve.
'Roughly fifteen percent.'
Based on Yu Chen's descriptions of the Lightning Tiger Sect, she should be able to take care of them easily.
''Let us capture the Lightning Tiger sect right now.''