I looked at the giant floating metal orbs in the distance. Their surface was reflective, which made looking at them a blinding experience. I had to squint to view the floating spheres in the distance, just casually drifting along.
I heard movement behind me and saw Yang Heng slowly waking up. I had left the door open between the cockpit and the cabin. “Good morning senior,” I said politely.
He shook himself and then came to the cockpit looking out in the distance. “We should leave,” he replied.
“May I ask why?” It took a while to get here, over seventy days.
“The Shielding Spheres are an enemy of the Heavenly Alliance.”
“Aren’t all other super organizations enemies?” I asked.
“Yes. But we have come into conflict in my life time. They will not trade anything useful,” he said.
“What are they” I asked.
“Massive bio-organic constructs. Each of those giant reflective spheres are their bodies.”
“They are massive,” I replied in shock.
“Yes. And their thinking is completely inhuman. Their path to power involves building upon themselves more and more, while sharing insights with their fellows. While they are fairly weak with how they use energy, their technology is quite advanced,” Yang Heng explained.
“Were they always like that?” I asked.
“Beginnings and ends, are not so easy to decipher. They were probably organic beings, since they have organic components, but added more and more to themselves. Then they integrated into their vessels and grew out more. Now they have reached the plateau of what they can accomplish through technology, they are clearly trying to gather energy to reach new heights, like all other beings on this layer,” Yang Heng explained.
“Trade isn’t going to be easy,” I muttered. What did a moon sized reflective sphere even want? The stuff I picked up from the Ek seemed like a joke now.
“Trade is near impossible between super-organizations, since they are self sufficient and all desire the same things. I would call the Shield Spheres a high level organization. They can compete with the Heavenly Alliance in this layer, but they have no presence in the Firmament. The smaller factions don’t have anything worthwhile. We should move on and try to find another cultivator society we can contact. They will have a way for us to get back to the Forever City,” Yang Heng replied.
“So the only option to get resources is to fight?” I asked.
“Or find what naturally appears. Very few super-organizations truly fight. Once you claim territory, you are rarely going to go outside of it. There are always exceptions, but you can only expand so much, before there are organizational issues,” Yang Heng said.
“Which is why the Heavenly Alliance doesn’t expand?”
“The boarders are kept meticulously clear. But no, we don’t expand. Long term stability is far more important. And those at the top have all the energy they need. The higher up you go, it is less a question of resources, but more a question of talent, foundation, and knowledge.”
I looked out the front of the cockpit and let out a sigh. “There are no other cultivator societies listed in the information I got,” I replied.
“Well, just keep traveling around. There is a saying, if you head in a straight line long enough, you will eventually run into something and everything.” The communicator lit up. I looked at Yang Heng who merely shrugged, clearly leaving the choice up to me.
I pushed it down. “Hello, this is Cultivator Yuan Zhou of the Heavenly Alliance,” I replied.
“You will depart immediately. You are in violation of our territory,” a very rigid voice came over from the other side. That was unfriendly and unwelcoming. I didn’t want to get into a fight with a group that Yang Heng knew their name.
“Understood, leaving now,” I replied and turned around the hover craft to go a different direction. I turned off the communicator.
“A shame they are strong enough to survive. Killing them and harvest their corpses would have netted some worthwhile resources,” Yang Heng said casually.
“I do have a question. Why didn’t the Heavenly Alliance notice me before?” I asked.
“Did you go before one of the core members?” Yang Heng asked me.
“No. At least I don’t think so,” I replied.
“Then you have your answer. Our foundations are much greater than others. While it requires a lot more investment, we can also achieve greater heights. Also was this before or after you got through the first bottleneck?” I asked.
“Both,” I replied and Yang Heng nodded.
“Again, we have many outer members, doing a variety of tasks. But the main combat power resides with us, the core members.” That made sense. The TripleX faction had many servants and me. While we were part of the faction, there was a big difference between individuals with differing amounts of status. You aren’t going to share your secrets with someone not in the trusted inner circle.
“Just traveling around, leaving things to chance is the only option then?” I asked as I turned to fully face Yang Heng. There probably wasn’t another option, but the longer I was out here, the more worried I was becoming about long it took to find something useful. I had always focused on my cultivation before, and it was frustrating not to be able to do anything right now.
“Divination. A dangerous skill to use,” Yang Heng said with a shake of his head.
“Why dangerous and by how much?” I asked.
“Those who are skilled enough can look back at you. Have passive defenses against such things. While rare, if they are skilled in such uses of energy, active defenses. We would be like a beacon to any hostile forces as well. It is too dangerous. I understand your frustration, but you have had the fate to get this far, I am sure you will get further. I am curious about what you have done. Tell me of your journey to reach this point,” Yang Heng asked. Since I had been asking him questions it was only fair.
I told him how I had been born on a continent, how I was declared a genius, my hard work, joining the Cloudy Moon Sect, the trouble with Aoyin, the help of my former Sect Master, and then my travels through the Forever City. He listened intently as I narrated my life story.
“And now, I am here,” I finished.
“You are beyond fortunate, but out of trillions of lives over the ages, a few will always make it eventually. Circumstances and events will align.”
“Is that how the Forever City started?” I asked and Yang Heng laughed at that question.
“Perhaps. The beginnings of super-organizations are often shrouded in mystery. To protect the origin point of such an organization.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, you are talking about people breaking causality. I don’t understand how that would even work,” I replied.
“If you did, then you would be much more dangerous. Following the path of time is no simple matter, since it intertwined with fate and other concepts. The best answer is to stay away from such things.”
“And this ties into how energy is contaminated by certain beings?” I asked.
“Another complex topic, that even I can’t fully explain. You are asking questions that super-organizations invest resources studying, hoping to find answers they can replicate or even understand. Energy flows up from Chaos, but before most beings take it in, it will pass by other powerful beings. Or go through processes.”
“Now imagine, if you were powerful enough to adjust that energy slightly. To alter it. Then that would give you a degree of influence over all those using that energy, however subtle. For the lower levels, which you are at, this doesn’t matter. But at the higher levels, you must make the energy you wield your own, or there will be a strong weakness in your foundation.”
“All cultivators under the Heavenly Alliance are subjected to this?” I asked.
“Not just cultivators all beings that use energy. The most dangerous beings are those that can draw in any kind of energy just by existing. That shard of a Great Devourer Seed that was used in your cultivation is an example of one such being. The higher up you go the messier it gets and the more difficult it is to get stronger.” That had already been explained to me.
“My apologies senior, I was just frustrated by how I am losing time, traveling around. I was hoping there would be trade opportunities, or some place where there is a possibility.”
Yang Heng was silent for over a minute, which meant he was clearly thinking about something. “There are no options. Without support fighting is too risky. I will be resting until something comes up,” he said and went back to lie down.
All of my effort, recognition, and now there was no way to capitalize on all of it. I was stuck in the cultivator equivalent of hell. This truly was an exile. Qiang You really was a bastard, but he had also helped me reach this point. Without his assistance, I would have never made it so far. I didn’t know if I should be grateful or angry.
It was a shame that there was no thriving civilization I would stop at and work to get enough energy to advance my cultivation. Anyone stuck here had to be self-sufficient to a large degree. And if you were capable enough, then you wouldn’t remain here either. I looked through the information I had on different groups that I got from the Seekers. They were all monoculture super organizations and factions.
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The fact that the Shield Spheres turned us away, showed that Yang Heng knew what he was talking about to some degree. If we traveled far enough, hopefully we would run into some kind of organization.
I was at least glad, I didn’t look like a child any longer. It had been a good decision to hold off on my breakthrough until I had aged a bit. Being child sized made everything a bit harder than it needed to be. While I had gotten used to it, there was something to be said about looking like an adult. The main concern now, was that I would age too quickly.
My body felt sluggish constantly, and the energy inside of my body was only a small trickle. I looked through all the information provided much more carefully, looking for any faction or super-organization that would be able to help me, but there wasn’t anything listed. The fact that Yang Heng was stuck here for so long, was proof enough that there wasn’t anything.
I had never explored before. All the previous times I had a direction to go in. I guess my time in the Forever City could be counted as exploring while looting the various towers, but that was more about surviving an active warzone. I looked for groups willing to sell information or at least have a larger trade presence.
If I couldn’t trade in goods, I would need better technology, to explore. I compared a couple factions to the colors that showed up. Nothing was a perfect match, which was annoying. I could only pick a direction and hope something would show up.
***
After forty five more days of traveling I came across a massive piece of rock, but there were no gases swirling around it. Yang Heng also woke up at that time and took a look at the situation.
“The size is massive and there are strong energy readings. My guess is an isolationist faction,” he said.
“You mean they are hiding out in that thing?” I asked.
“It is clearly repelling things from coming towards it. While gravity and other such physical concepts are not as strict, they still hold some value. It is too unnatural and the presence of energy is also suspicious.”
“I haven’t seen any structures, while going around it.”
“Not on the surface, but they could have hidden things. Look there,” Yang Heng pointed out a spot and I stared closely. “That rock formation is too orderly compared to its surroundings. An access point to whatever is hiding down there. I could do with stretching my legs.”
“Set us down and explore?” I asked.
“If there was a threat, I would have sensed something. Most likely it is a trash heap from some leftover civilization. Most likely everything is dead inside, but if not, well it is good experience.”
“What if they have a lot of technology?” I asked.
“While no rule is absolute, they aren’t hailing, and did they answer any of your hails?” Yang Heng asked me. I shook my head. I had already tried that. “Then that shows they are even more backwards than even the Ek.”
“Alright, I will follow your lead,” I replied since Yang Heng was the superior fighter.
“The main concern is any automatons that these beings might have left behind. But such things are easily countered. I have more than enough saved up energy to handle any threat,” he replied. I set the hover craft down where he directed me to.
I then put on a mask and suit. Yang Heng didn’t put on anything. We then left the hover craft togeather. He told me not to worry about it as he easily located a cave entrance and then a large metal door.
“There is nothing I can detect near us that is a threat.”
“Wouldn’t it be smart for some powerful faction to use a place like this as a trap?” I asked.
“If they were powerful enough to hide from my senses, they wouldn’t bother with such a thing. The risk is too high that some powerful person wandering about like myself will come across whatever is here and take a look. Also, this is basic steel, utter trash.”
He thrust out his hands and easily created a hole through the massive metal door. He stepped through and I followed after him. Flicking his hand, a glowing orb appeared and began to hover over his head. While we could both see in the dark thanks to our cultivation, it wasn’t easy, at least for me. The light would help quite a bit.
Yang Heng ripped open several more doors as we advanced deep into whatever structure was down here. “No corpses, no atmosphere either. Just a straight tunnel.”
“This entire place is dead. Give me a moment.” Yang Heng held up a hand and I felt a large pulse of energy. “The tunnel goes for some ways and then there is a very deep underground base. Once the energy source is removed, that is keeping this chunk of rock stable, it will all collapse.”
“So, nothing valuable,” I replied.
“Only the energy source. I am going to move us,” Yang Heng said and moved behind me. He then put a hand on my shoulder. “Breathe out.” I did as he told me and then everything moved around us. I felt sick as we came to a stop.
“That was horrible,” I replied.
“A high level movement technique. One Step Across The Heavens. The sickness you feel isn’t from the technique, but the new spatial conditions in the area. Come, we aren’t that far from the energy source.” I followed Yang Heng through triangle shaped corridors.
“How is there gravity?” I asked.
“That is my doing. I am enforcing the spatial rules I prefer onto the environment around me. A useful technique for going anywhere in any condition.” That really was useful.
There were markings on the walls I couldn’t read. “Anyone ever try to get information about these civilizations?” I ask.
“There is no point. They come, they go, they matter not. Only if you are at the level of a super-organization is it worth remembering your name and deeds. Anything below that is just a waste of time and thought,” Yang Heng answered. It just seemed weird not to care about history. But I suppose when your history is forever, you learn to not care about the things that don’t matter to you.
He easily burst through a metal door. A hologram appeared of a tentacle like creature. “Quish ha, pa-“ Yang Heng swiped his hand through the air and whatever was projecting the hologram burned out instantly. He didn’t even care about these beings’ last message for whomever found their tomb. After a couple more doorways, we entered a massive space that was so big, it was hard to see the other side.
There was a massive cylindrical complex at the center of the space. I could see various openings in the rock all around the edge of the area we just entered. There was a dampness to the air. “This was probably all underwater at one time,” I said.
“Liquids don’t do well in the Mechanical Layer. Not in a space this large. But there is an atmosphere,” he replied as I followed him.
“Weird physics things happen, for why the atmosphere doesn’t drain out?” I asked.
“Yes. That massive structure is an overly complicated energy compressor. The idea is to use some energy to draw in more energy.”
“So, a way to a lower layer?” I asked.
“That entire facility draws less than one thousandth of the energy you are currently drawing right now. Its just been sitting for ages, slowly building up an accumulation of energy. Eventually it would either shut down and this place would break apart, or keep building up over time and this place would suffer a massive failure. That’s also when all the nearby bottom feeding factions would descend on this place to try and scoop the energy here.”
“Its too small,” I replied.
“Exactly. If reaching the Firmament was that easy everyone would do so.”
“Can’t we copy the design, and build multiple of these structures?” I asked.
“And that is how you get a visitor coming up from the Firmament when the local energy is going down and they detect something like this. And if you spread them out, well you will be vulnerable. And if you are strong enough to defend a large swath of territory in the Mechanical Layer, you have the strength to carve out a chunk of territory in the Firmament,” he replied.
“So you would go to the Firmament, but keep outposts up here to keep an eye on things, to make sure no other super organization moved into the area,” I replied.
“Exactly. If you want energy, the Mechanical Layer is just too poor. And if you depend on technology, then you won’t care about energy. But no one only cares about technology who exists on this layer. That might be one of the few absolutes. I have yet to see or hear of any faction that discards energy to focus solely on technological development. If one has, they were most likely wiped out pretty quickly.”
“The amount of energy is quite large from what I can sense. What are you going to do with it?” I asked.
“I am going to make it into a crystal and give it to you. I can tell you are surprised, but if there is any hope of you advancing, then you need energy to nourish your body. For someone like me, it is nothing but a credit lying on the ground. Normally not worth my time picking up.”
“Thank you, senior,” I quickly said. I was surprised that Yang Heng was being so generous.
“A cultivator who has made it as far as you is a treasure. While you might not agree with the Heavenly Alliance, you will return to the Forever City one day. Once you have become an immortal, explored, and have lost interest in most other things. Then the Forever City will become that much stronger. Even if you don’t return and want to chart your own path, you are a cultivator that has stepped on the chosen path all on your own. That is incredibly rare. To learn of a fifth person who has gone as far as you is important to the Heavenly Alliance.”
“That seems weird if I am already on a path they know,” I replied.
“While the path might be the same, your method of getting as far as you have is what is valuable. While you have explained your cultivation choices, my seniors would like to take a look at you. Each time someone has walked down the path the Heavenly Alliance has created and not part of the Heavenly Alliance has added to our understanding of cultivation to refine our insights. Knowledge like that is what is valued at the higher levels,” he explained.
“Which is why you haven’t killed me,” I answered and he chuckled.
“You are hopelessly naïve, but you have a strong will. No one has dared ask me questions in a long time. And while I could chart my own course, as long as I am not stuck on a garbage barge, then I don’t mind. This could be considered a vacation from my duties,” Yang Heng replied.
“I am afraid to ask, but how high up are you in the Heavenly Alliance?” I asked. I realized I was dealing with a big shot. I had thought I was dealing with some minor officer. But Yang Heng was higher up than I had first thought. I had no idea about the structure of the Heavenly Alliance, but he wasn’t at the bottom, that much was clear.
“High enough. No need to say such things where they might be overheard. While talent in Divination is rare, it is never wise to take chances. This should be close enough.” He brought up both of his hands and held them out. I felt the energy inside the large cylinder building in front of us shake. The entire ball of rock was shaking. Dust and debris was falling from the ceiling.
“Compress.” Yang Heng didn’t speak as he unleashed a burst of energy. The building in front of us began folding in on itself. The shaking got worse. Soon there was a ball of metal floating between the top and bottom of the broken cylinder building. Yang Heng gestured towards himself with one hand. A dark brown crystal ripped free from the large ball of metal, which Yang Heng stopped supporting the structure in mid-air and let it fall with a tremendous crash onto the bottom of the pillar.
“Here, that should help,” he handed me the crystal. There was a lot of energy in that crystal.
“What about their technology?” I asked. Yang Heng shook his head.
“Trash and garbage. Any technology advanced enough to be useful, tends to be too dangerous to safely use. Brace yourself, I will return us to the hover craft,” he said before moving quickly behind me. Everything spun and my stomach heaved as we arrived back next to the hover craft in a blur.
We entered the hover craft and I removed my gear before setting off once again. The hover craft shuddered a bit after a minute, and I turned it around to look back. The massive planet was ripping itself apart. Yang Heng looked over my shoulder.
“A shame,” he said.
“That massive planet breaking apart?” I asked as it compressed in certain spots and exploded in others. It was less breaking, and more violently tearing.
“The energy was creating a unified spatial effect. Once it was removed, the entire area is changing. That is why energy is superior to technology. Eventually technology will hit limits that can’t be solved, since it must obey physical rules,” he explained.
“Any advice on how to use the crystal?” I asked.
“Draw the energy into your body to help nourish it. Beyond that there is nothing special you need to do.” Yang Heng then went back into hibernation as I set off once more. It was tempting to be distrustful of him, but he had been nothing but helpful.
There was nothing to do but absorb the energy from the crystal as we made our way through the Mechanical Layer hoping to find something useful. As I slowly absorbed the energy from the crystal Yang Heng had given me, I hadn’t realized how poorly I had been feeling up to this point. The energy was like a glass of water, I didn’t even know I needed with how dehydrated I was.
My body and mind felt much better as I drained the energy from the crystal. As for building any structures within my soul, I had nowhere near enough energy to make that happen. While the crystal had a lot of energy, it wasn’t an endless amount. After twenty days, the energy contained within was all gone. It was still better than nothing.