Strolling about deeper into the Dark Wall, both Alexander and Lei Diesto stopped from time to time. Curiously glancing at shops and places, they were intrigued by many things.
Some materials, pills, artifacts and the likes were completely unknown to them. The inside of this fortress was also quite tame. Not many dared to raise a fuss, and much less attempted to cause trouble.
Everything was orderly, with some guards here and there with cultivation bases most likely at the Universe Realm.
When looking over to Lei Diesto's side, Alexander narrowed his eyes.
"Where did you get this?" Curiously watching Lei Diesto read a low quality pamphlet, Alexander had to ask after reading some of it himself.
"Oh, this? I took one on the way- Hey!" Alarmed, Lei Diesto glared at Alexander currently holding his pamphlet without a care.
"I'm just memorizing everything, no need to act like this." Handing it back, he watched Lei Diesto grumble in annoyance.
'Some interesting information... First of all, we should look for a place to rest at.' Alexander currently had no thoughts on leaving this place behind without turning back.
First of all, Limbo was most definitely dangerous to someone at his power level. Secondly, the Dark Wall was a secure place to rest within, as resources would be plenty near it.
And lastly, he felt something quite distant yet familiar from Valtos' being.
It was the same feeling he had when trying to seal away his memories of Earth. It was a sense of belonging and familiarity that shackled him. But this time, it was much, much stronger.
Also, the difference came as a change of intention. His Earthen memories were protected by some power that he had no control over, but this time, he felt an invisible chain extend from him to Valtos.
The meaning was fairly obvious.
Alexander's body and soul were owned by Valtos!
This came as a horrific problem. It was not a simple bond, but a blown out slavery contract!
'Logically speaking, if I manage to replace my soul and fleshly vessel, this should also go away. Stealing someone else's body is easy, but changing soul is completely out of my understanding. And even then, what if I steal someone's body which is also bond by something like this?'
Without a secure path away from the Dark Wall and Valtos' influence, Alexander had no choice but to stay in place.
At the very least, this restriction gave him a proper objective and starting point. The Heavens were fair, not because they wanted to, but because they had to.
Being fair in anything was not a matter of being objective, but about not caring about it.
The Heavens always lacked certain aspects of a Human's caring ability. They were only interested in their programmed job, anything else was out the window.
And the knowledge Alexander received from Valtos helped him consolidate his understanding of it. The Origin Realm required the formation of the Heavens within one's internal world. This meant that these Heavens, and the Heavens now above him, were most likely shaped from the same mold.
Thinking about this and that, Alexander and Lei Diesto had made their way deeper into the Dark Wall, not even close to near its end in the process.
On his left, Alexander saw a couple of black metallic steps lead into a room. Above the arched doorway was a sign.
'Mission Hall...'
It was now time for Alexander to be the disciple for once.
Luckily, on the other side, another short set of steps lead into another room.
'That's where we get registered.'
The way Alexander was so sure of these two places' credibility laid in the steps. These short stairs were black and metallic, a clear extension of the floor. It possessed the exact same shine and aura as the Dark Wall itself did.
This material was obviously used as a proper defensive barrier from outwards attacks. Meaning that this material he never really saw anywhere else, being used so casually, was a clear indicator of the rooms' influences.
The only way they would be gifted such a material or such a set of stairs would be by a higher up's generosity or mission for the Dark Wall.
This meant that the Dark Wall, as an organization, used these places officially.
What more credibility could it earn?
Entering said room on the right, Alexander met with a deep hall going an impressive distance into the horizon. It did not even feel like the Dark Wall itself was this large.
'Spatial manipulation?' Inquiringly pondering, Alexander did not really care much for it. He had seen such a display of Space Dao countless times already.
A queue making him wait for a few hours, it was finally his turn to meet with the young lady at the counter.
"Hello sir, how may I help you?"
"I would like to register."
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Giggling with a fake expression, the receptionist took out some jades and papers.
"Sign here with your blood, and also here."
Not in the mood to spit in her face for her fake attitude, Alexander raised his finger over a piece of paper and a green jade token. A drop of blood falling on each in quick succession, he awaited her robotic moves.
"Thank you, here you go. Have a nice decade, and I hope you will be happy now being a member of the Dark Wall. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask away."
"I'm fine, thank you." Vigilantly extirpating his gaze from her face, Alexander did not pry on her words other than with some slight worry.
'A nice decade... According to those papers...' Reading a copy of what he had just signed with his own blood, Alexander understood her words to not mean an expiration date on his contract.
'The sense of time here is quite different... instead of having a nice day or a nice week... This is troublesome!'
What her tone and words meant was obvious. For the common people of Limbo, a day, or even less, was similar to a decade.
This begged the question.
What about fighting experience?
'My fears might have just come true...'
If a young lady at the Instinct Liberating Realm could say this, what about someone of Valtos' standing?
Alexander had passed by dozens of cultivation realms, and he himself was quite aged compared to most people of Valtos' internal world. But here in Limbo, his age equaled to nothing. He was a newbie everywhere.
'This isn't good.'
Leaving the room, Alexander walked across the corridor into the mission hall.
Inside, many things caught his eye. The most obvious one was a circular, futuristic table of sorts right in the middle. Above it was a three dimensional map depicting the surroundings of the Dark Wall.
All around it, apart from people, many red tokens were flashing periodically.
Walking over, Alexander touched one of such tokens.
'Some coordinates, a detailed map, a compass and a description.' Each token seemed to be depicting a specific mission.
Curiously glancing over the many happenings, Alexander understood what to do in the next few minutes.
Touching all red tokens, he chose one.
Taking it to the counter deeper into the hall, he registered the mission with his identification token.
"Here you go, have a nice trip."
"Alright..."
Done with his business, Alexander left the Dark Wall without a care.
Unfortunately for him, without currency, he could not stay in the Dark Wall too often. Not only so, but his cultivation would take an incredibly long time to advance enough to reach a certain safety threshold.
'The mission this time is about those Primordial Humans.'
The reason Alexander picked this mission was not just for curiosity's sake. The mission was evaluated as very low risk and demanded even cultivators at the Celestial Harmonization Realm. Of course this was for the lowest requirement, since in terms of risk probability, someone at the Immortal Sky Realm was required.
Being at the Half-Universe Realm, Alexander was actually many times stronger than anyone picking this type of missions, but this was not a problem for him.
The safer missions would always be picked first until he would get used to Limbo's structure.
With the token's compass and indications, Alexander flew into the void for a few years.
This trip gave him quite the fright for some time, as the void lacked the bountiful worlds sprinkled everywhere, or even the hideouts gifted by some space debris.
There was only the void and some occasional world here and there. This meant absolutely zero hiding spots in case something went wrong. There was no bush to hide into, no asteroid to dig within or even ruins to sneak beneath.
Luckily, nothing wrong came about, as the vast territory Valtos ruled over was absolute. Within it, no thug could run rampant for long.
After a staggering two decades of wandering, Alexander had barely made it to his targeted location. This came as a shock, as Limbo appeared countless times bigger than he first thought.
Facing him, a giant skull was resting in the void of deep space. The Primordial Human's skull was old and deteriorating, leaning slightly sideways compared to Alexander's current position.
Getting closer, Alexander took a whole decade to reach it. By that point, the mouth of this skull was so big, it came about as nothing short of impressive. A tooth felt like a thousand Multiverses stacked on top of each other. Alexander had never felt so small and insignificant in his life until now.
'Let's hope for some good stuff.' Plunging deeper into the mouth, Alexander felt that building a few sects inside would be an easy feat. Even the biggest world of Limbo he had seen up until this point could barely compare to a single eye socket.
'This is getting ridiculous...' Scoffing at the sheer size of this monster of a Human, Alexander explored its insides for quite a long time. His sense of time had already faded by now. At least, what remained of it.
The receptionist's words were no exaggeration. A decade truly felt like a day.
During his time exploring, Alexander found some valuable items. Some orange, irregular crystals the most important one for him. Those crystals were beautiful, but also extremely dangerous and volatile. Each containing an enormous amount of wild Origin Energy inside.
As for the rest, Alexander even managed to find hundreds of artifacts, from the Divine-Tier all the way to the Universal-Tier. But most were broken messes, unable to display their full potential. But if they did, would those artifacts still be there?
On the other hand, his body showed signs of visual evolution. His starry skin started to be absorbed and fully dominated by his own white skin.
By now, his body only had a fading tint of this mess of colors. This came as good news, Alexander unsure about his opinion on his formerly sparkly vessel.
It took a whole century for Alexander to finish a barebone exploration of the mouth, soon making his way deeper toward the neck.
Once there, he shot upward, for the skull's opening.
Inside, Alexander was quite surprised. A single strand of some blue lightning was peacefully sitting there, in the middle of the skull's wide open space.
However, the power it emanated, even in this state, was outstanding. Alexander was technically quintillions of kilometers away at the very least. Yet this strand of lightning, its deep core white, was giving him chills he could never even imagine before.
What caught his attention even more on the other hand, was a broken tablet opposite to him. This tablet looked to be made out of stone, but the color was a striking resemblance with the skull's composition.
'A tablet of bones?' About to take a single, insignificant step into the void, Alexander halted immediately.
Gulping, Alexander retreated slowly, as the lightning directed hostility toward him.
Feeling the lightning's power, Alexander would not be surprised to learn it to have slain this Primordial Human by itself. But even then, Alexander could not even differentiate people at the Earth Transcending Realm from anything above.
He simply felt a primordial fear from the lightning.
But Alexander could not let this bone tablet fall short of his grasp. Taking a detour was an optimal and feasible option. The tablet, while opposite to him, was not close to the lightning. Therefore, grabbing it from the other side could most likely be attempted.
Spending a good thirty to forty years, Alexander was now peering into the skull's depths from the left eye socket. His gaze locked onto the tablet, he immediately went for it, speeding carefully near it.
It only took him seven years to reach it, and after storing it within a space ring, he made a run for it.
'That damn lightning is not chasing after me. Let's hope it stays that way for now...'
Alexander now needed to go back and inform the Dark Wall about his discovery. Even if he wanted to monopolize it, would he be able to do so?
'Let me see what this tablet is about at least...' While impatient, Alexander soon found a decaying world a few years later. The world seemed to have suffered from a heavy physical blow at some point, a giant crater shattering its colors directly.
Taking out the bone tablet once at a remote and relatively safe location, Alexander tried to read it. Unfortunately, nothing could be discerned from it. Even with the powerful ability of a cultivator, the language he attempted to read was out of his league. The reason was unclear, but it did not impede Alexander from making a clone to test the waters first.
'It better not blow up on me!'