"He....vanished just like that?" Moon was distraught. "We failed....we failed...."
'Was that the core? It looked like a heart, the descriptions didn't say it was a heart....perhaps....' While Chambers was thinking, more lighting struck and the earth ruptured again.
"Damn it, this place is collapsing, what I foresaw is happening. It's my time to leave, I can't risk my life in the slightest!"
Before everyone else, Chambers vanished too, leaving through a backdoor he left for himself.
Meanwhile, Cain found himself in a small peaceful grove. He didn't move but studied the heart in his hand.
"This thing is connected to the core, it seems to be a key the Architect left behind, it also brought me somewhere like I guessed. Does that mean the core is here?"
'Not to mention, how did the architect make this? She developed a subsidiary to the system's core! You could make a small force of false rulers with this method!'
Although Cain beat the Puppet easily, if he was versing a person who already developed their powers like Chambers and then with the subsidiary core on top of that, Cain would undoubtedly lose unless he unleashed the Dream Core in its full glory.
However, the world was balanced, the false core was hard to create. The Architect could only make one, using a 9th Tier Dao Spirit in the process. In any other Territory, this would not work. The Dao spirit had a connection to the Dao and thus could mess with the Dao's laws to achieve the effect of a subsidiary core. The System wasn't so easy to cheat otherwise.
Studying it for a while longer, Cain began to use the heart as a compass, it would beat faster the closer he got to the real core and so he wandered around trying to find his way.
Unlike the rest of the Seven Provinces, the grove wasn't covered by dark clouds or attacked by lighting, it was protected by the core and Heavenly Spirit, it would be safe for a time before the System could suppress it, destroying all other possible variables.
The trees in the grove were tall and thin, the canopy of leaves leaving many holes for light to shine through. The bark was reddish brown and the leaves were yellow, along with the grass.
Walking for a while, Cain followed the beating heart and found a small cave. Entering, he walked through the dark, using the slight glow of the crystalline core to find his way. Before long, he saw light, and he found more trees as the ceiling of the cave opened, allowing the outside elements in.
There was a waterfall, plant life bloomed and small animals like rabbits and foxes wandered around. In the center, there was a big rock shaped like a nest with an orb sitting on it. Next to the orb was a white sprite.
"So this is where you were!"
The Heavenly Spirit saw Cain and inched closer to the core. Although it had power, it could not use any, not now when the outside world was collapsing and with Cain before it.
Seeing the shaken little thing, Cain smiled maliciously, "Oh you poor soul. Something must be happening outside, I can't wait to see it. For now, let me have a bit of fun! But before that, I still need to finish what I planned to do, thankfully there's enough heavenly energy here!"
In Cain's mindscape, the cage surrounding the Demon of Desire opened and it was brought out while contained in Cain's Spiritual Qi.
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"Ah, fresh air! I'm glad I made this deal!" The Demon didn't notice the Heavenly Spirit, it was too happy it was let out.
Cain's smile became darker, "Yes, freedom." He immediately shoved the Desire Demon into his forehead, the sigils he spent making glowing bright.
"What!? This wasn't a part of the deal!"
"I know." Cain giggled. "Deals change, this is my counter offer, become one with me!"
"No! You bastard!"
With a reluctant soul, it was strainful to forcefully harness it, but Cain was at the peak of the Cultivation World, he was a Gatherer who snuck into this territory to devour its core, he was more than enough to devour a mere Demon!
Time passed. The Heavenly Spirit watched in horror, unable to do anything. It was powerless, not even trying to defend the core anymore but instead hiding behind it.
'So haughty before, what happened.' Cain laughed to himself while he finished harnessing the Demon's soul, its cries and shouts dispersing.
"I understand now why the Demon Slaughtering Celestial almost lost himself, this guy is indeed annoying. His whispers are formless and viscous, if I wasn't using the Dream Core to sense it I would never notice. Thankfully this method doesn't strain the core at all, not even in its current state. I must hurry and finish everything now and rush to the Fusion Stage!"
Cain had his plans, he had preparations allowing him to reach the Peak Stage of Enlightenment with relative ease.
"Now, time to get rid of something I won't need!" He plunged his hand into his chest, the sigils turning red as he pulled out the Energy Spirit. Suddenly, he crushed it in his hand, destroying the Spirit.
"Since the Fusion Stage allows the Cultivator with practically infinite spiritual qi, I won't be needing such a waste of space. Once I have the core I'll be able to use these powers however I wish!"
Cain's plan for the core was to try and keep the powers he accumulated, mostly because of the next action he was going to take.
"Come here!"
He rushed over to the core and grabbed the Heavenly Spirit hiding behind it, trapping it in his hand.
"Hehehe! Let me devour you!" Cain's face was like a Demon's, the Heavenly Spirit was frightened and almost fainted, alas, it couldn't.
Shoving the Tier 9 Spirit into his chest, Cain felt immeasurable power enter him.
"Hahaha! Is this the power that comes with the Heavens, the power to be a god?! Although I'll surely be limited, this is too good to pass up!"
The Heavenly Spirit cried as it sunk into Cain's chest, its screams becoming silent.
Standing there, in the grove, Cain felt invigorated.
"Now it's time to break past the limits!"
...
Outside in the Seven Provinces, the sky was falling.
"This has gone on long enough! Die old man!" The Sky Ruler flapped his wings and the sky itself descended. Yet he was crying in his mind.
'This is gonna pinch my wallet a bit...all those currency points, gone, just like that!'
Shards of the sky and fragments of clouds turned sharp like knives, cutting air and shredding wind.
"T-The sky's collapsing! Run! Hide!"
Countless cultivators screamed and yelled, those who escaped the Marble City went from one danger to a bigger one.
Among the numerous fearful, a few people stood out from the rest. The one in the limelight however was the Immortal Sect Leader, the Living Immortal. Life cycled around his body, a mass of Spiritual Energy condensed, transitioning from ethereal to physical.
The sheer mass of the qi allowed the Immortal to block the majority of the attack sent at him. However, the other areas around him were left undefended, with thousands of cultivators dying as he protected himself.
Along with the Immortal, people like Fang Yuan, Lady Moon, and other Enlightenment Stage Experts from the 5 Great and 3 Evil Sects defended their areas, protecting those around them.
With such a defensive effort, most of the Cultivation force was preserved.
"Shit, how could this mission be so hard? Do I need to share the reward with someone else?!" The Sky Ruler was panicking, if he had to share the reward he would lose more than he would gain.
As he was thinking, the System screen appeared before him.
[Second Objective Found! Anomaly Detected to the East of the User! Error Error! Anomaly is in Control of the First Objective!]
Sky Ruler was astonished, "What! The Anomaly and the Error are together? Didn't the mission state the Error and Anomaly were at odds?"
As a Ruler, he knew Anomalies and Errors related to people or things. Everything that caused problems for the System had free will, it was stated in the open statistics of the mission board that all rulers had access to.
Abruptly, the sky that was falling stopped, in the East, a massive beam rose into the sky, it was crimson.
Shockwaves sent the weaker Cultivators flying.