Arslan surveyed the group watching him, expecting them to grasp the potential challenges they might face if they couldn't escape a similar situation. He was satisfied to see the contemplative expressions on their faces. They were easy to read in his presence, a trait he appreciated as it indicated that royal life hadn't entirely dulled their instincts. Despite his willingness to protect them, he couldn't guarantee their safety. They were not children, and he was not their babysitter.
Nevertheless, he could offer resources to help them acquire better equipment if needed. Glancing at Kante and Lyra, who were sleeping, he ignored them and began walking toward the doors. With a relaxed posture and hands in the pocket of his comfortable shorts, he looked back for a moment and said, "Follow me," before continuing on. The doors opened automatically, and he made his way to the treasury on foot, giving Kante and Lyra time to wake up. He enjoyed these walks in his castle; they helped him relax, and he would miss them when he was away.
As the group started walking, Arslan noticed Derin walking faster. Understanding her intentions, he slowed down to allow her to catch up, extending his hand, which she took.
Meanwhile, Angel asked Damon, "Can you fight that?"
"No," Damon replied immediately. The answer was clear to him the moment Kante and Lyra fell. He noticed that Lyra had resisted just a moment longer than Kante. Her Path was unique. He guessed that Kante's was no less extraordinary. Looking out of the window at the red sun in the sky, he pondered its significance, speculating that Kante might achieve something similar one day, shining brightly. Perhaps even surpassing that.
"How can even His Majesty do that?" Angel pressed, his curiosity piqued. He had asked before, but Damon hadn't been sure then, and he hadn't received an answer. However, he sensed a change in the situation since then.
Damon turned his gaze away from the sun as he felt Arslan's intention for him not to look further. Damon then looked ahead and explained, "It's innate. He was likely born with it. Even I don't know the specifics, but it seems to have no limits as long as his will is strong enough. I assume His Majesty can utilize the benefits of each cultivation stage. At the 9th Mortal Realm, Path Integration stage, he can likely use abilities up to the 9th Immortal Realm, Eternal Independence stage, particularly time and space, by Dominating them. It seems he couldn't do the same when he first broke through to the 9th stage. His progress is evident from how he has advanced to the point of interacting solely with time today. Strength is an absolute condition, regardless of the realm."
“What will happen when he becomes Immortal?” Chris asked, fearing that His Majesty might decide to eradicate him at any moment. He decided not to appreciate Derin's beauty, even for a few seconds. Although it was quite normal, he wouldn’t risk his life just to appreciate beauty. He needed his eyes. Women? Don’t be ridiculous; he would castrate himself if need be. He didn’t require it for his cultivation Path at all. It would just make it nigh-impossible, if not straight-up impossible, to get a strong wife without that part of his body. He could grow it back when he suppressed whatever caused it once he became one of the Divines. However, thinking that the whole situation might be caused by a potential Divine, he might remain castrated forever. He didn’t like trouble! Happiness came when he lived!
Damon just shook his head. He didn’t know. But he had a few guesses, so he said, “Other Divinities are not acquirable with it. He uses Domination; however, he doesn’t have changes like the Immortal Seed in his Existence, so Divinity also seems to be not possible. However, he should be able to do what Divines could do, with the prerequisite of having enough strength and if his Existence can carry the burden.”
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“I don’t know if I should be fascinated or cry at the ridiculousness of it,” Dante said, joining the topic, not bothered if Arslan could hear their talk. If they could make guesses, other beings could also do the same. He was also sure that their Emperor would like to get a second opinion from them. At least that’s what he thought.
They continued walking until they arrived at another location adorned with gold, even in the smallest details. Anyone would say it was extravagant; however, this continent had belonged to the royal family for a long time. Counting by the sun, it should be around ten cycles of the cosmos, equating to ten million years since the First Emperor took this place as theirs. Now, after generations of progress, this continent had been long excavated till its last drop. The only special thing that the Empire didn’t use to its last drop was the hoard of beasts that would spawn through the edge of the world. They were special resources, and taking care of them permanently would not make any sense. That was one of the reasons why it was time to join the competition.
Conquering new worlds and continents was crucial for world leaders. Eternals needed a lot of resources in their possession to carry out the necessary research for Divinity. There were a lot of Eternals running around the galaxy, and it became a matter of numbers at some point. With every one of them following their Paths, they couldn’t use the same resources. They could only use their strength to take them from others. Due to how galaxies had a sort of peace treaty, the Galactic Alliance would create competitions every thousand years. Most would join. However, as it hadn’t been necessary before, it had been nearly ten thousand years since the Shattered Continent joined the fray. Since the Cosmic Alliance was too large and encompassed every galaxy in the universe, they could only divide it into smaller galactic authorities to handle their own affairs. This galaxy was one of the wild ones when it came to resources, and that’s why there were high stakes.
“Your Majesty, where are we going?” Chris asked, just to be sure. He could be killed anywhere, and although he doubted this place would be it, he didn’t have control over anything here. He felt like he was being watched from every angle, which made him very uncomfortable.
“The treasury,” Arslan said. “There are some things that will be carried by the team every time the competition arrives. You will own them until you die or reach the demigod level. They will be with you for a long time.”
The group's eyes shone upon hearing that. Of course, they knew what the treasury held. Weapons that even demigods used existed there, and if they were going to use them until they became one, it meant that when they became Eternal, even if they didn’t become a demigod, they could carry them forever. Although no one here thought anyone would fail to become at least a demigod. Maybe that was the reason the Empire chose those who had the aptitude to become demigods for these competitions.
However, if it were asked of Arslan, that would be utter nonsense. The reason why they were chosen was that most of the talented people who became winners would have too many resources. If they didn’t become a demigod, they could forget about carrying that wealth outside of their territory later on because even demigods would want them—both the treasures the Empire bestowed and the prizes they would get through the galactic competition.
They walked a few more minutes and finally entered a hall without any windows and with only a single door at the end. However, the group noticed that the gold, which had adorned the place earlier, was no longer present. They realized that the materials were at least one cosmic cycle in age, meaning that they had to be Immortal-level resources to stay intact without being damaged. And now, the relatively most precious in the castle didn’t have any of it?
Arslan noticed their thoughts and, to be clear, he said, “Gold is precious, but it’s conductive. Anything in this hall doesn’t absorb or reflect; it just nulls any type of energy. Even I don’t know how they built this. It might be made from Divine resources, but I can’t sense its divinity. My father said it's Divine in nature, but he didn’t elaborate.”
Then he said with a commanding tone, “Open the treasury,” and the same emotionless voice from before answered, “Understood.”
With that, the ordinary-looking door disappeared, as if it had become nonexistent.