SCC Chapter 5 Khaatam(1)
A star ship sailed through the void that was a particle ocean, with its shielding alight with the glow of subatomic particles colliding with it, plus the solar energies from the star that were even more dangerous compared to the particles outside.
Lily could feel the minute vibrations, preventing her from truly entering a meditative state, coupled with the fact that her heart wasn't settling down at all! Khaatam! That was a place every single person yearned to go to, even if for just a simple tour. Multiple products that could never be manufactured on the planets or moons, were produced there, with some powerful cooperations, clans, and Federal affiliated sects having poured immense resources into getting their own modules constructed such that they could get a piece of the resource known as Solar-attuned spiritual energy.
Every star within the known universe produced spiritual energy, even the planets themselves. But what the planets created was a thick blend that was always trapped below the tectonic plates, with some crystallizing into the various ores and natural treasures that occasionally surfaced, like the spirit stones. Only about 1% of the unattuned spiritual energy in the Earth's atmosphere was produced by the planet itself, with the rest being produced through the planet's natural shielding that stripped away the solar attribute from that which was emitted by the sun.
As she was deep in her thoughts, she felt the waning of the vibrations, which caused her eyes to open, with the steely grey pupils gazing out through the window and into the void, where a massive object loomed in the distance, shielding the craft from solar bombardment.
It was massive, with grids of light denoting the many modular pieces that had been merged to create it. Her breath was taken away at its immensity. And it was still being added upon, with an autonomous metallic monster constructing another cube off in the distance, also shielded by the massive construct before her. When completed, it was going to circle the sun, becoming a ring shaped celestial object.
The ship, rose and crested over the construct, exposing itself to the solar rays once again, but Lily's breath was once again stolen away when she gazed at what was on the other side.
A glass-like surface spanned the other side exposing the surface below to be a bizarre world of square shapes, with each square possessing it's own unique world. There were those with skyscrapers, ice fields, greenery, industries, and many more bizarre things, like in one, she could see a giant demon, one which she was sure to be a sect guardian beast.
Within mere moments, the star ship traversed everything to appear above a particular cube filled with green. And most of that green came from trees. It then descended downwards, where a panel slid to the side, allowing their ship to descend.
"Come. We are going to alight." called out Reed from behind her upon which a panel slid open on the hull below their feet, upon which she experienced a familiar force acting upon her, gravity.
Once they had dropped down onto the land below, Lily took in the sights. The biome hadn't seemed this massive when she had been looking at it from above, but here, just the height and girth of the trees was telling.
Wood energy was so dense that she could feel it prickling her skin. Dead leaves and peeled bark littered the ground next to the trees, making her feel uncomfortable. But everyone had their preferences.
Her gaze moved to Reed, dazing her for a moment. There was a silly genuine smile upon his face while he pulled the wood energy through his nostrils like a whale.
(The young fellow is back)
(It has been too short a time.)
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
(Why can't these humans experience time the same as us? Maybe then, 1000 years might pass with us in peace)
Voices echoed within her mind, ones which sounded aged and grating, shocking her into a vigilant stance.
Then the stems of the trees before her twisted until green humanoid creatures walked out, having a cord still connecting them to the tree from whence they had been animated.
"Tree sprites..." The name of this species sprung from her mind the moment the green humanoids appeared. This many were shocking as back on the planet, they had almost been hunted to extinction! But here, four had come out of the nearby trees, with the sneaking suspicion that even those ones further around, housed many more. And the aura they gave off was in the Core Formation! Was that man here to hunt them? Was he raising them like chickens on a farm?
"Come on old friends, there is no need to panic. I am only here because a problem popped up."
(Our brethren told us. Could you go then, instead of disturbing our peace?)
"How long before the fruit is ripe?" He asked.
(In a few hundred years. Maybe if we had more resources...)
Lily caught that thick anticipation wafting off the transmissions. What were these creatures excited about? She wondered.
-----
"Is it safe to keep such dangerous beings here?" Lily couldn't stop herself from asking after having walked quite the distance away from the trees, having entered a meadow.
"Danger depends on perspective. Besides, we are in a mutually beneficial relationship. I am running an experiment, while they themselves want an avenue that would allow them to evolve beyond their current state."
"Evolve beyond this?"
"Ms. Toba, every single race strives to evolve beyond their base form. Even us humans are the same. In the search for a longer lifespan, we are evolving to a higher state. Or do you believe that the you who was at the Spirit Gathering stage is the same biologically, as the you now?"
"They too, want to get rid of their tethers. After experiencing the brutality of the mobile races, they too want to become like us."
Lily developed a trace of respect for the creatures after that conversation. The silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable for the both of them.
On reaching the end of the meadow, a particular plant entered her view, one she, as a person who dealt in the food industry understood, maize. But she was also take aback by these bizarre stalks that reached into the skies, almost rivalling the trees from before. And they hadn't even reached the flowering stage, meaning that they still had a ways to go.
"These plants... Will they be producing maize at the fourth stage?" she asked in shock. This entire farm should be able to support all the Nascent Soul Venerables in the Federation if harvested, for a month. An entire month!
Food at the level of having the capability to support cultivators in the Fourth realm of cultivation were rare. According to what she had heard, before the Federation, when such resources were harvested, they would be treasured, consumed only when gathered with other figures of importance in order to portray a sense of awe. Even now, if a Nascent Soul told you that they could eat a full course meal prepared from fourth level ingredients once a month, you wouldn't believe it.
Technology had appeared, making farming such resources easy. But, to raise an ingredient from the Third level to the Fourth level required a terrifying costly amount of resources, not to mention, time.
"Solar essence makes a things trivial."
"Solar essence...? You mean the solar attributed spiritual energy from the sun?"
"Yap. Everyone who has managed to occupy a platform here is essentially growing Fourth level ingredients. They just keep them for themselves, not trading anything, thereby making everything feel scarce."
A sliver of anger was birthed within Lily's heart before being ruthlessly crushed. This was the world. Even she would act the same as these people.
"What about you? Are you the same as them?"
"Nah! I have only gotten my hands on this modular piece for a short time. These plants have spent 30 years here and haven't flowered yet. When I produce the fruit, it will hit the markets. Just that it's better this is kept secret as it will lead to an upheaval and a target on my back. You see... The many people or groups, in ownership of these resources don't want the status quo to be broken. Any way, let's go to the place I want to inspect."
And with that, they plunged into the garden, where the soil tried to cling to their feet, but with a layer of spiritual energy underneath, that problem was solved.
They reached the place where he had wanted to go, and looking at the situation, even Lily was somewhat taken aback. Behind her, there was a sea of green, yet infront of her, there was a patch of vibrant blue. The maize plants taking on this particular color had to be related to the liquid she could see down on the ground, separated from infecting the other plants by an energy shield.
"I would have never thought this possible... No, I hadn't even considered it! Other attributes might be able to produce different mutations. Could this be replicated?"
"I need to recreate the exact conditions..."
Lily tuned out the nerdist mumbling and instead decided to inspect the plot before her. The problem that she was going to be tested on was probably related to this plot of land. From what she had gathered in her cursory glance, an underground pipe should have developed a crack somewhere. If what she speculated was true, then that meant that this was going to involve whatever entity had created this pipe. And someone whose products could even become worthy enough to reach Khaatam, was most definitely not an antlike existence.
"Ms. Toba. As you can see, this is the accident that led to this. It was a happy accident as it has allowed me to see other paths that could be taken to create more exotic plant species, but as you can see, I am now going to have to spend quite a bit of funds to inspect every single pipe underneath this place. If this had happened within the sprites' land, I would have overturned that sect. Anyway, I want you to suck the blood out of those imbeciles. They will need to give me a hefty compensation if they don't want me to go to court. I am going to set you up with an office, plus their contact information. Wow me."