Logan, Selso, and Teo were shocked by all these revelations. Not just that — it seemed like Thomas was a Divine Realm powerhouse and had lived for tens of thousands of years. Archeidis, the refiner of the continent, had also surfaced in Avalon. The death of the Tevera Continent Guardian. The information about the Martial God, God of Magic, Primordial Dragons, Primordial Sovereigns, Moonlit Sovereign, God of Domination, God of Arts and Petrification, God of Wisdom, and God of Brilliant Light — and the histories of past ages and eras — were not merely mythos but facts.
Archeidis: "If I myself, as a descendant, was used as a pawn by my own great-grandfather, I'm afraid the people of this continent are in grave danger. How can you all think of escaping this place?"
Thomas: "Escaping? We're preserving our lives. Glory is not important, even if you die heroically. And another thing — we're mortals. We can't go against deities. I don't want to witness such a massacre again."
Logan: "How can you be so sure of all these deductions? What if all of this isn't true?" (He could not believe the conversation that was unfolding.)
Thomas: "Yes, this deduction may not be true. But for as long as I've lived, I've witnessed a few deities myself. I lived through the end of the Age of Legends, and at that time, we witnessed how the God of Domination perished along with all his beasts in a battle against the Primordial Dragon — the Gold Dragon God Arsunus.
I cannot forget that fight — it shook hundreds of continents near Tevera. All human powerhouses who reached the Divine Realm — even gods — witnessed that event. Information about gods in this age may merely be myths and legends with no factual evidence, but that's only the case for lowborn individuals — unlike us, who come from ancient clans with long histories."
Archeidis: "I know it's hard to believe, but it's true, young one." (Archeidis said to Logan. Archeidis himself looked like a chibi child, talking to Logan in his old age — calling him 'young one.' Logan felt uncomfortable.)
Archeidis: "Thomas, you've been living in this continent for decades now. I know it was just my soul clone that had bound you with all these restrictions, but now you're freed of it — with my death. How can you just abandon the house that let you in when you had nowhere to go? Now I need your help to restore this place."
Thomas: "We're up against gods here. I can't help you restore your control over this continent. You've already fallen — don't be delusional. You should thank me that with my energy, you can still survive. And another thing — no one can help you in this predicament. This is beyond the scope of my power.
I myself was on my deathbed months ago. Without Lyrus's help, I would be in my worst state, slowly declining. I was eventually just waiting for my own death when I came to your aid years ago. We're in no better position ourselves.
What we can do is seek survival. And I can help you with that — with your current situation. But Tevera… we cannot fathom such problems. Leave it to your descendants.
I guess the harvesting you mentioned is only being done by the gods' followers, not the gods themselves. If such a thing were really about to happen, the gods wouldn't stay idle. They'd eventually do something.
If humanity perished, they wouldn't have the means to harvest faith energy. They're not like the God of Magic or the Martial God, who harvest powerhouses that are near godhood. These other gods still rely on believers.
Annihilation of humanity is impossible. This might just be another ploy. And even now, you're still being controlled despite dying. I will not let us become pawns in this chess game. Don't be stupid."
Archeidis: "But…" (He vanished — and was absorbed by Thomas into his spiritual realm, as this soul form of Archeidis was bound to him.)
Thomas: "The current state of the empire might not be good. And all these sudden beast hordes are being controlled by someone.
When I recovered my strength to Divine Realm, I discovered faint connections of communication between the Culvary Council of Eighth and a very distant land far beyond this continent. There were also some spatial teleportations happening from time to time.
All these beast hordes that are headline events within Tevera were caused by the Council of Eighth. The empire has already decided to prune other powerhouses in Tevera. I think this is what they call 'the harvest.'
Unknowingly, Archeidis didn't know about it. So, basically, not all life on the continent will die — only a few. And the empire wants to start with the major powerhouse clans.
But with these sudden beast horde events, the empire's plans were negated by the Council of Eighth — who work in the shadows, unknown to the emperor. A bold move, but effective.
Because of the influx of beast deaths from billions of sudden hordes — and billions of people dying — the empire's harvest has somewhat happened, but not in the way they planned."
Thomas could see even now that all souls were being siphoned into the depths of the continent — toward the empire.
Thomas: "To prevent irradiation, the Culvary higher-ups did this — not just as a preventive measure, but to buy time before they travel to the new continent.
And Lyrus, as a member of Eisien, we can also go with them and travel to that new land."
Thomas's Divine Sense was being used to spy on everything happening in the western part of Tevera. And now, he knew all of it as fact.
Logan: "This is another crucial piece of information."
Selso: "Being powerful makes you open to all issues that go beyond the norm."
Teo: "Lately, we were just talking about the organizational structure of the sect — and our problems regarding the lack of martial cultivation and our own power trademark as a sect.
But knowing the facts about the 'fruits and harvest' of martial cultivators and magic practitioners makes us rethink our decision to further our martial prowess using spiritual energy.
And now — another problem. The death of the Divine Realm powerhouse who refined the Tevera Continent. The involvement of these three gods — who once again resurfaced and revived long before the Age of Legends.
And now, another issue about the harvest that the empire was about to do — but was resolved by the Culvary Council of Eighth, who used underhanded teleportation to bring in beast hordes.
This made all the powerhouses of the north, east, central, and western nations of the continent mobilize in full force to eradicate these sudden beast hordes — and unknowingly resolve the issue of eradication.
But I think we should just focus on ourselves and the sect. It's good to know all these current issues that might affect us in our upcoming agendas. This will help us know where we stand."
Thomas: "You're absolutely right."
Selso: "Indeed. It's unbecoming of me to not care about these major issues that affect so many humans — even the threat of eradication. But I've just realized: we need to care for ourselves before we look out for others."
Logan: "Hayz… it's hard to believe most of the information we've gotten today. But I know for a fact that Thomas and Archeidis weren't lying. It's just that all this information came to us at once — and we were unprepared."
Thomas: Now that all of you are aware of this information—and powerful beings—staying here is not exactly a good idea. All these problems came to us just when we established Avalon, and now we're thinking of migrating again. But based on the information I got from the Council of Eighth's conversation, they can open cross-dimensional travel about a year from now.
Logan: Relocation is not a problem. Your design of all the buildings we have can be relocated to the back of Kargaren. We can take the sect with us.
Thomas: Kargaren?
Thomas never knew the existence of some of Lyrus's beasts—like Kargaren, who is deeper in the Wildlands, now much bigger compared to Agarez and Severeno, the Bahamut. He was looking for the Dehedra. He's now like a living island around 3.5 miles in width, 6 miles in length, and 2 miles in height—and he continues to grow. The bigger he becomes, the stronger he gets. As his size increases, his siphoning of energy from heaven and earth also becomes faster and wider. Kargaren is not showing any sign of halting his growth; instead, he keeps growing larger and stronger. Most of the earth and mountainous regions he passes through vanish, absorbed into his body. The Wildlands are now being terraformed wherever he goes—the earth condenses into a small form and is then consumed by him, furthering his growth. He is basically eating the earth and incorporating it into his body, making his form even stronger and bigger. His mountainous back is not just a lump of earth but a very hard shell that even dragon beasts can't penetrate. Agarez and Severeno tried to duel with him but only left small dents on his back—dents that reformed and recovered instantly. And that's only the effect of his natural recovery—as normal as breathing. Kargaren now has an absolutely impenetrable defense.
Lyrus: Kargaren is one of my beasts. He's a turtle beast. Originally, he was a Quardizal, but now he's a colossal beast that spans for miles. He's deep in the Wildlands currently, along with Agarez, Severeno, Chrovix, Yalzar, Leonor, and Lanfer—searching for the Dehedra. Kargaren's back is now a large mountainous region. We can relocate the sect buildings there. That's why I had you create the sect to be something that can be moved and relocated.
Thomas: A colossal beast... This is truly surprising.
Owning a colossal beast is a real shock. Mainly, only powerful clans are able to own such beasts, and finding one is very difficult unless you go to the Black Sea, where colossal aquatic beasts roam.
But Thomas's Leviathan is also a colossal beast. That beast has been with him since he was a child—a beast groomed for 60,000 years. Being a Divine Realm powerhouse means you basically have a lifespan of hundreds of thousands of years.
Then Thomas brandished his Divine Sense toward the depths of the Wildlands and easily found the colossal turtle that looked like a moving continent.
Then suddenly, the turtle looked in his direction. His Divine Sense had been noticed. Agarez and Severeno also looked. These three colossal beasts had easily detected his divine gaze.
Yalzar, on the other hand, stopped moving, feeling something amiss. Chrovix simply stood on the edge of Kargaren's head, looking into the distance, focusing on finding the Dehedra.
"How come?" Thomas thought. "These guys have divine sense, even though they're just mythical beasts."
He was surprised and also alarmed. When he retracted his gaze, the gazes of the three beasts also vanished.
"No way," he thought. Even though they are just mythical creatures, their sheer size and the power they harbor go beyond their current realm. This is one of the reasons why beasts always dominate humans of the same realm.
Thomas: Impressive. I never would've thought you have such beasts in your possession.
Thomas had only seen 37 of Lyrus's beasts, those that helped with the construction of the sect and delivered materials. That number alone had surprised him—because it's nearly impossible to tame that many unless you're an apex powerhouse near godhood. And this was the first time he saw Kargaren, Severeno, Chrovix, and Yalzar through his Divine Sense.
Lyrus had noticed what Thomas did, even though the others didn't notice or feel it.
Lyrus: With him around, we can relocate the sect anytime. But we still have another problem—the beasts bound to all of you. And all those connecting lines. But Uncle Thomas, I see no problem with your taming and bond with your beast.
Thomas: Revero and I have no problem with bonding. Even though I'm considered a beast tamer, Revero and I are not bound by soul. We've been companions since his birth and until now. My beast realm is also not condensed by traditional taming practice. I was a Spatial Awakened who created my own independent beast realm, with the help of my beast. And the taming practice passed down by Archeidis is not the original taming art of the God of Domination. Their clan didn't possess the complete set—only a revised version. It has a potent flaw. But I also see no problem with your beast taming, Lyrus. Your way is even more terrifying.
Lyrus: We all have our secrets. But I have a solution. Currently, all our beasts have evolved wisdom and intelligence comparable to human IQ. All your beasts have been with you for years, and you've already formed great companionships and bonds unrelated to the taming bind. I think now is the time to relinquish your connection—and also dissipate your martial cultivation of spiritual energy.
Logan: What solution do you have? If we sever our connection and dissipate our cultivation, we'll slowly age the moment we do that. And we might even die.
Selso: Are you trying to bind us with your white?
Teo: This… (He looked at Selso. It was really plausible if they were bound with Lyrus's White, as it had mystifying effects.)
Lyrus: That could also be one solution… but you would become my… (He paused and didn't continue his sentence.) Anyway, I've created another solution. And this is already related to my White.
Then three orbs manifested, all swirling with familiar energy.
Teo: This orb of energy has my energy—together with all my bound beasts' energies. But this one is in a completely higher league compared to mine.
Lyrus: This is an experimental ability I created when I saw the transformation abilities of Luke and Tristan, which are talents of Beast Transformation through unification with their tamed beasts—taught widely in Tevera. But only a few manage to learn it. Among billions of people in Tevera, only thousands can learn it.
I created a similar beastial transformation—but not through unification, but true transformation. I extracted the origins of your beasts and created this transformation ability. And this transformation is connected to my White. One of the requirements to learn this ability is to be bound by my White, as the ability is supported by my power.
Lyrus had once again unlocked a new ability—one not bound by the laws of the world, but by himself.
Lyrus: This power is both an ability and a cultivation. This transformation ability, together with you, can become stronger as you pursue this path. This power will also become a part of your body—like limbs that you can control. You can transform whenever and wherever you want. But the mysteries of this power are for you to explore.
Thomas: This power… hmm. Did you create a similar conceptual power to magic and spiritual energy, like that of the God of Magic and Martial God? Subordination—like the gods and goddesses under the God of Magic, the Asterian Pantheon. Each person that becomes an apex powerhouse has become a god of magic with specific magic specialties. But all of them are loyal subordinates of the God of Magic himself, the deities under his command. All beneath him.
Lyrus: Yeah, something like that. But this one uses my unique power as the source of cultivation. And once you start this cultivation, you will start at the very bottom. It has 12 levels. The first is Integration, second is Unification, third is Foundation, the fourth is Awakening, and the fifth is Evolution. At the first level—Integration—it begins the process of cultivating this power, the acceptance of this power. This level will change your body down to the atomic level to be able to cultivate this power.
At the Integration level, you also need to gather beast origin to incorporate into this power. A maximum of 12 beast origins can be used in the first level, and you need to choose wisely which beasts to integrate because the powers you will get will be similar to those beasts. These beast origins will become transformation abilities of yours—but they will also become a part of yourself. In each stage of this cultivation, you will acquire certain abilities unique to the beasts you integrated. And at the second level—Unification—you will gain the transformation ability of the beasts you integrated. Each level has 12 stages. These stages correspond to the 12 beast origins you integrated, one at a time.
Lyrus paused for a moment and continued.
Lyrus: But all that alone is just your cultivation. It's not just you who will become stronger—but along with your twelve transformation abilities. Meaning, you will become thirteen times stronger than an average cultivator or magic user. Your power sources will also become thirteen—including all of the 12 transformations you have. Each harbors its own source of power. So if you go into a fight with someone, with your 12 transformations, you can overpower your enemies until they run out of gas before you do.
Logan: Such an overpowered ability. How can you be so sure this will work?
Thomas: Yes, Logan is right. This is straight out of fiction. It's so unbelievable.
Lyrus: It is. But haven't you noticed?
(His body slowly disintegrated into white.)
I'm no longer human. Uncle, you as a Divine Realm powerhouse—try to destroy my White, if you can. Use your full strength to do it.
Thomas then tried to grab the White. But he touched nothing.
Thomas: Hmm...
(Then he tried using his power.)
How about spatial power? Collapse.
A small black hole materialized in the Council.
Selso: Hey! You'll destroy this place!
Small objects began flying toward the black hole, being consumed—but the White remained unbothered.
Lyrus: How about I let my White go inside it?
Then Lyrus let the White flow into the black hole—entering the void of mass compression—but even inside that void, the White was still unaffected.
Thomas: Extinguish.
The black hole compressed and became nothing.
Thomas: Your White has been extinguished.
Lyrus: I'm not so sure about that.
A white hole materialized. Then the White that had been absorbed returned to Lyrus. The white hole vanished.
Thomas: No way...
Lyrus: Even though I'm weak in combat, with no offensive power at play—I myself have already become an absolute being, somewhat alive and dead at the same time. I can exist physically, or as an image—or make myself vanish. And I know that once I take this form, I become nothing. No one can sense me unless they can see me. Like a White Ghost.
Thomas: Did you just embody a concept?
Lyrus: I did. But I won't tell you what it is.
Thomas: Conceptualization is one of the paths to Godhood. But this path is a mystery—with no levels or stages of cultivation. And no one has succeeded in taking this path in human history. But once anyone succeeds—like the devils—they become absolute entities that can never perish, only be imprisoned and sealed.