Chapter 496: Astral Call
TN: Power of status -> authority
Ace, still shaken from his journey, thought Thoth had discovered the Astral Compass he had just crafted. He felt a thousand reluctances in his heart, but on the surface, he asked with feigned ignorance:
“I do not know what Your Holiness is referring to?”
Thoth pondered for a moment, and just as Ace was getting anxious, he said: “My Divine Foundation is complete. I desire to ascend to the Divine Throne, which requires mobilizing the Authority of the entire city-state. We previously contracted a split of eighty percent for me and twenty for you. Now, I wish to borrow all of your remaining twenty percent. Once I achieve True God status, we shall split it seventy-thirty in perpetuity.”
Hearing this, the anxiety in Ace’s heart dissipated. He smiled and said: “So that is the case. No problem. It is my honor if a meager amount of Authority can contribute to the casting of Your Holiness’s Divine Domain.”
Thoth’s clone nodded. A ray of faint light rose in his hand, which he held high.
Ace followed suit and also raised his hand. Faint sounds of rolling thunder and murmuring water could be heard. Looking again, a phantom of the River Styx had gradually appeared around Ace and Thoth.
The two high-fived to swear the oath. Thoth declared loudly: “River Styx as witness, I, Thoth, Guardian God of Thoth City-State, hereby borrow the remaining Authority from Ace to integrate all Authority of this city-state before achieving True God status.
“After I achieve True God status, I shall redistribute the ownership of Authority with Ace: I shall hold seventy percent, and Ace thirty percent.”
Waves seemed to surge. The River Styx, capable of washing away even the Divine Fire, Godhead, and Divine Domain of a True God without a trace, seemed to be responding to Thoth’s oath.
The faint light where their palms met detached from their hands, turning into a ball of brilliance that merged into the phantom of the River Styx and vanished.
Thoth’s clone nodded to Ace and also gradually faded away.
Ace looked at the spot where Thoth disappeared, thinking: “After advancing to Legend, I could detect Thoth’s arrival. But now, I had no sense of it at all. He is perhaps truly not far from being a True God.
“It seems that for any secret matters in the future, I can only do them within my mental imagery world, absolutely not in the West Tower. He enters this place as if no one is here; it is not safe.”
Thinking this, Ace walked back to the meditation room, sealed the entire room, sank his mind into his mental imagery world, and carefully studied the Astral Compass within.
After the recent exploration and testing, Ace determined that this compass had several functions:
First, crossing the World Crystal Wall, provided the World Crystal Wall was not sealed.
Second, transforming the compass owner into a stream of light to achieve super-high-speed movement approaching the speed of light.
Third, Astral Warp, which consumed a large amount of mana to perform ultra-long-distance jumps.
Fourth, World Marking, capable of marking and noting the world level. Ace’s compass had already marked two worlds.
Fifth, Sedimentation. The Astral Plane was layered. Worlds of the same level were distributed on the same Astral Layer. With the help of the compass, one could cross the Astral Layer Membrane and enter a lower Astral Layer.
Except for the fifth function, Ace had experimented with the vast majority of them.
Ace’s True Spirit leaned back on a luxurious lounge chair beside the Mana Lake on the Magic Lake Planet, speaking lazily:
“According to the Dream Bubble Knowledge, worlds are graded just like life, and similarly, the classification is simple.
“A Level 1 World appears pale red from a distance; a Level 2 World is pure red; a Level 3 World is pale gold; a Level 4 World is pure gold; a Level 5 World is pale green, and so on.
“A Level 4 World can birth life up to two levels higher than itself at maximum. Corresponding to this world, that means Level 5 True Gods and Level 6 Main Gods.
“And if a supreme existence of this world gains the approval of the Great Source and becomes the Proxy of the World Will, they will possess power beyond the limit. His Majesty the God King likely possesses power between Level 6 and Level 7 within the world.”
The phantom of the Giant Tree World appeared. Ace looked at the phantom, thoughts surfacing in his mind.
“This Giant Tree World is undoubtedly a Level 5 World. But its radiance is dim, and half the world was destroyed by an unknown mighty force, so it probably cannot be judged by common logic.
“If there really were a Level 7 Existence in the Giant Tree World, I’m afraid no one in the Kaya World could oppose them. They could suppress the entire world alone, so there would be no need for fighting or confrontation.
“Then, is it possible that this Giant Tree World does not yet have a Level 7 Existence?”
Ace waved his hand gently. The phantom changed, and the phantom of the Kaya World also appeared within it.
It could be seen that the entire Kaya World looked radiant, complete, and healthy. Compared to the Giant Tree World opposite it, although slightly smaller, its potential was incomparable.
“One has lost most of its World Crystal Wall, with the whole world almost collapsing or approaching death. The other is a new world rising like the sun.
“In the Astral Plane, if one is detached from a world, they cannot survive for long. It is almost impossible for a Level 3 Existence to cross the Astral Void.
“Only by advancing to Level 4 and possessing a semi-plane can one pilot the semi-plane to cross the void. If the Astral Plane is compared to an ocean, worlds are equivalent to small islands. Only existences above Level 4 can possess ships to leave the island.”
As Ace spoke, he gently tapped the invisible magic net threads inside the mental imagery world with his fingers. He frowned, seeming very regretful.
“But if I just hide inside the world, it seems difficult to achieve leapfrog development. I can only absorb the city-state’s authority and increase my power bit by bit.
“Is there any other way for me to cross the Astral Void?”
Ace paced back and forth, still thinking about various possibilities. Countless phantoms were born and destroyed beside him. Gradually, his expression became hesitant.
“Since there is hesitation in my heart, why not perform a divination?”
As a Level 3 Existence, Ace himself possessed a kind of premonition. This premonition told him that he needed Astral Travel.
The starry universe within the mental imagery world rotated rapidly at the same time. All the dream stars shone brightly, faintly emitting the aura of fate. A phantom of a long river flashed past. Ace’s hand touched it gently, and his whole body trembled.
“Departure leads to prosperity; remaining leads to peril.”
This was the information obtained from the divination, which made Ace firmer in his idea. He stopped pacing and turned to study the Astral Compass again, pondering its functions.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he had an idea.
“The Astral Plane is layered. Crossing the same layer is extremely difficult, and going from bottom to top is almost impossible.
“However, if I descend from top to bottom, it will be much easier. If a creature in the lower realm calls me, it is entirely possible for me to descend.”
His eyes became brighter and brighter. Mana gathered in his hands, and strips of information were being compiled. The Astral Compass was taken out by Ace, and he carefully loaded an external function onto it.
After about a day, Ace created a Dream Bubble, which contained a segment of information replicated from the star chart. If a creature in the lower realm could obtain this dream bubble and call him according to the information within, the Astral Compass would discover the coordinates of the opponent’s world.
If the opponent could construct an Astral Call Altar according to his guidance, he could project part of his consciousness body to descend to the world in the lower Astral Layer.
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