Breaking through to the Core Connection Realm and arriving at its pinnacle proved to be a very smooth and fast ride for Theodore. The higher Divine Will Proficiency requirement was what stumped most for a bit of time when they arrived at this point. Yet as someone who had got an early start on this, any and all difficulty had dissipated like a wisp of smoke amidst a strong breeze.
Because only the parts of his soul that had been fused with his Golden Cores needed to be suffused with his Numen, it took barely half a day for him to be ready to move on to the next step.
'Usually, the Core Connection Realm is more of a formality, and a requirement for future progress. It doesn't actually provide meaningful, tangible benefits of its own right away–or at least, that's how it should have been...'
Despite having already expected that it would all be a bit different for him, he nonetheless wore a relieved smile as he sensed the changes within himself. There was the normal closer link with his Golden Cores, but aside from it, he also began to notice a tiny, almost imperceptible change in the Energy immediately surrounding his cores.
Although it hadn't become Divine Energy just yet, it was slowly approaching that point. The longer that he observed, the more of his Energy experienced such a change. His cores attracted it, then refined it internally and released it again afterwards.
In such a manner, even before the Dantian Consecration Realm, should he allow enough time to pass, all of the Energy in his Dantians would be replaced with this superior version of it.
'But there is no need for me to unnecessarily waste time here, as I won't benefit from it at all. Advancing a step further straight away won't be a problem, it'll simply improve my Energy even more in all aspects.'
With the next two realms being as straightforward in nature as they were, Theodore obviously didn't hesitate. A few deep breaths later, he had broken through to the Dantian Consecration Realm. With all of his Dantians now covered by his Divine Will, it would take a considerable while for them to adjust to it and transform as a result. This process couldn't be rushed.
'Originally, I would have guessed that this step would take me approximately a week, but considering what happened during the Soul Dousing Realm, I should expect it to take longer–perhaps up to three weeks.'
Allocating some of his focus to keeping this state of cultivation going perpetually, he rose to his feet and spread out his perception. A moment later, he already stood outside of the gates of the Matauc family's residence, ringing the doorbell.
"Teacher, it's you! You're finally here! There are some questions that I've been meaning to ask you..."
Immediately having shot to the door and opened it in the hopes of encountering Theodore, Rhain's eyes sparkled in excitement. He had got some materials to self-study before, but as he'd been mostly left to his own devices, there were some points where he was stuck on. With his teacher back in the picture, that would change.
"Hold up, ask your questions one by one. What would you like to tackle first?"
Having been ushered into his Student's home, Theodore took a seat. Patiently, for many hours to come, he resolved every single one of Rhain's doubts. Naturally, in the process of doing so, a lot more of them began to emerge.
Whilst he was working his way through these few realms, Theodore had absolutely nothing better to do. He was unable to put more effort into his cultivation, yet also couldn't fully focus on anything in particular without halting his unceasing progress. Therefore, what better way to pass the time than to rack up some points for this round and to nurture a capable person?
As the days came and went, he occasionally swept Pytho and its surroundings via his perception. Apparently, some of the educational institutions which his Subordinates would be utilizing to teach the people had already begun to take shape, so it would not be long before his points would start to skyrocket.
The visitors from the Illyrian Union had departed back to their home worlds, therefore now only the Iulian Empire's troops were right outside of his doorstep. Just like before, they were still all bark and no bite, ergo they could be completely ignored.
By now, however, one additional group was about to arrive: The missionaries from the Pontifical State of Tzyion. They were the least organized of the bunch, yet they had somehow managed to form a fleet of Voidfaring Vessels of their own.
Knowing how easily faith could take root if no proper precautions were in place, he activated his Lesser Void Guarding Array to trap them in an illusion. There, they would arrive at a completely regular Pytho, with nobody for them to especially save from misery.
This was the last bit of mercy that he would show them. If this test of his would prove that there were despicable fellows amongst them who wanted to preach their message regardless of whether or not people desired to listen or were receptive to it... then he wouldn't mind accepting some more free Attribute Points.
A week went by, then another. By the time that he had finally arrived at the peak of the Dantian Consecration Realm and right as he had begun to wonder if they would ever appear, the Naxsir fleet finally came within reach of his detection. Or, well... a few scouting vessels did.
Contrary to what he had anticipated, the Celestial Stage commander of these troops was quite cautious. Despite facing a civilization far weaker than even many of his regular foot soldiers, he didn't arrogantly ignore them–or him, the newly arrived Heaven's Chosen. First, he would need some actionable intel to work with before deciding how to proceed.
'Not too shabby. He's certainly a lot more competent than those twins. For now, let's give him exactly what he wants.'
Contacting his inner circle and informing them of his arrangements, he adjusted the Lesser Void Guarding Array in a few ways, then activated parts of it. Of course, his foes and any observers remained none the wiser.
-----
As the general in charge of this army of the Iulian Empire, Legate Aulus Flavius had been incredibly frustrated ever since he had been sent out here into the Lesser True Void. Not only were they facing an enemy that they could do absolutely nothing against, but should they prove to be too much of an eyesore, then he and his men would be the ones paying the price!
'Curse the Senate! I've always hated those insufferably pompous politicians. They can sit back and rest on their undeserved laurels, meanwhile we're the ones toiling away and laying down our lives!'
Fury written all over his face, he paced back and forth on the command deck of his vessel. Having done this pretty much every day since they had left the barracks, none of his people were nonplussed by his actions any longer.
In fact, they had grown used to it and were barely even paying attention to it by now. Knowing that they were not the targets of his anger allowed them to be rather relaxed in his presence, despite the occasional muted curses.
This strange atmosphere lasted for days on end, until a sudden alert interrupted the 'peaceful' silence. Whether it be Aulus or his soldiers, everyone's gaze landed on the machine that had made a noise just now. There, the person in charge was already hard at work, drops of nervous sweat drenching his back.
"Sir, there are unknown vessels approaching this general area!"
Staring at the few rapidly moving dots on the screen for a moment or two, Aulus shrugged with a sigh.
"Send them a communication request. They're probably exactly like those Tzyion nutcases–a probe sent by another civilization. Don't make things difficult for them, or for us."
Expecting everything to go as it had not too long ago, he was about to ignore this short interruption, when the same soldier piped up once more.
"I've tried that not too long ago, Sir! I'm unable to establish contact with them, and they haven't sent any requests of their own either. And... I'm not sure if I should even mention this, but..."
Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Aulus' gaze sharpened. His people were rarely this evasive, so either they had gone soft, or something strange had occurred.
"Spit it out already."
Paling a little, the soldier was unable to meet his eyes, but didn't dare to dance around the topic any longer.
"It's like this... I had a cursory glance at our various systems before... and it appears that we're unable to move. There is nothing wrong on the technical side, but we seem to be... suppressed. Our entire fleet is."
Instantly understanding the severity of the issue, Aulus didn't lay into the guy any further. Instead, he immediately sent out a fleet-wide mobilization order, urging everyone to figure out a way for them to free themselves. But unfortunately, no matter what they tried, nothing worked.
Hours later, Aulus was forced to come to terms with this unprecedented development. Someone had locked them in place, and they were powerless to resist.
'It's got to be the one who caused all of us to be sent here to begin with. But why haven't they done anything else to us?'
Suddenly recalling those ships from earlier, he turned to face his subordinates.
"Those vessels from before... have they also been halted in place like us?"
With a helpless smile, the same unfortunate soldier who had attracted his ire previously was the one to respond.
"No, they have continued on unimpeded. But it appears that they never noticed us somehow–they didn't even spare us a glance or a cursory scan! Or at least not one that we could detect."
Falling into deep contemplation at this revelation, Aulus began to pace back and forth yet again. However, this time, he wasn't furious, but rather deeply unsettled.
'Are they in cahoots with our unknown foe? Or are they merely passersby? Why weren't they targeted too? Is there a special reason for my fleet to have been singled out? How come we were completely disregarded? Are we simply beneath their notice, or were we invisible to them? Just what is going on!?'
His mind drowning in seemingly endless questions, he would occasionally get some updates from his soldiers, but their situation never improved. In this manner, time passed very quickly. Weeks or perhaps a month later, another drastic change took place.
"Sir! More of those vessels have shown u–Wait, what?! There's an entire fleet of them! Oh lord, there are so many ships! Just how many...!? That's not important right now. They're all on the way to Pytho!"
Ripped out of his ruminations by this panicked report, Aulus shot in front of the biggest screen that they had available, commanding his people to display the scene outside to the best of their ability.
At first, the incoming strangers were still too far away for them to obtain direct visuals, but eventually, they came close enough. Not only the soldiers, but even Aulus staggered backwards at what they saw, not daring to believe their eyes! Terror and powerlessness spread like a wildfire.
As military veterans, they had a pretty good understanding of their own Voidfaring Vessels' capabilities and dimensions. However, even the smaller ones amongst this fleet completely dwarfed their own by several orders of magnitude! Their resilience and power was beyond question, too.
If they tried their utmost and sacrificed all of their lives, then they might be able to breach the defences of a single ship. But the problem was: There were tens if not hundreds of thousands of them! And even worse, some of them were clearly more impressive than the rest, akin to secondary command vessels. They had not even discovered the flagship yet...
'Those insignias... they belong to the Naxsir, don't they?! They have been alarmed again? What–or rather, who–exactly has appeared in Pytho to make them come to this desolate wasteland?!'
Contrary to his people, Aulus had been clued in on quite a few secrets, so he managed to calm down very quickly. The Naxsir had an excellent reputation, therefore his fleet shouldn't be in any danger. Unless...
'What if the one that they're after can put up a fight? I hope we won't be caught in the crossfire!'