Chapter 1486: Worth Of A Disciple
A special world that's inaccessible to even the best of celestial rankers floated around in space, moving without making any big ripples despite its high energy.
From the outside, the world might as well not exist. Because any person below a certain range of power could only perceive a sparkling white dot in the sky. But for the powerful, that dot was the gate into the special world.
The sparkling dot moved aimlessly in the space, easily passing by the ferocious blackholes, unfazed despite the chaotic aura these celestial structures spewed out.
A silhouttee in a dazzling white appeared out of nowhere and stretched his finger toward the white dot.
His figure disappeared, part by part, as if he was being sucked in. The vision of the person shifted and a beautiul garden appeared in his sight.
The sky was a dark purple with a tinge of pink. The vast land, stretching endlessly in all directions, was pure white, like it was made from smashing pearls to bits.
A flattened stone path, which shone with a soft pink light, split the world into two. On either sides of the way were an endless number of plants, trees, birds and animals.
There were familiar species, like butterflies and pigeons. New species like a omni-plant that could survive on starlight or aura or other animals. And there were fusions, endless new varities built from the existing moulds.
This place alone contained more species than a kingdom could. And the diversity of these species was far too great than what even a bunch of kingdoms could hold up to.
As beautiful as it sounded, the place wasn't a utopia.
There were millions and millions of fights going on at this very instant, big and small, some for survival, some for mating, some for dominance, but all potentially fatal.
But what's really different from the normal was the changes that happen after the hunts.
A flaming bird would be consumed by a feline creature and it would grow a pair of wings or gain an affinity toward fire, shifting its origin attributes permenantly.
A butterfly would collect nectar from a special flower and get affected by the poisonous properties, µutating so much that it might as well be considered a new species.
And on and on and on.
Every second, changes like these keep happening.
All the species thrown into this jar were churned continously, creating new and new combinations with each step.
What initially might seem like a beautiful forest was in fact a lab on steroids, a place where evolution gets turbocharged and survival of the fittest remains the only law.
"Life is chaos, indeed." The silhouttee, covered in glowing white light, muttered to himself, lamenting the state of the forest. Then he quickly chuckled. "But chaos can't last. Order emerges from Chaos. Always."
"I don't remember asking you for a lesson." A pleasant female voice rang from the sky and the ground, from nowhere and everywhere.
"Come on now, it wasn't for you." The glowing light on the silhouttee faded away, revealing an old man in a black dress.
He looked like a normal human but there was something just off about his features that one could feel.
"I'm an old guy, I speak to myself to pass the time. Where's the harm in that?" He said with a smile.
But that smile looked contrived, like he was forcing himself to smile to adjust with his words than smiling naturally.
"The harm is when you say those words after intruding into my abode."
The birds, the bees and the plants all paused in their tracks and turned to him, as if they were all of one mind and were the ones speaking. If a normal person was to face such scene, they'd have lose their minds.
But the old man did not. He didn't even seem to care about the eerie sight or the angry words.
"Asha, I'm here for a simple deal."
At his words, a gentle wind blew. It was soothingly cold and filled with the fragrance of a million flowers.
A middle-aged woman in a blue dress manifested.
Unlike the humanoid-looking man, she had six pointed ears, four wings and a striped tail.
Just her mere presence caused all the creatures in the world to bow down in absolute submission.
Be it the predators who were about to kill or the preys that were supposed to die, they dropped everything at hand and turned in her direction.
"Keeper Equilius, I do not wish for any deal with you." She said with a harsh expression. "If you keep this up, my mother would pay you a visit."
"Don't be like that, lass." The old man said a big smile, but his eyes remained cold and indifferent throughout, like he was a robot programmed to put on that smile regardless of what he felt.
"You've failed to reach the next realm even after five centuries of seclusion."
"Five centuries is nothing." The woman retorted immediately.
"True. But isn't this twelfth five centuries? Or thirteenth? Forgive me, I am too old." Equilius showed an apologetic smile.
Asha's calm facade broke and she gnashed her teeth, her chest heaving up and down.
"So you came to mock me? You? Keeper Equilius himself! Nexus must be great that even their number three has time for things like these."
Equilius' expression changed subtly, a glint flashing in his eyes. But he didn't respond with hostility.
He was too old for that. Too experienced and too wise as well.
"Asherah's other children are gaining traction. You will be losing your position sooner or later. But if you uphold your promise, I can support you. Whether you'll just keep your position or go up depends on your own actions. But without me, this will be your story ends."
Asha's shoulders drooped and she looked at him with a conflicting expression.
Keeper Equilius said with an inspiring smile. "Asha, don't you want to see the greater heights of this world? The peak realm this universe has to offer?
Asherah is hailed as All-Mother by the Genesis Empire. You should be the one to take up her mantle.
Why do you hesitate to sacrifice a single girl for your glorious future?
Isadora is not worth it."