Chapter 981: Hegemon Worlds

John stared at the image, mind nearly blank from the sheer amount of unbelievable information he had just been given. In mere minutes, his grasp on the fundamental makeup of the universe had been completely changed. It was like going from swimming in a puddle, to being immediately dropped into the depths of an endless ocean.

There was too much out there. The universe was far too large for him to comprehend. Countless worlds, some so powerful that they existed at the pinnacle of the universe. His world, which was revealed to exist in a space that most didn't even bother with, had just escaped utter annihilation in the past, and was considered something so unimportant that it didn't even have a name. He had assumed that the Nine-Dao World was a powerful work in the grand scope of things when arriving here, but had been informed that it too was relatively unimportant as well.

"How....do you know all this?" John eventually asked. "How can you be certain this is correct?"

"This information was given to me by my master, many many years ago," the Prime Shadow said, a slight reminiscent look in his eyes. "My Master was much more of an explorer and scholar than myself, and obtaining such information was his life's goal. It's something he gave to me with confidence, so there can be no doubt of its veracity."

John cleared his throat, still staring at the sphere of countless worlds. The sphere was easy to comprehend, but it was just a depiction of the universe at large. Just how large was it in actuality? Just how many words were there truly? How long would it even take to reach the center of this incomprehensible universe?

"Have...have you been to other worlds?" John asked, shifting the topic.

"I've been to a few," the Prime Shadow nodded his head. "Mostly the ones near the Nine-Dao World."

"How? How do you travel to other worlds? Do you take transportation formations like I did?" John asked.

The Prime Shadow shook his head lightly.

"Formations such as the one you took are incredibly rare. Some worlds have them, linking them with other worlds, but most do not. I have to say, I'm surprised to find out this world is linked to yours through that formation. I never knew such a formation existed, and can only wonder if the formation on this world still exists. That could be the reason for your spatial tunnel collapsing, or it could have been hit by a spatial storm and shattered. There are too many unknowns to be certain."

"So how did you travel to other worlds?" John asked, eager to obtain some information on how to potentially get back home.

"There are two ways, other than using transportation formations," the Prime Shadow said. "The first is to have a ship capable of traversing through space. These ships are incredibly rare, and incredibly expensive. In fact, only a few such ships exist on this world, and their design is quite limited, so it's only feasible to travel to nearby worlds. The second method is to use your own power to travel to other worlds, but that is even more difficult and dangerous. One can only attempt to consider such a thing upon reaching the Holy Manifestation Realm, and even then, there are dangers out there in the void of space that can cause Holy Manifestation cultivators to lose their lives."

He paused, glancing at John with a pointed gaze.

"That's even more so for traveling to worlds in the Void of Death," he emphasized. "The spatial chaos still lingering from the ancient war is incredibly lethal. Only the highest quality of space-faring ships dare enter such a place without care, and only those above the Holy Manifestation Realm dare enter using their own power."

'Above the Holy Manifestation Realm!' John exclaimed internally. It was the first time he had heard the mere concept of the realm above the Holy Manifestation Realm brought up. He kept his question to himself, opting to ask about this mysterious realm at a later time when the important things were already discussed.

"So, do you have one of these space-faring ships?" John asked with slight anticipation.

"Not anymore," the Prime Shadow shook his head, his answer disappointing John. "I used to have one capable of reaching the worlds closest to this one, but that was a long time ago. I'm old now, so I decided to settle down on my homeworld permanently, and do what I can in the time I have left to help the Guild, and humanity."

"How common is it for those from other worlds to arrive here?" John asked, trying to get as much information about the topic as possible while it was still being discussed.

"Not very common," the Prime Shadow answered. "At least in this part of the universe. I've heard its more common near the Great and Hegemon Worlds, where profound flying ships are more abundant, and cultivators more powerful, but I have not seen that with my own eyes, so I cannot be certain of that."

"So you haven't been to the Hegemon Worlds?" John said, slightly disappointed. He was going to ask about that next, but it seemed that the Prime Shadow's knowledge on that subject was limited.

"Ha, you make it sound as if its a simple stroll to get to the Hegemon Worlds," the Prime Shadow laughed. "Even if I had my flying ship, at the speed it was capable of reaching, it would take thousands of years, if not more, to reach the Hegemon Worlds. As for using my own power, I'm afraid I would die before I ever reached them."

John's eyes went wide with surprise, not expecting to hear the Prime Shadow's answer.

"That's...disappointing," John sighed, then thought of something else. "Wait a minute, when you asked me about my origins, you asked if I was from a Hegemon World. If it's so hard to get there, then why did you think someone at my level of power could come to this world so easily?"

"Like I said, the Hegemon Worlds have space-faring ships far beyond our comprehension, so what's impossible for us isn't impossible for those from those worlds," the Prime Shadow said. "But most importantly, your level of talent is far beyond anything I've ever seen. I could only assume you were from a Hegemon World. I've heard rumors and fables of geniuses of those worlds being sent to other worlds for training purposes, but I'm not certain how true that is."

"I see," John said, closing his eyes, trying to process everything he had seen and heard. His mind swirled with questions unanswered, questions that had been burning within him for years. He recalled being in the Great Desert, meeting the soul-form of his true mother beneath the sands of that desert.

He recalled the vision she had shown him, of sending him off in a cocoon of space and time when he was just a baby, no more than a few days old. After doing so, a group of cultivators, so powerful that he still couldn't gauge their cultivation level, surrounded her, and her fate after that was unknown. However, he knew she was still alive, somewhere out there, waiting for his arrival.

'Great World...Hegemon World...is that where you are, mother?'