Calm Wanderer
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(AKJ)Chapter 97 - Central Star Intercontinental Void Relay Station
🕑 Added 2025-01-28 09:39:56 +0000 UTCCentral Star City, Central Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Demian's P.O.V.
As his mind regained clarity, his gaze started roaming around to find out where they had arrived. Immediately, he discovered that their group was standing in a spacious room that easily reached tens of meters high and wide. Whether it be the frescoes sculpted directly on the white marble walls that depicted fantastic creatures and majestic men and women in armor, or the two massive Greek-like pillars surrounding the entrance, everything screamed ‘Majestic’. Although the Estate Building and the place they just left had a similar feel to them, there was a huge difference in terms of ‘depth’. The fact that the fluctuations coming from the whole building seemed stronger than what he felt from his Teacher and Aunt Ling previously impressed that notion in his Mind even further. ‘I wonder what kind of material’s been used to make this place. There’s no way it’s just normal marble. Not with that kind of Aura.’ He contemplated as his gaze was then attracted to the line of words coating the top of the archway. It wrote: ‘Intercontinental Void Relay Station. Arrival Room 12.’
Before he was able to contemplate further the meaning of those words, he sensed his Physiology Perk stir up automatically. “What the...?” Those were the only words he had time to pronounce before the extremely thick Spiritual Energy around started to gush inside his body at a speed that would have made anyone else at his Level burst from the strain applied to his body and Lower Inner Space [A/N: Dantian/Energy Space/Lower Inner Space]. Even his head felt heavy from the constant strengthening, although the exact extent of the changes was impossible to determine due to the lack of Soul Cultivation Techniques. Whatever the case, he was becoming stronger at a ridiculous pace. The small bottleneck he had found himself blocked by previously crumbled instantly as if it were made of paper, pushing his Cultivation Base upward even faster until it finally stopped before another small bottleneck. Peak Mid Ninth Level achieved with 96% Elemental conversion. ‘My body?’ He exclaimed inwardly as his Physique, which had just reached the Seventh Layer Elementary Grade, also finished another round of tempering and elevated to the Eighth Layer, even reaching the Peak of the latter before barely stopping right before entering the next Layer. Only after that round of improvement ended did his Perk stop operating crazily, leaving Demian both delighted and confused by the situation.
With his strength increased, the lingering effects from the Teleportation completely disappeared, prompting him to turn toward his Teacher and his wife, who each had a knowing look on their faces. Realizing that the two expected that sort of thing to happen, Demian questioned with a puzzled look on his face. “What’s going on?” To which Sergei replied. “You went from relative ‘Spiritual Starvation’ to ‘Spiritual Abundance’. Although it varies between each Cultivator, it’s a very common process with Cultivators who moved from a Lower Tier Region to a Higher Tier one after having lived for a long time in the former.” Seeing him pause his explanation, Ling added. “Think of it as your body trying to resolve the deficiencies created by insufficient Energy by absorbing as much Spiritual Energy as possible.” With a thoughtful look on his face, the young man asked another question. “From your explanation, it should be a one-time thing, right?” After a small nod, Sergei answered. “It is. But your Cultivation speed will still increase massively in this sort of environment instead of somewhere like the Origin islands. You can see it as a small welcome gift from the Federation.” Those last words elicited an amused smile on his wife’s face.
The feeling of exasperation surfacing in his heart at the couple’s childishness quickly melted away when he thought of how easy they were to get along with. Imagining a situation where the two were replaced by someone extremely strict, similar to those teachers he had in high school, made him shudder in fear before his attention was quickly attracted by Sergei’s next words. “Now that you’ve satisfied your curiosity, you should look behind you.” Sergei said calmly, directing Demian’s attention to the three female Mikhailovs who were previously standing behind him. As soon as he turned back, he noticed the two sisters swaying with a dazed look on their faces, their bodies tilting dangerously, seemingly on the verge of falling at every moment. However, something strange immediately caught his eye. “Why is Bryn shorter?” He mumbled as his gaze fell on the two-meter-tall dizzy redhead. “Void Size Control Array. It’s part of the Peak Tier 4 Compound Protective Formation covering Central Island City. It’s mainly used to limit the height of any humanoid to 2 meters maximum. You’ll understand why it’s essential once your Body Cultivation breaks through to Tier 2. By the way, your height was also reduced.” Sergei’s words aroused Demian’s interest, prompting him to sense his own condition. ‘God, he’s right. I’ve ‘lost’ around ten centimeters... I wonder what face Bryn will make once she wakes up and realizes we’re the same height, though.’ He pondered with amusement while walking toward Adeliya’s unconscious form.
Unlike the other two, the older woman had been completely knocked out from the strenuous journey, lying haphazardly on the floor unconscious. After naturally securing her into a princess carry, he realized that he may have formed a strange habit. ‘Oh well, I’m not complaining...’ He briefly thought while holding the soft-boned woman before turning his head toward the Sergei couple and asking out loud. “I’m curious. Is Teleportation supposed to knock one out? That seemed super inconvenient as a mode of transportation if that’s the case.”
Shaking his head, Sergei explained. “Not at all. The problem here is your low Cultivation Base. Normally, only those at or over Tier 4 use the Intercontinental Teleportation Service, along with some wealthy Tier 3. Those at Tier 2, however, would become dizzy from the strain, while Tier 1 would lose consciousness, with the weakest even risking some light injuries. As for Tier 0 and lower, they will experience organ failure and die or be directly obliterated. Naturally, if it’s Regional Teleportation, the effects will be much milder.” Cocking his brow, Demian remarked. “Good thing we’re not too weak, then. By the way, you’ve talked about Intercontinental Teleportation. Does that mean we’re not in Molkovia anymore?” With a playful smile on her face, Ling replied. “Of course not. But before we tell you more, here!” As the last word left her lips, the young man saw a Pill bottle flying in his direction. With a slight thought, a small blue hand made of Water Elemental Energy caught it from the air and brought it in front of him, eliciting a curious look on his face. “Give one Pill to each of them. That’ll help them remove the side effects from the Void Travel.” Ling explained.
Nodding his head, Demian then used the Elemental hand to open the bottle, grab three Pills, and, using his flexible body, administered one Pill to each of the women without dropping his Aunt’s unconscious body. The two sisters barely took a few minutes to wake up from their daze with the help of the Pill, the fastest being Seraphine who benefited from her lover’s Physiology Perk. Not only did that help her shake off the shock but also helped skip over two Sub-Level to reach the Low Ninth Level, almost catching up with Demian’s Cultivation Base. As for her Special Physique, the influx of Energy pushed it from the beginning of the Seventh Layer Elementary grade to the Peak of the same Layer. From the unstable fluctuations coming from her body, Demian could tell that she would only need a few days at most to break through that barrier. That is, if she were to cultivate ‘normally’ without the two dual cultivating. ‘Yeah... Fat chance of that happening!’ He briefly thought with amusement before his mood became complex as his attention turned toward Bryn’s direction. ‘Peak Mid Ninth Level and Peak Eighth Layer... is she the legendary protagonist or something? How come I’m the one with the broken powers gifted by an unfathomable entity, but she always manages to overtake me in Cultivation?’ After sighing inwardly, he decided. ‘Forget it! Even if she’s some kind of main character, I’ll just stick to being her side-character husband. All benefits without the world-saving pressure! That’s a better deal for me.’
While his mind was full of nonsense, the two women were quickly filled in with what they needed to know by the Sergei couple. Besides some slight surprise, Brynhild’s size change did not elicit any complaints from the woman. Instead, her face sported a light smile whose meaning Demian could not understand. He thus chose to ignore it and focused on monitoring his Aunt until she woke up. Around 10 minutes later, the older woman‘s eyes fluttered open, followed by a puzzled look appearing on her face. In a tone half-confused and half-bashful, she asked. “What happened?” After a quick explanation from the older couple, she understood the ins and outs of the situation while stabilizing her improved Cultivation Base at the Peak of the Fourth Level, prompting her to mutter embarrassingly. “Can you...” Coughing exaggeratedly before continuing in a louder tone. “Can you let me down, please?” He was not sure if he had heard correctly, but he seemed to have caught some slight reluctance in her tone. It may have been a projection of his own feelings on the older woman, though. Not lingering on the thought, he instead gently lowered the woman until her feet touched the ground before letting go of her body without displaying any unwillingness outwardly.
Nodding his head, Sergei instructed. “Since all of you are better, let’s keep moving. We haven’t reached our final destination, after all.” After saying his piece, he started walking toward the entrance, prompting the others to follow behind in silence. From the few interactions with the man, Demian was sure that there was no need to ask any questions, as the older man would certainly share any information at the appropriate time. Crossing through the massive archway, the group found themselves in a large corridor filled with a great number of rooms similar in shape to the one they had just come from. Unfortunately, the place was too large, making it impossible for him to check how many of those strange rooms there were. At least, without using his Soul Sense. However, the young man was wary of using it in that place. After all, anyone at a higher Tier could easily sense his Soul Sweep. If they were weak, it was fine, but if they were powerful... ‘If I piss off someone stronger than Teacher and Aunt Ling, that will turn ugly pretty quickly... Better be careful!’ He decided inwardly as their steps led them to one side of the corridor, where a huge round wooden desk was set up in the middle of a colossal circular room with decoration reminiscent of the room they arrived in.
Seated inside the circular desk, a few attractive men and women wearing standard uniforms were dealing with the queues of people waiting in front of each of those uniformed people. “Why does it look like an airport? Or maybe a train station...?” Chuckling at his comment, Ling opted to explain. “Pretty accurate. To be precise, we’re in the Central Star Intercontinental Void Relay Station. This is where you can teleport to other Power’s Main Cities, places that would be impossible to reach for anyone below Tier 5. Well, Tier 4 may succeed, but it would take them decades or even hundreds of years, depending on the distance. That’s if they don’t get killed by a random Fiend Beast or Evil Cultivator on the way...” As she paused, Sergei took over the explanation. “Just so you’re aware, we’re currently in the Flowing Stars Archipelago, which is the territory of the Flowing Stars Federation, a Low Tier 5 Great Power.”
Tilting her head, Seraphine asked a question that was on the mind of every other Mikhailov. “So we’re still on Earth?” Nodding her head, Ling responded. “We are. It’s just that the Earth you’re familiar with is completely different from reality. The Origin Islands, where you are from, are just some small islands. Their only significance is the fact that they’re the cradle of humanity, which is why most Great and Peak Powers stationed branches of their own Power there. This is also why my husband and I were there. We were ordered to check on the Anrepov branch family over there and see if we could find any talented Cultivators we could bring back with us.” In a thoughtful tone, Adeliya had a question of her own. “I’m curious... How big is this place? I mean, compared to the Origin Islands, as you call them.” Unlike the queuing people, the group of six kept walking toward another corridor where Demian spotted a sign saying: ‘Regional Teleportation Departure Section’.
After a brief pause, Sergei answered the redhead’s question. “The Origin Islands are about the size of a small Outer island in the Archipelago. Keep in mind that there are thousands upon thousands of those Islands in the Federation, if not more. All of those surround the 8 Inner Islands and the Central Island in a galaxy pattern, thus the name Flowing Stars Archipelago. By the way, those Eight Inner Islands are much larger than even the biggest Outer Island, and the Central Island is multiple times larger than even those Eight...” Feeling stunned at the prospect of having such a big region existing on the ‘good old Earth’ he was used to, Demian commented. “That sounds insanely big... How is that even possible?” Turning his head back toward the young man while his feet kept moving forward, Sergei answered. “The Universe is full of infinite mystery. Remove one layer and you’ll find yourself facing an infinity more.” Pausing for a second, he then added. “I understand that you’ve been bombarded all your life with certain ideas and theories. But remember that those who created them are mortals without cultivation. No matter how smart they considered themselves, their smarts are worthless in front of even the weakest Tier 2 Cultivators. At most, they could contend when it came to creativity, but that wouldn’t bring them very far for the same reasons.” A brief moment of silence later, he added. “Keeping an open mind is essential if you wish to travel far in your Cultivation Path. Or, you’ll inevitably encounter a bottleneck you will be incapable of breaching and pass away from Lifespan exhaustion. Remember this saying: ‘The fool is not he who lacks knowledge but he who mistakes his own ignorance for the ultimate truth.’”
The man then fell silent, letting the four Mikhailovs ponder on his words. ‘I guess I need to get rid of all my preconceived notions... Or at least, I shouldn’t hold them as absolute truth... Who could have guessed that reality was so crazy?’ Demian contemplated as the group reached a closed metallic panel where a uniformed woman with a retracted Aura was waiting silently. As soon as they stopped, the woman directed a professional smile in their direction and exclaimed. “Welcome to the Flowing Stars Federation. May I see your passes?” Immediately, both Sergei and Ling returned the greeting calmly before presenting a black-colored square token each to the woman. A surprised look instantly appeared on the woman’s face as soon as she scanned the two tokens with her Soul Sense. ‘Peak of Tier 2 and working as a receptionist? That’s... Extravagant!’ Demian thought when he caught the Soul Energy fluctuations suddenly coming from the woman.
Bowing respectfully, the woman said. “Esteemed Elders, it’s an honor to serve you. May I know which destination you wish to travel to?” Immediately, the older man responded. “Bright Star Island. We’ll each use two of our annual Teleportation quota to bring the four of them with us.” Nodding her head, the attractive woman then took out a mirror-shaped device from her Void Ring, pointed its back toward the Tokens’ direction, and activated it. Instantly, a wave of harmless Energy reached the two objects for a brief moment before it washed over the bodies of the six people. A short while later, she put the device back inside her Ring and stated. “Your information has been successfully registered in the Central Database. The six of you may enter the Departure Area and go to Room 1362. Do you wish for me to call a guide?” Shaking her head, Ling replied. “No need. We’re pretty familiar with the place.”
Nodding her head, the female employee then wished them safe travel while the dark-blue metallic panel separated into two from the middle, leaving them free to enter the massive room beyond. If the previous section of the Relay Station was relatively sparse when it came to the number of travelers, probably due to the high requirements for Intercontinental Travel, this one was the complete opposite. While briefly glancing here and there at the massive number of people, Demian swiftly noticed how diverse the Cultivators walking to and fro were. ‘Is that an Elf? Wait! It can’t be a female Dwarf. But then why does she have some kind of Ram’s horns?’ He kept glancing around, trying to guess the race of each one with a lot of hits and misses due to his relatively lacking knowledge. However, his attention was quickly brought back to Sergei as the latter instructed, clearly noting the four’s curious looks. “Let’s find the Teleportation Room quickly. Once we arrive at our mansion, we’ll have time to answer your questions.”
As the two were familiar with the path to take, it did not take them more than ten minutes to reach ‘Room 1362’ due to how massive the Relay Station was, the biggest airport in his previous life being only a fraction of the Station’s size. However, their physical strength was well beyond normal humans, making the journey relatively short and easy. They could have arrived earlier if the couple had brought them along through the air, but flying was forbidden inside the Station for obvious reasons. ‘It’s not like 10 minutes is a long time anyway.’ He told himself inwardly as the group stood in a smaller room than the one they had previously arrived in. “All of you ready?” Ling asked while looking at the four Mikhailovs. After a quick nod from the four, the Asian woman turned toward her husband and exclaimed with a playful smile. “Shall we go home, Darling?”
Right after those words left her mouth, Demian felt some kind of fluctuation that he came to understand was Void Energy washing over his body before taking away all of his Senses once more. ‘So annoying...’
