Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

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Cedric's consciousness sank into his Inner World...

He observed its ancient and archaic state, feeling an innate closeness to it. A sense of omnipotence gushed over him, yet he knew that this feeling was just an illusion presented by his sole ownership of this place.

The dark golden fog of Chaos Energy tossed and turned; each movement carried an overwhelming force that could destroy worlds and realms. It's like a sea, active and brimming with life and potential.

Looking closely, there are a few new additions to this place compared to its initial appearance. Now, this field of dark golden fog emits a brilliance even stronger than before, somewhat displaying its vitality and activity. Colors also started appearing here and there; they're faint as of now, but they're definitely there.

These colors represent the embryo of concept laws as Cedric knew it. Right now, they're at the state of gestation. He had no idea when they'd bloom and what kind of effects this will have on him, but they're a natural addition to his further development of this place.

Since Cedric wasn't following the orthodox path of transitioning, he had to explore the lengths and limitations of this path.

In the Transitionary Realm, the first to third transitions transform the physique. The fourth to sixth transforms the energy, and the final three transitions transform the spirit. Only after experiencing these nine transitions would one be eligible to seek the evolution to turn into a Cosmic Lifeform and step into the peak of this realm.

Treading the path towards the Cosmic Level is fraught with constant dangers to one's life. Many had died overestimating their abilities and potential, others were just plainly unlucky and only a select few managed to make it through and become Cosmic Level Lifeforms. Even fewer to those who had become Cosmic Lords.

Cedric isn't the same...

The existence of his Inner World and all of his energy changing into Chaos Energy meant that he couldn't follow the tradition. Hell, he can't even use it as an inspiration to measure his progress.

That said, this doesn't mean that he's weaker than the others. In fact, he's a few degrees stronger compared to those at his general level of cultivation. The caveat is that he had to explore everything on his own, and not even the Wise Dragon Chancellor can help him with this.

Fortunately, this connection he has with his Inner World and his affinity with Chaos Energy was giving him hints somehow. It comes to him like an instinct, a whisper at the back of his mind telling him of what he could and couldn't do; all he had to do was to listen to it.

Speaking of progress, Cedric has reached the equivalent of the 3rd Transition of the orthodox path of Life Evolution, making him stronger once more. Cedric did gather some Void Energy during the invasion. He ended up having more than what he needed to his next breakthrough but that's fine. The rest wouldn't be wasted anyway.

His progress was certainly quick, especially since all he had to do was to absorb and refine Void Energies and convert it to more Chaos Energy. So far, he had no competition in this particular resource, so he could have as much as he wanted. If it weren't for him not wanting to destabilize his foundations, he could've progressed faster.

Ordinary resources had little to no effect on him. It seems that his Inner World only craves Void Energy for nourishment, and Cedric couldn't complain too much since it's saving him a lot of merit points and time.

The 'Void Refinement Realm'—this'is what Cedric decided to call his current cultivation realm. It's simple and direct, easy to remember, and quite literal too.

With his progress to the 3rd Stage of Void Refinement, Cedric's Inner World has expanded to a full 999 miles, a mile short of a thousand. Once released, Cedric's Inner World could cover a decent chunk of the Northwestern Camp. In this domain, Cedric was a god. His abilities, rule, and authority were absolute.

The expansion of his Inner World had some pattern, though. Because at the first stage, it's only 9 miles. At the second stage, it expanded to 99 miles, and now it's 999 miles.

The number '9' seems to have a mystical importance to his cultivation path, one that intrigues him greatly.

Cedric attempted to surpass the instinctual limits of his realm, breaking through the '9' ceiling, in a sense. But whenever he tries to do so, he discovers that he would just end up breaking through the next stage in his cultivation, so he stopped thinking about it. He wasn't really that determined or desperate to see past the limitations imposed upon him. The path he's on is already tricky in itself; there's absolutely no need to complicate it even further.

With this trend, it means that to reach the limits of the 4th stage, he had to expand the size of his Inner World to 9,999 miles. Then 99,999 miles after that, and so on.

Cedric couldn't even begin to estimate just how much Void Energy he needed to reach the 9th Transition equivalent. And since he couldn't always rely on the orthodox path to guess his way out of his current path, he also doesn't know what's next after this realm.

So, for Cedric, he could only take it one step at a time.

**

On this day at the Northwestern Border Patrol Guardian Camp, a transport ship arrived with a new batch of people.

Unlike the previous batches, though, this one was different.

The previous batches had people from the Societal Office forcibly conscripted to the Border Patrol duty through public demand. They were hundreds in number and looked absolutely distressed about their sentence.

But this one isn't like those. For starters, there are only a few dozen of these people. Most of them are old or at the very least, had the air of desperation upon them, obvious through their intense and strict aura.

Some of these people have already made an acquaintance with each other. And through their slight probing and discussions, they all discovered that similarities and differences between them. That said, there is one thing that led to them being in this ship at the same time, and that is the one goal that they're all pursuing.

A chance.

Upon their arrival, they were escorted through the camp. Normally, someone will give them a tour. However, this batch of people is different. The management saw no need for that since a chunk of these people might not stay here for long.

And to further emphasize that they're different from the rest, these people were greeted by the chancellors at some point during their arrival.

"Welcome to the Northwestern Border Patrol Guardian Camp, ladies and gentlemen. I appreciate you all giving us, and maybe yourselves, a chance." Silas, the Mystic Fae Chancellor, greeted them with a gentle and warm welcome, putting them at ease. The other chancellors stood behind him silently.

"I believe that all of you have been informed of what you're going to deal with here. We have informed you of the risks and potential of this project, and seeing that you all decided to come means that you have consented to this."

"However, I would still give you a chance to back down now." Silas' expression turned just a bit stricter. "In case you were forced to agree or had a change of heart, feel free to return to the transport ship. We won't ask questions, you won't be fined or punished, and you will just be returned to your home."

"So? Have you all made your decision?"

Nobody moved nor spoke. They remained where they stood no matter what they felt right now. Despite their varying reactions in this place, they all share the same decision, and that is to stay here and see this project through. None of them were forced to be here; they were invited, and they decided to come willingly, all for the sake of having a chance.

Seeing that nobody moved, Silas smiled and said, "Very well. Let's move on then."

The chancellors then led them to a series of hallways, which eventually got them to the location where their future will be determined.

They were taken into a pocket dimension. The place looked nice; the skies were clear, they were surrounded with a vibrant and lush field of trimmed grass, and the air was clean.

It was in this place that they all found a young man who's seemingly waiting for their arrival. He had long and wild golden hair and strikingly golden eyes. He was of decent stature, a bit on the leaner side, and his skin was fair. He carried a peaceful aura within him, yet his features displayed sharpness akin to a sword.

They were expecting some kind of an introduction of something along the lines. But to their surprise, the young man seems to have a different idea.

Because not even a minute since they all met, he already decided to surprise them. And he did it by dragging them into a sea of dark golden fog.