The old man nodded in agreement. His gaze now shifted from the orb on the table to the spherical orb displaying the celestial heavens amid the assault of the fleet.
"Any important information from the other realms?" he asked, still staring at the celestial heavens orb.
"Nothing significant, sir, except that the Seraphis Vali race has halted their attack," Aric replied candidly, hiding nothing.
"Seraphis Vali?" The old man repeated, as if recalling someone. "What is Aurelius thinking?" he continued, sounding somewhat intrigued.
"When did they stop?"
"A few minutes ago, sir, around 20 minutes ago."
Hearing Aric's response, the old man's gaze drifted toward the altar of the Seraphis Vali race. Indeed, he could see that no energy was being emitted from the altar, meaning it had ceased operation.
"What's their reason?" the old man asked again.
"No clear reason, sir, but it's certainly not an idea from Serai, that battle maniac," Aric replied, shaking his head.
"Very well, keep up the surveillance," the old man instructed before shifting his gaze back to the spherical orb on the table.
The tense atmosphere mixed with the liveliness in the void created a breathtaking scene. Each fleet had its own altar where they sent their warriors to enter the divine heavenly realm.
They were all waiting for one thing: for the grand realm at the center, the divine heavenly realm, to become part of the cosmos. They waited like dogs in a cage, ready to run out and devour the meat their master would provide. They were all prepared, constantly launching their opening assaults through the altar.
Yet amidst the tension, in a seemingly endless white corridor where the flow of time and space continued, a young man drifted along, his face wearing an odd expression.
"What is this? Am I inside a portal?" he muttered in confusion, his gaze fixed on the system panel screen before him.
[Detected: creature of the sky divine realm. Unable to pass through the portal temporarily.]
[Detected: Aetheris being, unable to pass through the portal.]
[The divine heavenly realm is in the process of merging with the Origin Cosmos.]
- Merging progress: 7%
"Unable to pass?" His voice broke the silence, echoing in his mind. Surprised, he stared at the screen, narrowing his eyes in disbelief.
"Origin Cosmos? What is that? Is it another kind of floating realm?" he continued, his face scrunched in concentration, trying to comprehend the sudden new information.
The young man—Golden Master, a clone of Lein—was currently trapped inside the portal. Although only a clone, the original Lein's consciousness remained connected to him, experiencing everything the clone encountered.
Around him, there was only darkness, interrupted by the flow of white time, spinning rapidly like a whirlpool. He looked around, trying to grasp where he was, but all he could see was a long, endless corridor. His steps made no difference; the place seemed frozen in time, despite the illusion of movement.
"Why could I freely pass through the portal during the inter-race war, but now I'm blocked?" Lein thought to himself. His brow furrowed deeper, recalling that massive battle when the Aetheris beings never seemed to have trouble crossing the portal.
"Strange," he muttered, his voice reflecting his dissatisfaction.
He then turned around, attempting to reach the walls of the corridor, which seemed to flash by at an incredible speed. Like being in outer space, the white lines streaked past at blinding speed, forming a landscape akin to stars moving swiftly.
Yet, despite his continuous motion, it was as if the walls remained distant. The hand that should have touched an unseen surface only met emptiness.
"Strange... It looks close, but it's actually far," he whispered to himself, frustration creeping into his mind. He looked up, down, and all around, but the view remained the same. Void. Empty.
"So... what can I do now?" he asked himself in his thoughts. Trapped in this place, without an exit, it felt like a prison without bars.
Suddenly, a spark of excitement flashed in his eyes.
"Ahh!" he exclaimed, filled with energy. Drawing his golden sword from its sheath, he prepared to unleash a slash with full conviction.
A wave of the sword gleamed, shooting straight toward the end of the corridor in front of him, followed by another shadowy slash—the effect of Lein's passive skill.
But… nothing happened.
Lein frowned, frustration growing within him.
"No effect. How about a skill?" he muttered, contemplating. The earlier slash was just a passive skill, so it made sense that it didn't do much. Now, he intended to try something stronger.
"Sky Shattering Slash," he declared firmly. The golden sword in his hand was immediately enveloped in a white aura, extending up to 100 meters.
He observed it carefully.
"The tip is still visible?" Lein's voice became soft, confused. The aura of his sword, although long, wasn't powerful enough to break the invisible walls of the corridor.
"Sky Sword Rain!" he shouted then. The golden sword gleamed again, and this time dozens, hundreds, even thousands of swords began to appear around him. Like a sea of golden needles surrounding Lein's small body. Each sword pulsed with energy, waiting for the command.
Lein moved his thoughts, and instantly, the hundreds of thousands of swords surged forward, racing toward the corridor's walls.
The swords flew straight, slicing through space at incredible speed, forming a formation like a school of fish swimming in the ocean. But the longer Lein waited, the clearer it became that the walls remained unreachable.
"There's still time… 40 seconds left," Lein thought, his eyes continuously monitoring the countdown timer.
The swords, which initially seemed promising, now merely danced in the air, failing to reach their target. Until finally, time ran out.
"Finished." The golden swords vanished one by one, leaving Lein in silence.
He sighed, realizing that despite all the effort, the invisible walls remained untouched.
At that moment, in the teleportation hub, the real Lein stared at the portal as if he were gazing at his clone trapped within it.
"Hmm… what exactly is happening?" Lein said, puzzled. The system hadn't informed them about the merging of the cosmos. This raised a big question in Lein's mind.