Chapter 379: Miracle Creator

The next morning, the sun had barely risen above the horizon when Priam’s entire faction gathered in front of the Celestial Sanctuary.

From the outside, the building looked strangely small for everyone there—however, its internal inscription was capable of expanding the inner space almost without limit.

The Elder in charge of the sanctuary was slightly surprised to see more than two thousand people silently staring at him.

He blinked several times, looking from Priam to the crowd. But, knowing the young man’s recent reputation and not wanting to cause any trouble, the old Sage decided to swallow his questions.

Everyone settled comfortably inside the large open hall.

The Elder gave the standard explanation about how the Celestial Cloud worked—the same lecture Priam had heard during his first visit.

Priam remained at the front of the group, standing beside Dandara. As soon as the speech ended, everyone settled onto the floor in perfect meditation positions.

With a gesture from the Elder, the sanctuary’s inscription was activated. A soft glow enveloped the hall, and the next second, the consciousness of the entire faction was transported together to the same region of the Celestial Cloud.

Even though he was already a Philosopher Sage, Priam was sent to the same location as well. In the sect, it wasn’t uncommon for Elders or experienced figures to accompany beginner disciples during this process.

Although a stronger figure couldn’t force the connection on someone else’s behalf, their presence served to guide them in choosing the best comet and offer valuable advice before the attempt. Many times, this simple guidance was the difference between success and complete failure.

In mere moments, more than two thousand consciousnesses found themselves floating in an infinite stellar ocean, bathed in a blinding golden glow.

Everyone looked around in complete fascination, awestruck by the magnitude of the cosmos and the countless paths available to them.

Some of the members who had managed to reach Level 9 the fastest—including all the generals—had already visited this place before.

They all painfully remembered their first attempt: back then, they had tried connecting to the comets and failed miserably within seconds, returning to the real world with the certainty that it would take them an immense amount of time before they could actually succeed.

That was the standard. Even the most talented took hundreds of years, while ordinary people took thousands of years. Becoming a Sage was the pinnacle of the mortal world, something that would earn them respect throughout the world to some degree.

’All of you, come in here.’

Suddenly, Priam’s voice resounded directly inside everyone’s minds, pulling them out of their trance.

In that plane, everyone was nothing more than a spiritual projection—translucent humanoid silhouettes without clearly defined faces, making it impossible to tell who was who. However, the unmistakable presence and authority in Priam’s voice made everyone identify him instantly.

With a slight movement of Priam’s arm, a small black point appeared in the middle of the golden void.

The point rapidly expanded, growing from the size of a fist into a ten-meter-tall spatial rift. The portal looked like an abyssal tear, completely black and dense, standing out in a bizarre yet impressive way against the golden sea surrounding it.

As soon as the passage stabilized, Dandara was the first to move forward. Without a millisecond of hesitation, her silhouette crossed the black portal and disappeared.

Seeing her fearless leadership, the rest of the faction snapped out of their shock.

The duration of their mental projections was extremely limited—no one there could maintain their consciousness floating in that ocean for more than a few hours without suffering severe exhaustion.

Within minutes, more than two thousand silhouettes surged forward as one, crossing the black rift.

As they crossed the portal and found themselves inside Priam’s Secret World, there wasn’t a single soul who wasn’t shocked.

Where the hell were they? What kind of place was this? The very atmosphere of the environment radiated a peculiar authority, with laws of its own. It felt as if they had stepped into a dimension that simply shouldn’t exist.

’Don’t waste time on useless questions,’ Priam’s voice echoed through their minds, cutting through the chaos of thoughts that was beginning to form.

’If you trust me, quickly look for a celestial body that suits your affinity and immediately begin the connection attempt.’

Priam’s warning acted like a reality check.

Abandoning their astonishment, the members of the faction focused and dispersed in every direction, looking up at the starry sky and hurriedly searching for comets that resonated with their energies.

As soon as each person chose their target and approached...

The next second, a green window emerged before Priam’s vision.

[Someone has attempted to claim a portion of your domain.]

[Allow?] [Yes / No]

In the blink of an eye, another window appeared. Then another. And another. The notifications started piling up at an insane speed, covering his entire field of vision.

Priam’s heart began racing in his chest. Acting on impulse and excitement, he started accepting them.

It was on the twelfth click that a cold shiver ran down his spine, and he stopped.

’Wait a second... What the hell am I going to tell the sect when more than two thousand Sages suddenly appear out of nowhere?!’ Priam tensed for a moment.

At first, he had thought he would simply give the members of his faction a little "push" by using his influence as the owner of this space. He had never imagined that the System would simply turn the process of claiming a celestial body into a simple authorization button!

[An ally has successfully gained control over a comet!]

[+30 GP]

Priam swallowed hard, feeling an imaginary drop of cold sweat run down his spiritual projection. He turned his gaze toward a distant corner and saw a slender silhouette with two prominent horns on her head.

It could only be his cousin, Flaris. She had been the fastest.

Priam let out a long sigh. The confirmation had arrived: all he had to do was click "Yes," and the connection happened very, very easily.

Since Flaris had tried before and failed, she was able to succeed quickly now because she already had some experience. But the others would certainly manage it after a little more time trying.

[You now possess absolute control over your allies’ connections with the celestial bodies within your Secret World.]

[If an ally is killed, the connection will be completely severed.]

[Furthermore, your will alone is enough to instantly sever any ally’s connection.]

Upon reading that, Priam’s expression changed.

He focused his mind on Flaris’s connection and clearly felt the spiritual bond linking the girl to the comet. The risk of allowing allies to control things within his Secret World was quite low.

They couldn’t easily discover the entrance to the Secret World through them, and Priam could sever the connection the moment he sensed any outside interference, then move the entrance to another location with a single thought.

The authority was still 100% his. If someone tried anything funny or betrayed him in the future, Priam wouldn’t even need to lift a finger: a simple thought would be enough to sever the bond and expel that person from his domain.

That person would practically stop being a Sage in the very same millisecond, left without any celestial body. And worst of all, since everyone here was obtaining this achievement ridiculously easily, if they lost their connection, it would take them decades, centuries, or perhaps they would never manage to learn how to do it the hard, conventional way.

He hadn’t intended for this to happen, but he had just turned his entire faction into absolute dependents of his power.

’Well... in the end, it’s more than a fair trade,’ Priam reflected. ’They get an insane +150% efficiency bonus, obtain celestial bodies without any risk of failure, and only need to wait for their mortal bodies to adapt to the Essence of Creation before advancing. In exchange... there’s just this small negative detail.’

[+30 GP]

[+30 GP]

[+30 GP]

[+30 GP]

The notifications continued popping up. Within seconds, all twelve members he had authorized had completed their connections without the slightest effort.

Priam brought a hand to his chin, pondering for a moment.

What would the sect’s upper echelons say when they saw this storm of new Sages?

Surely, they would think that an impossible and unprecedented miracle had occurred right there. But would they be able to discover the truth?

’Obviously not,’ Priam thought confidently. All he had to do was give his faction a direct order to keep it a secret and say that everyone had succeeded the conventional way.

In the end, the entire sect would benefit enormously from having so many new Sages emerge all at once. They wouldn’t make too much of a fuss about it.

’And if the old guys pressure me and seriously ask how I did it...’ Priam shrugged, laughing to himself.

’I can simply say that I used my advanced Celestial knowledge to guide them. I’ll throw around some technical terms from the knowledge I gained through the System. Even the Central Elders don’t know some of the things I do, and that’ll leave them scratching their heads without understanding a thing. They wouldn’t be able to argue that I was capable of doing this. So...

Screw it!’

Losing all hesitation, Priam looked at the thousands of shimmering green windows that continued piling up in front of him.

’Yes, for everyone. Starting today, I choose to be the miracle creator.’

With a smile on his face, he confirmed.