Chapter 383: Celestial Haven

A deep rumble rolled through Riftward.

The Region’s boundaries spread outward, farther and farther, until its diameter reached thirty thousand kilometers. Its map was now comparable in size to an entire county on the greater maps.

Notices appeared before Cassian.

[One of your Gold Mines has mutated into a Stargold Mine.]

[Your resource point...]

More than a hundred of the thousand-plus resource points he held had changed. Two Epic sites had even advanced to Legendary.

Reports came into the Province Channel as well. Lords were finding signs of Epic monsters throughout the newly enriched land. In less than a minute, they had located one Legendary monster and eighteen Epic ones.

"Cassian! Cassian!"

Elara’s excited face appeared in a video call.

"A Black Dragon Den has appeared outside my Domain!"

"Outside your Domain?" He paused. "You mean inside Riftward’s map?"

She knew exactly why he was asking.

"Yes. Definitely inside the Region."

Cassian laughed aloud.

"Elara, you do bring me good luck."

Wild Buildings and Instances within a Region benefited from its Fortune. An ordinary wild Dragon Den could usually recruit one Dragon per day. At Riftward’s present Fortune, that rate might rise tenfold.

Ten Black Dragons a day. Three thousand six hundred and fifty a year.

That would be worth far more than even the Dwarven Royal Hall Elara had discovered before.

"Want to recruit a few first?" she suggested. "Some little lady Dragons to keep Nine company?"

"No need," Cassian said with great dignity. "Leave these wild Legendary troops for our friends. Speak to Darian and Nessa about it."

The real reason was less generous. Ordinary Black Dragons no longer interested him very much. Individually or in formation, they could not match his Dawnwings.

A Mythic Black Dragon King would be another matter.

"While you’re at it, take a few more walks around the Region. I’ll have Nine keep you company."

Elara rolled her eyes.

"All right."

Another steady source of Legendary troops for Divine Province. Cassian was in such a good mood that he began humming as he opened the Regional Warden panel.

Two new traits awaited him.

[Region Trait 1: Within this Region, resist spatial sealing effects of Legendary Quality or below.]

[Region Trait 2: Spend Aether to relocate the entire Region to a designated position. The destination cannot lie within another Region.]

"Just as the records said. I can finally take Riftward with me. Though that Aether cost..."

Even the expense could not spoil his satisfaction.

"I could take the whole Region into the Sixth Realm during the Heaven-Defying War."

The challenge would be vastly harder. No Lord from the Homeworld had ever accomplished such an ascent. Still, the possibility was now there.

He opened the Domain Aether Vein’s attributes next.

Its existing benefits, including the drop-rate bonus and Divine Favor, had grown stronger. There was also a ninth effect.

[Effect 9: When a Lord holding a national office or higher is slain, seize the National Fortune attached to that Lord’s office for your own use.]

"Seize National Fortune?"

Cassian straightened, delighted.

"So killing those generals from older sectors can bring National Fortune as well!"

One reward after another. Crossing ten thousand Fortune had been everything he hoped for.

The expansion had also spread the land he held around his Domain across ten thousand kilometers.

"Five thousand kilometers to the nearest other Lord."

He carefully took out the tricolored Writ obtained when Vargul fell.

[Domain Advancement Writ — Mythic]

"Five thousand should be enough to hide the signs of this."

He had held back ever since returning to the Homeworld. A Mythic Domain advancement would hardly pass unnoticed among close neighbors. This expansion was what he had been waiting for.

Cassian drew a deep breath and sent the Writ flying.

Tricolored radiance shot into the sky. It spread around his Domain for roughly fifty kilometers, filling the air with brilliant light.

[Mythic Domain Advancement Writ consumed.]

[Domain Environment Foundation advanced: Celestial Haven — Mythic.]

Soft music drifted through the radiance. Dense Aether took the shapes of graceful immortal women and wondrous beasts, their luminous forms gliding and playing through the sky.

Then the world grew brighter still.

Cassian looked up. Stars had appeared in broad daylight, countless points of light shining across hundreds of kilometers. For a few seconds, even the sun seemed pale beside them.

Slowly, the vision faded.

"Stars in daylight. A Domain advancement really does make a bigger spectacle than advancing a troop."

He let out a breath.

"Good thing I waited. A display stretching across a thousand kilometers would be difficult for nearby Lords to miss."

Cassian opened the new environment’s description.

[Celestial Haven — Mythic Domain Environment]

[Effect 1: Agricultural and recreational Buildings within the Domain operate one Quality tier higher, up to Mythic. Applicable Buildings include fields, farms, bathhouses, and taverns.]

[Effect 2: Greatly enhances Folded Sanctuary.]

[Effect 3: The Domain can condense one Immortal Stone per Realm Day.]

"My Legendary fields can perform like Mythic fields now."

Mythic farmland.

The words alone were enough to make him smile.

"I should build a few pastures too. Perhaps I can raise some true immortal birds."

The second effect was just as impressive.

Folded Sanctuary’s limit on Time Acceleration had risen again. Its support for the Void Shield, Moat, Pocket Parks, and Monuments had also become far stronger.

Cassian could no longer say exactly how powerful his Domain’s defenses were.

*Now that’s a comforting thought.*

Light flashed beside him. Veyra arrived with Celia and Lysette.

"My lord, what caused all that?" Veyra looked around in wonder. "The Aether concentration feels several times higher again."

Celia watched him curiously. So did Lysette. She had only been here a few days, yet each surprise he gave her seemed to be followed by a greater one.

"You’re just in time."

Cassian smiled and extended his right hand, palm upward.

"Condense an Immortal Stone."

A tremendous pull spread from his palm. Aether whirled toward it, forming a vortex hundreds of meters wide.

Celia had the lowest attributes of the three women present. Caught off guard, she took a small step forward before steadying herself.

The pull lasted more than ten seconds. When it stopped, a pale, luminous stone rested in Cassian’s hand.

Veyra’s eyes widened.

"So much power—and so pure. It’s more than a hundred times stronger than a premium-grade Aether Crystal!"

Cassian smiled. An Immortal Stone was a Mythic resource, after all.

He weighed it briefly in his hand, then tossed it to Celia.

"Your sword training has slowed your progress in your other art. You take the first one."

[Your favor has increased Celia Morcant’s Affinity by 1. Current Affinity: 100.]

[Celia Morcant’s Affinity has reached 100. A new function has been unlocked. Select to view.]

Cassian paused, then laughed.

He truly had not been aiming for that.

High-grade Aether resources were useful for more than training, too. They could fuel formations or replenish energy with extraordinary efficiency.

If Maren’s Five Elements Formation had been powered by Immortal Stones during the Legion Contest, its strength could have risen tenfold. The expense, however, would have been outrageous.

Even House Frost could not afford to burn resources like that casually.

——

The final Provincial Ranking had ended in a complete victory for the thirteen Crown Provinces.

Their strength rose again. Across the Divine Nation, tens of thousands of Lords now held offices and enjoyed their bonuses.

Cassian’s call to prepare had already set the Provinces in motion. Potions, scrolls, ammunition, and other strategic supplies were being gathered in enormous quantities.

Masts crowded Divine Province’s Inner Sea. Hundreds of Legendary warships lay among tens of thousands of Epic vessels, with more Rare ships than anyone could readily count.

Two million older-sector Fenwick Lords had assembled in Divine Province, each bringing a main combat force.

No one needed to guess what it meant.

The Divine Nation was preparing its first full national offensive. Its target was the Black Banner.

Cassian’s reputation and Divine Province’s relentless growth filled the Black Banner’s home territory with alarm.

[There’s something wrong with that man. Divine Province wins every war. Fighting him is suicide.]

[Even Fivefold Heaven has to show him respect.]

[Suppose we survive this attack. What about the one after it?]

[Why don’t we leave the sector? Wait for Sector 668. We’d lose two years, but if it means staying away from that monster, it’s worth it.]

Such messages filled the Black Banner’s Channels. Morale had sunk as low as it could go.

Then a golden announcement appeared in the center of every Lord’s vision.

[Homeworld Announcement: Seventh Realm, Sector 666, Homeworld Realm. Lord Dorian Morvane of Morvane Province has created the Rare troop line Gorgeborn. Rewards: Realm Renown ×10,000; Legend ×100.]

For a moment, there was silence.

Then the Black Banner’s Lords erupted in thunderous cheers.