Arthur did not leave for the cultivation world imdiately after returning to Avalon. Even though his mind had already shifted toward what he needed to do next, he still took the ti to stabilize everything on his side before leaving again, because experience had already taught him that neglecting small details in the present often created bigger problems later.
Avalon was expanding rapidly, and while the Guardian AI handled most of the operational workload with flawless precision, there were still strategic decisions that required his input, especially when it ca to long-term planning and resource allocation across multiple domains.
Once he was satisfied that nothing required his imdiate attention, he sought out Selene. She was in her office in their residence, reviewing so reports, but her focus shifted towards him the mont she sensed him approaching.
Arthur didn’t waste ti explaining everything in detail, instead he simply took out a small pouch and handed it to her. The glow from within the pouch imdiately caught her attention, and when she opened it, she saw several spirit stones resting inside, their energy clearly distinguishable even to soone unfamiliar with cultivation.
“These are spirit stones,” Arthur said calmly, watching her reaction. “They contain a different kind of energy than mana. You can study them, try to understand how they interact with your system, but don’t absorb them yet.”
Selene frowned slightly, her fingers brushing over one of the stones as she sensed the dense spiritual energy within it. “Why? Is it dangerous?”
Arthur shook his head slightly, though his tone remained serious. “Not entirely, but the problem isn’t danger, it’s incompatibility. Your current system is built around mana, and this energy operates on a different frawork. If you absorb it without a proper thod, it could destabilize your internal balance. At best, you will waste the energy you absorb from the spirit stones. At worst… you might damage your foundation.”
She nodded slowly, understanding the implication even if she didn’t fully grasp the chanics behind it. “So are you going to create sothing for to use… these?” She said as she pointed at the stones.
“I will,” Arthur replied in a steady voice. “A thod that allows you to safely integrate it with your system. But until then, don’t experint blindly.”
There was a brief silence between them before Selene gave a small nod and closed the pouch. “Alright.”
Arthur almost smiled at the amount of trust Selene was putting on him, he didn’t say anything but instead he simply turned and left. He knew she trusted him, and that was enough.
…
The island he used for interdinsional travel remained as isolated as ever, the endless stretch of ocean surrounding it acting as a natural barrier from the rest of the world. The mont he arrived, he summoned the Obelisk, its towering structure hovered above his palm as faint circuit-like patterns flickered across its surface. Without hesitation, he activated it, and space itself bent as the portal ford in front of him.
Arthur stepped through.
The transition was imdiate, and the shift in environnt was as distinct as ever. The mont he arrived in the cultivation world, the density of spiritual energy pressed against him from all directions. It wasn’t oppressive, but it was heavy in a way that mana never was, it was far more intimate in its behavior with how it acted when interacted with, than mana.
Arthur paused for a mont and turned his attention toward the Obelisk, analyzing its internal state and saw another ten percent energy was consud.
That brought the total energy consumption to nearly twenty percent from just two uses. Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly as he processed that information, his earlier assumption confird once again. The dinsional laws of this world were significantly stronger than most others he had encountered, and forcing a stable bridge through them ca at a cost even the Obelisk could not instantly recover from.
“At this rate, I can’t afford unnecessary trips,” he muttered under his breath before storing the Obelisk back into his Sea of Consciousness. The energy would replenish eventually, but relying on that regeneration blindly would be a mistake.
Without lingering there any longer, he took to the air and headed toward the nearest city.
…
He landed and the mont he entered the city, he felt sothing was off with how everyone was looking at him discretely.
The streets were active, cultivators moved about as usual, and nothing outwardly seed abnormal. But Arthur’s perception picked up sothing more subtle, the way people looked at him, the brief glances, quick shifts of attention that carried recognition and caution was unnerving.
He didn’t stop walking, but his gaze sharpened with suspicion. “What’s with them…?”
Before he could think what to do, several figures stepped into his path, blocking his way with confidence that only ca from either strength or ignorance. In this case, Arthur could tell imdiately which one it was.
“Hehe… look who we found,” one of them said, his grin wide and completely unguarded.
Another leaned closer, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret. “We should capture him quickly before others notice.”
Arthur looked at them for a mont, his expression was unreadable. Then he exhaled quietly, almost as if disappointed. “So that’s how it’s going to be.”
They didn’t give him ti to continue, all of them lunged at him once.
Arthur was a bit confused as to why these strangers were trying to capture him, but he quickly rembered he had actually killed an elder of a sect and maybe they were sent by the sect. He still found it weird that they found him so quickly, but for now he focused on the fight. But it was less of a fight and more like an adult beating so unruly kids.
The first man didn’t even register what happened before Arthur stepped forward and drove a punch into his abdon. The impact folded him instantly, his body collapsing to the ground as the air left his lungs in a choked gasp. The others barely had ti to react before Arthur moved again, his motions were fluid, precise, and completely devoid of wasted effort.
Each of his movents were targeted at a weak point, each strike calculated to disable rather than kill them. A palm strike sent one crashing into a wall, a low sweep dropped another to the ground, and a kick launched a third backward with enough force to remove him from the fight entirely.
Within seconds, the confrontation was over.
Arthur stood in the middle of the alley, completely unhard, while the group lay scattered around him, groaning and unable to stand.
“…Hollow Immortal,” he muttered, glancing at them with mild disinterest and shook his head. “And they thought this would work.”
One of them tried to crawl away, panic evident in his eyes, but Arthur raised his hand slightly, and an invisible force pinned all of them in place. Telekinesis locked their bodies down completely, leaving them unable to move even a finger.
Arthur walked forward slowly, his footsteps echoing faintly against the ground as he stopped in front of them.
“Now,” he said calmly, “why were you trying to capture ?”
Whatever confidence they had earlier was gone completely. Seeing they were trying to tell sothing, he loosened his grip around them and one of them fumbled desperately and pulled out a crumpled pamphlet, holding it up with shaking hands. “B-Bounty… the Five Elent Immortal Sect… they put a bounty on you…”
Arthur took it and paused after seeing the amount of spirit stones they were offering. “…That’s a lot.” Even he had to admit it.
For a brief mont, a thought crossed his mind, one that he didn’t take seriously but acknowledged nonetheless.
“I could just turn myself in…” He almost laughed, then dismissed it imdiately.
After releasing them, he didn’t waste another second in that city. His figure vanished as he teleported away, putting significant distance between himself and any potential trackers.
…
By the ti he appeared again, his appearance had already changed. It wasn’t a drastic transformation, but enough to ensure he wouldn’t be recognized easily. He entered another city without drawing attention this ti, blending naturally into the crowd as he made his way toward a place that would give him what he needed to investigate about the matter of his bounty further
Information.
The Celestial Archive Pavilion stood prominently within the city, its presence commanding yet refined. Arthur stepped inside, and the atmosphere shifted imdiately. The noise of the outside world faded, replaced by silence that reflected the nature of the place.
A receptionist approached him with a practiced smile. “Welco to the Celestial Archive Pavilion, sir. How may we assist you?”
Arthur didn’t waste ti. “I want all information regarding the person the Five Elent Immortal Sect placed a bounty on.”
There was a brief flicker of recognition in her eyes, followed by a knowing smile. Information regarding this particular fugitive was a hot commodity right now in the market. And it has helped information guilds like them earn a lot of money in the last week.
She retrieved a scroll, but Arthur spoke again before she handed it over. “Also give information on the possible locations that the fugitive might visit.”
Her smile deepened slightly, clearly understanding the kind of custor he was. A second scroll appeared in her hand.
“That will be thirty spirit stones.”
Arthur paid without hesitation and left the building.
…
He booked a room in an inn, entered the room and closed the door. He activated a concealnt rune before opening the scrolls. He touched the scrolls with a thread of consciousness and information started flowing directly into his mind, it was detailed and organized, covering everything from his arrival in this world to the incident at the mine.
“They tracked everything…” He muttered.
The second scroll was even more interesting, he got to know the places that he could use to leave this planet. He was not aware there were places that had teleportation channels that could help people to go to other planets.
He decided he needed to analyze these teleportation channels, maybe he could gain sothing from them. But right now the security in those places would be extrely high, so he decided to spend the first month trying to find spirit stones.
…
The next morning he woke up early and decided to visit a real estate company.
He acquired a small property from them in the marketplace and transford it using Matter Manipulation, reshaping it into sothing entirely different from the surrounding structures. The design was clean, modern, and completely out of place in this world, which ironically made it stand out even more.
Above the entrance, he hung up the shop sign and kept the na of the shop as 'Spirit Tool Pavilion'.
He closed the door after he entered the shop and took out chunks of mithril and darksteel and started shaping them into various weapons and artifacts. Each piece was refined down to the smallest detail before he began inscribing runes onto them. Each of these runes would reinforce them, and serve various functions.
Hours passed without him noticing. By the ti he stopped, the shop was no longer empty. It was filled with various artifacts that would sell for a lot.
Arthur allowed himself a small, satisfied smile. “Let’s see how this plays out.”
***
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