The heavens replied to Aldrian, making him raise his eyebrows.
"What do you an you know but at the sa ti don’t know?"
Aldrian wanted to pull his hair in frustration, he couldn’t truly understand the true aning of the heavens’ intent. He sighed and kept focusing on the heavens as they had yet to finish.
"Obstructed, losing control? Sothing is disturbing you?" Aldrian raised his eyesbrows.
Sothing that even affects the heavens? Does that an they are under so kind of influence and aren’t in their proper state? He continued to focus on the heavens’ intent.
"In... my... domain. Ah, you an that only inside my domain do you regain full control of yourself, without any obstruction?"
He finally understood sothing and stopped walking toward the inn.
"Wait, the loss of purity in the church’s holy energy, the heavens, my domain, my power..." Aldrian felt as if he was touching upon one of the truth about his domain’s power.
"After the church ca under my domain, the holy energy from the heavens was restored—and even beca stronger. I myself am connected to the heavens and have strong karma with them. The heavens said they only have full control when they are inside my domain."
"Why am I at my most powerful state within my domain? Why can I do things more easily than outside of it? Is it because whatever is obstructing the heavens beyond my domain is also indirectly obstructing ?"
He felt the fluctuation of intent from the heavens, but he did not know what it ant. However, he couldn’t stop thinking about this matter. If what he thought was true—if soone or sothing was affecting even the way the heavens operated—then didn’t that an his domain was the one negating whatever was interfering with them?
Didn’t that an he was restoring the heavens to order? Yet, inside his domain, the heavens seed to favor him, treading carefully around him. He could even say, with a touch of arrogance, that the heavens were submissive to him.
The heavens’ intent called him ’Your Majesty,’ and praising all his glorious titles, the sa ones spoken by many of the people in his visions.
Aldrian continued walking while lost in thought. Didn’t that an that, within his domain, he was essentially the heavens’ monarch? He only smiled at the idea.
When he thought about it, he found the idea not so bad, it was just another title after all. He had already been called many nas, like ’The Absolute One’ and ’The Absolute Ruler.
If his domain was what restored the heavens’ control, then he would gladly continue expanding it. It aligned with his pursuit of strength, after all.
"Truly, my mind and character have beco more arrogant since I t that man," Aldrian thought to himself.
eting that figure and cultivating for so long inside the Shrine of the Beginning had truly changed his mindset. More and more, he felt like a higher being, one who soared above and viewed all others from a greater height.
Aldrian arrived at the inn not long after. Even before he stepped onto the second floor, he could already see that his group was ready. They seed to have been waiting for him, which made him smile.
"Let’s go to our next destination," he said.
They all smiled in response before setting off toward the nearest teleportation station. After more than a year, they were finally about to embark on a new journey into new territory once again.
Upon arriving at the teleportation station and stating their destination, the station operator paused and looked at them for a mont.
"You’d better be careful. Caritas City is under Baroness Charoline, and she belongs to the faction opposing the second prince," the operator warned. "I heard that Caritas has already fallen under the second prince’s faction and is now under martial law. Everyone must obey their arrangents."
"Is the situation that dire for those opposing the second prince?" Aldrian asked.
"I’ve heard that so noble families have already fallen to ruin. Many travelers from Atria empire say the sa. As for Baroness Charoline, she’s at her wit’s end—only a small part of her territory and army remain in Weilmar City."
"Alright, thank you for the warning," Aldrian said.
While waiting for their number to be called, Aldrian connected himself to the Great Peng and the Phoenix outside the Heavenly City.
"You two, the Pope already knows about your existence and will co to et you. He has his own arrangents for you until I return, so you’d better behave until then," he sent a voice transmission.
"Yes, Master," the two of them responded.
Once Aldrian’s group was called, they wasted no ti stepping into the teleportation portal, leaving the territory of the Heavenly Direction Church.
-----------------------------
As Aldrian’s group stepped out of the teleportation portal, the sight before them was unlike anything they had seen before upon arriving in a city through the teleportation portal.
Destruction was everywhere, the streets were quiet. Few people could be seen, and there was barely any sign of daily activity. Soldiers patrolled the area, moving back and forth. It truly felt like a city that had just experienced a great war.
They were imdiately t by a checkpoint, where soldiers were already waiting for those arriving through the portal. Every traveler was thoroughly inspected before being issued a clearance token, allowing them to roam the city—though always under the watchful eyes of the guards.
When it was finally Aldrian’s turn, the soldier responsible for taking notes glanced at him for a mont. He could imdiately sense the powerful aura of a Duke-stage cultivator emanating from Aldrian, placing him among the upper strata of cultivators on the continent. Aldrian himself deliberately did not hide his aura, allowing others to sense it.
Realizing this, the soldier subtly adjusted his posture, not wanting to appear disrespectful.
"Your na, sir..." the soldier asked.
"Aldrian."
"Purpose of your visit?"
"Looking for soone."
The soldier paused for a mont before looking at Aldrian again.
"May I ask who you are looking for?"
"A traitor," Aldrian replied without hesitation.
The soldier was montarily stunned but quickly composed himself, writing down what he had heard. After a few more questions, Aldrian received his token. The rest of his group went through a similar process, answering nearly identical questions before they, too, were given the sa token.
With their clearances secured, Aldrian led the group out of the plaza.
Once their silhouettes had faded into the distance, the soldier who had processed them took out a communication artifact and sent a voice transmission.
"A suspicious group has arrived. They’re looking for a ’traitor’... Yes... They just arrived... Understood, Commander."
After ending the transmission, he kept his gaze fixed on Aldrian’s retreating figure until it disappeared between the buildings. Then, he returned to his duties.
----------------------------
After they had walked a fair distance from the teleportation station, Aldrian glanced at Sylphia and the others.
"It looks like we’ve already found a clue, even though we just arrived," he said.
Sylphia tilted her head. "What do you an?" she asked.
"The soldier who gave us the tokens—he seems to know sothing about the ’traitor.’"
"How do you know?"
Aldrian smirked. "It’s a secret."
Sylphia pouted, but Aldrian simply smiled, letting her show her cute expression.
Of course, he knew the reason. When he had answered the soldier’s question with "traitor," he had sensed the reaction from the soldier’s heart—his heartbeat had skipped for a brief mont, as if he had heard sothing important enough to take note of. The way the soldier looked at him, as if trying to engrave his face into mory, was another sign.
That kind of reaction wasn’t normal for soone whose job was rely to take notes and distribute tokens.
There were a few possible explanations, but the most likely one was—
"That soldier was already ordered to take note of anyone suspicious who seed to be looking for soone."
Why had the soldier been ordered to take note of anyone looking for soone—especially when the word "traitor" had clearly triggered a reaction? Aldrian had a theory, but he needed more proof before he could be certain. Fortunately, he had an easy way to test it.
"Let’s head to the church branch in this city," Aldrian said. "We’ll stop by for a mont before gathering information elsewhere."
Not long after, he finally sensed several presences trailing behind his group. Xin Haotian noticed them as well. The figures trailing them hid themselves among the surrounding buildings since there weren’t many people on the streets.
If they simply followed from a distance, they would appear inconspicuous.
However, Aldrian and Xin Haotian quickly saw through their act. Their movents followed a distinct pattern, and their line of sight repeatedly drifted toward Aldrian’s group—clear signs that they were being watched.
After asking a passersby for directions, Aldrian finally found the way to the church branch and headed there. Under the watchful eyes of their stalkers, his group appeared oblivious, strolling leisurely and casually observing their surroundings.
After taking a few turns, Aldrian finally spotted the church branch in the city.
This was a bait, a way to confirm whether his suspicions were
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