It took a while for Liam to truly digest everything that he was reading. His understanding of his world and its place in the broader cosmos was shifting rapidly as he absorbed the enormity of the information before him. The fact that there were decillions of galaxies, with his being just one among them, was mind-boggling. It wasn't just the scale but the implications of such a structure that staggered him. The myriad realms were a vast, intricate web of power, conflict, and history far beyond anything he had ever imagined.
He was just a small fish in the grand scheme of things. A small insect that anyone could crush if they wanted. The only grace period that they received from this so-called system, more commonly known as the administrator to survive was these 10 years!
Liam felt anger and frustration bubbling up inside him as he could see how truly fucked they were. A 10-year grace period was nothing. Their world was never supposed to thrive and stand alone. The system never even gave them a chance.
These ten years were rather given to the other factions so that they would be able to make ample preparations to conquer them or contest with other factions who wanted to conquer them.
Their fate simply depended on the ruling parties of their sector and how they decided to treat their world.
Dante was on point when he described how the low-grade worlds were treated as farming worlds and the high-grade worlds were pillaged and plundered until nothing was left.
There was simply no way out for them. Unless…
Liam's eyes flashed as he looked at the last information packet. The one about the Spire of Ascension, a mysterious and ancient structure rumored to exist at the nexus of the myriad realms. According to legend, the Spire of Ascension offered unimaginable power and knowledge to those who could reach its summit. It was said to be a place where one could transcend the ordinary limits of existence and ascend to a higher state of being.
The packet described the Spire as a near-mythical artifact of a bygone era, a relic from a time when the myriad realms were young and the fabric of reality was still malleable. It was a place of trial, challenge, and transformation, attracting the most ambitious and powerful beings from across the cosmos. It was the single thing that was shared between millions and zillions of galaxies.
As Liam read about the Spire, a wild, desperate plan began to form in his mind. If he could find and ascend the Spire, he might gain the power and knowledge he needed to protect his world. It was a long shot, the longest of shots, but in their desperate situation, even the slimmest chance was worth pursuing.
The peak figures of this sector they were in, the Xicta sector, were around Level 50,000. Liam gulped as this was another number that was beyond his understanding.
However, if he could somehow use the Spire to attain this unattainable goal, he would be able to somewhat deter the forces from bothering his world.
At least according to the latest currents of their sector, the ten great empires only seemed to focus on the weaker worlds and ignored the stronger worlds, seemingly avoiding an all-out war.
As Liam sat in the same position on the nether array platform and poured over the information for hours and hours, this was the only out he could see.
It was either this or him finding a backup of someone who was level 50,000.
Liam sighed. Every single time he read the phrase level 50,000 his head hurt. How powerful would someone of that level be?
According to the system, someone of this level was given the title 'Lord of the Daos.' Anyone from level 0 to level 99 was considered mortal and from level 100 to 999 was called awakened. For Liam, the next step would be to cross the level 1000 hurdle and become a transcendent.
This in itself was currently a question mark for him. Liam found himself completely overwhelmed as he thought of the distance between level 999 to level 50,000.
His mind wavered and anxiety plagued him so he immediately set aside the information packets and started meditating. The future was wrought with uncertainties and overwhelming challenges, but he knew that losing his composure would solve nothing. He needed to be calm, focused, and strategic.
As Liam meditated, he tried to let the overwhelming scale of the universe and the daunting path ahead of him wash over him without breaking his spirit. Being in nether helped.
He focused on his breathing, on the here and now, grounding himself in the present while acknowledging the long journey ahead.
He understood that reaching the level of a Lord of the Daos was an almost mythical goal, but he also knew that every journey began with a single step. Right now, his immediate task was to become a transcendent, to cross that first threshold into the higher echelons of power.
Once he had settled his mind and took some more time to meditate and regain his composure, Liam once again turned toward the information packets.
These had been extremely expensive depleting almost a fifth of Dante's resources, but they were completely worth it. At least he now knew the true depth of the ocean he was trying to get to the bottom of.
Liam set aside all the political information packets for the time being as these were not really that helpful for him at the moment.
Reading about how insignificant he and their world truly was lit a fire in him and he was burning with a desire to immediately take that step to cross from level 999 to 1000.
So what if the path ahead was almost impossible?
Liam clenched his fists as his gaze turned icy cold with determination. He started from nothing and got here facing so many odds and he could do it once again. He had to. There was simply no other chance.