Chapter 487: An Inivitation

Caelus checked his status once more to make sure he hadn’t misunderstood anything.

His Power had reached eighty, yet his World Cell Development remained at forty percent. Apparently, Endless Extraction had strengthened his developed cells without increasing his cultivation progress.

No wonder some Early Primordials could possess more than a hundred Power.

He turned toward Sylvia, who was standing beside him.

"Sylvia, can you try absorbing the energy from these corpses?"

"Let me see."

Sylvia approached one of the remaining corpses and placed her hand above it. After examining the energy inside for a few seconds, she shook her head.

"No, I can’t absorb it. My Death Authority can affect the remains, but I can’t extract their cell energy like you did."

"I see. That’s unfortunate. I managed to gain another forty Power from them."

"Forty?"

Sylvia was rather surprised to hear that. She examined him more closely before smiling.

"That’s good, hubby. Keep getting stronger. I’ll have to work harder to catch up with you."

"Don’t worry, we’ll find something to help you increase your strength too. We still have plenty of Primordial Credits to spend."

Caelus took her hand as he spoke.

Although Endless Extraction allowed him to increase his strength rapidly, Sylvia didn’t possess the same advantage, or at least, her extraction wasn’t like his and it doesn’t seem to work on these monsters either. He wanted to find a way for her to improve just as quickly, especially considering how dangerous the Primordial World could be.

Fortunately, money wasn’t much of a problem for them anymore.

"Caelus!"

Hearing someone call his name, Caelus turned around and saw Nico approaching from the other side of the ruined plaza.

His clothes were still covered in dust from the earlier battle, but he seemed to be in a good mood.

"There you are! I was looking for you."

"What’s up?"

"Nothing much. I just wanted to say that you’re seriously strong. I thought I had a chance against you until you transformed into that dragon."

Caelus laughed.

"You weren’t doing badly yourself."

"Clearly not well enough to beat you."

Nico shook his head before taking out a white card engraved with a golden eagle.

"Anyway, my father asked me to give you this. He wants to meet you, so come visit us in the Northern Star Region when you have time."

"Your father?"

"God Emperor Leopold Adler."

Caelus was surprised upon hearing the name.

"The God Emperor wants to meet me? Did he say why?"

"He contacted me after the battle and told me to invite you over. I think your performance caught his attention."

[Trait Activated: Truth Seeking Eyes.]

Caelus secretly activated his Talent to confirm whether Nico was telling the truth.

There was nothing suspicious about his words. The invitation had indeed come from God Emperor Leopold Adler.

That was rather unexpected.

Although Caelus knew the man was the ruler of the Northern Star Region, he hadn’t expected someone of his status to take an interest in him so quickly.

Well, considering what happened during the competition, perhaps it wasn’t that surprising.

He accepted the card and examined it.

"What exactly does this do?"

"It’s a guest identification card issued by our imperial family. With it, you can use the travel gates throughout the Northern Star Region without paying. It’ll also make things easier when you’re visiting the cities under our control."

"Oh? That’s pretty convenient."

Caelus touched the golden eagle engraved on the card, causing a small map to appear above it.

Several cities were marked across the projection, with routes connecting them to the imperial capital.

Considering the enormous distances between regions in the Primordial World, having free access to travel gates would certainly save him a lot of trouble.

"Thanks. Tell your father I appreciate the invitation, and I’ll visit when I have time."

"Sure. Just make sure to let me know before you arrive. I don’t want you suddenly showing up and challenging me to another fight."

"Why? Afraid I’ll turn into a dragon again?"

"I’m more worried you’ll have found something even stronger by then."

Caelus laughed at his response.

After exchanging a few more words, Nico excused himself and returned to the imperial guards waiting farther down the road.

Caelus watched him leave before storing the card inside his pocket dimension.

An invitation from God Emperor Leopold Adler could prove useful, especially since he still had many questions about the Primordial World.

Perhaps the northern ruler knew something about the Akashic Records or the strange creatures that had attacked earlier.

However, Caelus wasn’t planning to visit immediately. He had already experienced enough trouble for one day, and he wanted some time to sort through everything that had happened.

"Big Brother, can we go back now?"

Freya approached him and tugged on his sleeve.

She had already collected her rewards and reunited with Himmel while he was speaking with Nico.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Let’s get out of here."

"Finally! I was getting bored."

Caelus couldn’t really blame her. The plaza was still in ruins, and there wasn’t much left for them to do here.

Fortunately, just as they were preparing to leave, Bertram’s ship descended toward an open area nearby.

The ship landed, and Bertram appeared at the entrance.

"There you are! I was just coming to look for you. So, how were the rewards?"

"Pretty good. Got myself an artifact and some Primordial Cell Energy, though I would’ve appreciated it if the Akashic Records answered my questions."

Bertram seemed confused.

"You tried asking the Akashic Records questions?"

"Yeah, but it completely ignored me. Anyway, can we go somewhere peaceful? I’d rather not stay around here any longer."

Bertram considered his request before suggesting that they visit his territory.

"I have plenty of land, and it’s much quieter than the mansion near the plaza. You can stay there for as long as you want."

"Sounds good to me."

Caelus helped Freya board the ship before entering with Sylvia and Himmel.

Once everyone had settled into their seats, Bertram returned to the controls and guided the ship into the air.

"By the way, didn’t you obtain a construction artifact earlier? The World Builder, if I remember correctly."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"You could use it to build yourselves a house on my land. Its charge is still at a hundred percent, isn’t it?"

Caelus reached into his pocket dimension and retrieved the artifact.

[World Builder]

[Charge: 100%.]

"Yeah, it’s still fully charged."

"Perfect! I have plenty of construction materials stored in my territory, so we might as well put that artifact to use."

Caelus thought about it for a moment.

He hadn’t really considered building a house in the Primordial World, but having somewhere comfortable to stay would be nice.

Besides, he had already obtained the artifact, so there was no reason to leave it unused.

"All right, let’s do that."

Bertram seemed pleased with his decision and continued piloting the ship toward his territory.

As they moved farther away from the city, the ruined buildings gradually disappeared from view.

Broad fields stretched across the landscape, with forests and wooded hills rising in the distance.

Eventually, a large lake appeared ahead.

The surrounding area was quite beautiful, with trees covering the slopes behind the lake and several houses scattered along the opposite shore.

Compared to the city they had just left, the place was much more peaceful.

Freya immediately leaned toward the window.

"Big Brother, look at that lake! Can we stay here?"

"That’s what we’re planning."

"Really? Then I want a room where I can see the water!"

Caelus laughed.

"We haven’t even built the house yet, Freya."

"Then hurry up and build it!"

Bertram guided the ship toward a stretch of open land beside the lake and landed near a large storage building.

"Well, what do you think? You can choose any spot around here, and I’ll have my people bring over the materials."

Caelus stepped outside and examined the surroundings.

There was more than enough space for a large house, and the lake was only a short distance away.

"Not bad. I think this place will do."

He walked toward the open field and activated the World Builder.

A three-dimensional projection of the surrounding land appeared before him, followed by several construction options.

Caelus selected a large house as the base design and positioned it near the lake, leaving enough space between the building and the water.