Chapter 699: The Q&A and Time To Visit Myriad Realms Sect

Golden light rose from the altar as Lily took in the last part of the inheritance. Grey felt the power of the Sun within it, and his comprehension began working before the light could fade.

[Your comprehension defies the heavens! By observing the True Source Law of the Sun, you have reached Entry Comprehension.]

Grey formed a small golden flame above his hand and felt its heat rise. He fed a little more power into it, then stopped before it could spread toward the altar.

This law came from the True Source World, which stood above the Higher Realms. Even at the entry stage, its fire could burn through powers that ordinary flames could not touch and directly affect the higher realm.

He had gained a useful law just by watching Lily finish her inheritance. It was really powerful too.

Grey put away the flame as Lily rose from the altar. The golden mark beneath her had faded, and her power was far stronger than before.

"How much did you gain?"

"I've reached the peak of the 13th Rank."

"Only that much?"

"The peak of the third sub-level, what were you expecting?"

"Never mind, it's better than nothing."

"You make it sound like I wasted my time."

Grey laughed and led the way toward the stairs. Lily followed while the Chaos Emperor kept the defenses from stopping them.

Once they reached the forest, Grey brought up the favors she owed him. He had waited long enough to start looking for the others.

"For your first favor, find the Myriad Realms Sect and help me get there."

"That's all?"

"For the first one, yes."

"Fine, I'll ask around when we get back."

"I also need a place to stay, since my last room ended up in the street."

"I'll arrange one, and that won't count as a favor. My family still owes you for helping the city."

"Good, make sure it has a roof."

"Most houses do."

"Mine did too, right up until it didn't because your city has bad defenses."

"You...."

Lily chose not to reply to that and sent a message home once they left the sealed forest. Grey led her through the cave and back toward the city.

An attendant met them at the mansion gates and brought Grey to a guest house within the grounds. It had a private training room and enough space for him to work without being disturbed.

"Wait here, I'll come back once I have the sect's location."

Lily left to make her inquiries while Grey checked the house's privacy array. He closed it around the room before letting the Chaos Emperor appear above the Codex.

They finally had time to talk without a hidden defense or an Abyssal army getting in the way.

"What was your relationship with Ji Gong?"

"He was a noble man, and he helped me when I was stuck on my path."

"I saw a memory of you talking to him, where you asked why he did so much for mortals."

"Yes, I couldn't understand why he gave up his own chance at enlightenment to guide them."

Grey had already seen some of what Ji Gong left behind. The Holy Corpses had helped him, but he knew little about the man beyond those memories.

"What did he say?"

"That those who had yet to learn needed someone to guide them, and that was what he wished to do."

The Emperor had thought it was a waste of Ji Gong's gift. He could have sought greater power for himself, yet he had chosen to spend his time helping people far weaker than him.

"Then he asked me what I wanted, and I had no answer beyond the task I had been given."

Grey obviously knew what that task was but he let the Chaos Emperor finish.

"It was guarding the Core, my people came from it and believed that duty belonged to us."

As a member of the Primordial Chaos Race, the Emperor had treated that duty as the reason for his life. He had built his Chaos Evolutionary Path around what he learned, but he had never asked what he wanted beyond that duty.

"Ji Gong said that was why I couldn't complete the Chaos State, even after reaching half a step into it."

"Did his advice help?" Grey was curious. He was sure it probably did.

"It showed me what I had missed, and I began to make progress again but I couldn't finish it."

"Oh?" Grey raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"The Paragons attacked before I had enough time."

"Right. I almost forgot." Grey knew how that fight had ended. He had spent quite a while gathering pieces of the man now speaking to him.

"If I had fully grasped the Chaos State, I could have dealt with them. They killed me before I reached it and scattered my remains."

"How did Ji Gong's Holy Corpses end up linked to your source?"

"He left those Enlightened Bodies so others could gain insight into Nirvana State. I kept what he entrusted to me, along with memories of his teachings."

"That's probably why my source reacted."

Now, it was time to ask the most important question. Even the fragment was eagerly telling in his mind to ask it.

"Then why did you fight the old Heavenly Dao? If I remember correctly, you tried to attack it because you thought it wanted to steal the core right?"

"Do you think the Old Heavenly Dao would do such a thing?" Grey trusted the fragment a lot. He believed he wouldn't do such a thing.

"No." The Chaos Emperor shook his head. "I was in the wrong."

"The Paragons told me it was trying to take the Core, and I believed them."

"You actually trusted the Paragons?" Grey clicked his tongue hearing this.

"I trusted what they showed me, which was the same mistake in the end."

"It was all forged. Those people are twisted individuals that will go to any lengths to get what they desire."

The Emperor had feared what would happen if someone seized the Core. The Paragons had used that fear to push him into a fight they wanted.

"Chaos was a direct counter to the Heavenly Dao, so they knew I could hurt it and used me to injure it. Things only went downhill from there."

The old Heavenly Dao had later shattered, and others had taken pieces of its power.

The Emperor had tried to stop someone from stealing the Core. Instead, he had helped the Paragons get rid of a threat before it became a problem.

"Now let's get to the more important questions." Grey stretched his body lazily and eyed the Chaos Emperor with a small smile.

"Did you have access to the Core yourself?"

The Chaos Emperor immediately nodded. "Yes, though only a little."

"It helped me grasp many powers, and it gave me the first seed of what became my Chaos State."

Grey could see why the Paragons had wanted the Chaos Emperor dead hearing this. Even with so little access, the Emperor had been close to gaining the power to defeat them.

"What else do you know about the Core itself?"

Chaos emperor thought for a moment before speaking. "That It's one of the many fragments of the core of supreme power, and the Endless Reality was born from it. Evolution and the laws of our worlds came from it as well and it is also what gave birth to the Primordial Chaos Race once as its guardians."

Grey nodded. It seems like he didn't know more beyond that.

"Alright, with that confirmed. Do you have any idea where the portal to the core is at?"

Chaos Emperor simply shook his head. "I never found it, the Core reached out to me first."

"It let me use some of its power without showing me a way inside."

"That is unfortunate." Grey said as he appeared deep in thought.

He remembered the incident with his grandfather. It will be better if he told about it to the Chaos Emperor.

"The entrance to the core's place.... it might be in Zenith Heaven."

Chaos emperor raised an eyebrow hearing this. "What led you to that conclusion, Lord Grey?"

"It's just a guess, but I'm ninety percent sure it's there. We just need to find it."

He would have to reach Zenith Heaven before he could test that guess. For now, there was something else the Emperor might know about.

"There's another thing I wanted to ask you, it happened while I was coming to the Higher Realm."

"What happened?"

"The Higher Realm's consciousness tried to reject me, then changed its mind after I used Nexus Energy...."

Grey explained how it had offered him energy as payment for the trouble. He told the Emperor how the space around them had changed right before it vanished.

"I called for it afterward, but it didn't answer. When I asked the Dao of Space about it, he said no such being existed."

"He said what?" Chaos Emperor visibly got stunned.

"He checked with the other Daos too, and none of them knew about it."

The Emperor took a moment to answer, as if he needed to be sure he had heard that right.

"That can't be right, Lord Grey. I remember the Higher Realm's consciousness."

"You remember it?"

"Yes, it existed."

Grey finally felt some relief after hearing that. He had begun to wonder how many people he would need to ask before someone gave him that answer.

"Good, because even the World Tree and Finality said they knew nothing about it."

"Even those two?"

"The energy it gave me was still there, so I knew the whole thing had happened. I just used some of it to reach the 11th Rank."

The Emperor could not explain how the being had vanished or why the others had forgotten it. But he was sure it was a very powerful being behind this.

"We need to get to the bottom of this, and I think we can do that with the Core."

"Then I will help you find it." The Chaos Emperor nodded with determination. "It rightfully belongs to you after all."

Grey just smiled back at him. "Before that, how strong are you right now?"

"Around the 14th Rank, though I am still recovering."

Grey nodded hearing this. "We'll deal with the Core after I find the people who came here with me."

Grey was about to explain in more detail when someone rang the door bell. Lily had returned, so he opened the door while the Emperor's figure faded into the source.

"I've gathered enough information, and I know where the Myriad Realms Sect is."

"Can you take me there now?"

"Yes, the route is ready."

Grey immediately stood up with a smile hearing this. "Perfect, let's go."