Kinesis Deity—Number 186!
That was the number etched on the forehead of the golden humanoid that Inala was observing. The moment he glanced at its forehead, he turned silent, "..."
Terrifying!
The number of Minor Treasures wasn’t terrifying. The Brimgan Empire had a wealth that casually trumped that number. What was most terrifying was the process through which this number of Minor Treasures had been achieved.
Sumatra Gold!
At least one piece had been involved in the creation of each Minor Treasure of Kinesis Deity. This wealth was what was fearsome, since even back in the days, the value of Sumatra Gold was exceptionally high.
Three pieces were all that Inala needed to go from the Silver Grade to becoming the Royal Zinger, a Mystic Grade Pranic Beast. This was back in the days, when there weren’t any known methods to harness the powers of Sumatra Gold.
Inala relied upon Maroppa to build his Sumatra Gold skeleton. However, things were different in the present timeline, where there existed more than one reasonable method to employ the effects of Sumatra Gold.
And that only elevated its value to whole new levels.
Sumatra Gold was already something Free Human Kingdoms and Empires would wage wars to obtain. As Sumatra Continent’s power system continued to develop, more and more forces had the means to think about Sumatra Gold.
That wasn’t all. The fact that it was a literal cheat that could turn more plans into reality made it the most valued substance on Sumatra. ’If I had a few pieces...’
He gulped, struggling to swallow the saliva that had accumulated in his mouth. Even he was feeling bouts of greed, despite having handled Sumatra Gold during his time as the Royal Zinger.
"Now," While Inala spiralled through a series of thoughts regarding Sumatra Gold, the golden humanoid accompanying him uttered, making eye contact to continue softly, "I have expressed m sincerity."
"Now," He turned to face Inala, "It’s your turn to show your sincerity."
"Alright," Inala nodded and engaged in a honest discussion, informing the golden humanoid about the plans he had in regards to the three Natures of Billakin, two sets of Rutham, the Celestial Boar’s Vara, etc.
He talked about the method to create a Secondary Nature in a Human Avatar and further discussed his ideas and hypothesis in regards to the creation of a Tertiary Nature in a mineral. He even went ahead to speak about the process he used to obtain a Body Aspect Primary Nature.
Inala didn’t hold back on anything, observing in detail as the golden humanoid listened to everything. He tried to glean as much from the other party as possible.
"Oh, you were right in thinking you’ll be able to figure out the means to obtain your Tertiary Nature in the Brimgan Empire." The golden humanoid nodded once he listened to a few hours of explanation from Inala, "Based on everything you said, there indeed is a possibility. With the capabilities you’ve displayed, you would have succeeded in a few decades."
"Unfortunately, time isn’t on our side." The golden humanoid let out a rare sigh, "Since the Seat of Transcendence is about to be activated."
"What?" Inala shouted in shock, "That’s impossible! There’s still plenty of time, decades before it should appear!"
"Originally," The golden humanoid beckoned Inala to follow him and brought the latter to the edge of Halmahera. Pointing at a section among the mountain range, he spoke, "Based on my calculation, there ought to have been at least forty thousand years before the Seat of Transcendence reveals itself."
"However, someone interfered around two millennia ago." The golden humanoid approached a section of the mountain range and patted it, causing a section to collapse and reveal a cave. He motioned with his shoulder for Inala to follow inside.
The cave wasn’t long, barely a couple dozen metres long. At its end was a hemispherical opening, with a radius of a dozen metres. It felt a bit cramped due to the golden humanoid’s twelve-metre-tall figure.
Evident across the cave’s interior were tertiary circuit lines of Vachra. And in the node where they intersected was an altar. The altar had a murky iron sheen, radiating three distinct colours resembling iron, silver, and gold.
The altar was barely twenty centimetres wide and fifty centimetres tall, shaped like an hourglass. It produced a soft, ticking sound like an analogue clock. Carved along the lower section of the hourglass were seven rays, each sporting a sheen.
"Damn!" Inala understood what had happened. The hourglass was entirely made out of Sumatra Gold, and a glance at its texture, he knew it came from a Mystic Tentacle. Instinctively, he knew the source of the many pieces of Sumatra Gold that made up the hourglass.
Mystic Empyrean Tentacle—Renduldu!
The seven rays on the lower part of the hourglass faintly resembled people the longer Inala gazed at it. And soon, the rays came alive, turning into seven people, each sporting the colours of the rainbow.
They all seemed to be racing towards something, and in their destination, carved in the top of the hourglass, was a seat.
Major Treasure—Seat of Transcendence!
That wasn’t all. Inala approached the hourglass and noticed on the top surface of the hourglass that was in the shape of a circle, were dots so faint they looked no different to a texture. However, that wasn’t Sumatra Gold’s texture, and hence, Inala looked at it in detail.
Gradually, as Prana seeped into his eyes, relying on all his enhanced senses as a Brully, Inala was able to make out the texture, which were words carved at a microscopic scale.
He promptly focused on the last line...
["You were a disappointment, Resha." Saying so, the Boar King stomped on the Main Character’s head and splattered his brain matter all over the ground. Soundless, soulless, unable to utter a cry, the Main Character fell, to his demise, a death unknown to anyone, but mourned by all. The End!]
That was the climax of Sumatra Chronicles!
"Come back!" As Inala focused on the words, the same hallucination as before happened, and it seemed the words were about to jump out of the carving and seep into his mind. Suddenly, the golden humanoid pulled him back.
"Huh?" The hallucination vanished as Inala reoriented himself, taking a moment to gather his bearings before expressing his gratitude to the golden humanoid, "That was close. Thank you for the timely rescue."
Anyone who was aware of Sumatra Chronicles became an anchor that reinforced Renduldu’s strength. They would also be influenced by Sumatra Chronicles and find themselves in the centre of its Four Major Disasters.
Inala’s Brully form was free from it, as he had specifically created his being to no longer be bound by the influence of Sumatra Chronicles. However, had he observed the hourglass longer, the information regarding Sumatra Chronicles would have taken root in his mind and started influencing him once again.
Since the golden humanoid saved him from that fate, Inala thanked the latter, "Do you also know about its effects?"
"Of course!" The golden humanoid snorted, "Renduldu took advantage of our arrangement. Look at that altar! He built it using enough Sumatra Gold that no matter what we do, we are unable to destroy it."
As the golden humanoid explained, Inala understood what Renduldu had done.
Using all the Sumatra Gold he had produced as a Mystic Empyrean Tentacle, Renduldu created an altar carved with Sumatra Chronicles. He then embedded it into Halmahera’s Prana Circuit, using Sumatra Gold’s properties to fully integrate it into a part of the circuit.
The integration was done in such a way that even if this portion of the circuit gets damaged, the altar would recover it over time and reconnect it with the rest of the Prana Circuit.
Irrespective of what the golden humanoids tried, they couldn’t sever the connection. "The altar is situated at a strategic spot."
The golden humanoid sighed once again, "Somehow, Renduldu managed to make changes so that one of the entrances to the Transcendent Plane appears here. And occupying the entrance is the altar."
"Has this altar been funnelling the energy from the Prana Circuit into the Transcendent Plane?" Inala asked.
"Yes," The golden humanoid nodded, "That is why the Transcendent Plane would have revealed itself in the time you specified."
"Each Major Treasures requires completely different time periods to complete its Influenced Region. Only then can it reveal itself." The golden humanoid expressed irritation, "Have you ever wondered why the timeline of the reveal of the Major Treasures was as dictated in Sumatra Chronicles?"
"Did Renduldu develop all the Influenced Regions?" Inala asked.
"He did, using this altar to harness the energy that we had stored." The golden humanoid nodded, "He wanted things to follow the order in Sumatra Chronicles. So, however much was necessary to match that timeline, he added the necessary development to the respective Influenced Regions."
"But couldn’t you affect the altar?" Inala asked, "With a Bolt of Transcendence, you can easily..."
"That would have required hundreds of Bolts of Transcendence, even if the altar was out in the open." The golden humanoid shook his head, "However, look carefully."
"What?" Inala stared at the altar and frowned, "I don’t notice anything else."
"You cannot see it, huh?" The golden humanoid raised his hand and a few minutes later, a pair of glasses appeared in his hands. It had a prismatic lustre to it, a Spirit Weapon formed using a strange mineral and then stabilised using Sumatra Gold.
The glasses were made out of a strangely opaque material, while the frame was made out of Rutham. Two pieces of Sumatra Gold had been used, one in the glass and one in the frame.
The golden humanoid gave the pair of glasses to Inala, "Wear it and see the altar."
Inala did as such and seeped his Prana into the Rutham frame, watching the opaque glass shine gently and seep a strange presence into his eyes. Then, it was as if the glasses had vanished from his eyes.
Now, there was a subtle change in his vision, causing him to gawk in shock to see the altar covered by a strangely ethereal layer, as if it didn’t belong on Sumatra. ’This...sensation!’
He recalled the time when he left Sumatra and interacted with the Transcendents. There, he had the opportunity to gaze upon a Cosmic Being, ’It feels vaguely similar.’
"Perplexing, right?" The golden humanoid spoke, "Even though it exists before your eyes, you can neither perceive nor interact with it. We spent many millennia in creating this pair of glasses that allow us to see beyond our plane of existence."
"What is this?" Inala asked, having a suspicion of what the ethereal structure was. However, he wanted concrete confirmation.
"Didn’t it feel strange that unlike the rest of the Influenced Regions described in Sumatra Chronicles, only this was written in an elusive manner?" The golden humanoid explained, "That’s because it’s not something cultivators could perceive. Only a Transcendent, or in our case, someone with a State of Unity, can perceive it in that state."
"It’s the Plane of Transcendence, the Influenced Region created by Sumatra’s first Mystic Grade Major Treasure."
Major Treasure—Seat of Transcendence!