The impact caused by Ash was still sending ripples throughout countless corners of the Realm, and even after an entire week had passed, the shockwaves generated by his actions showed no signs of fading away.
Compared to the courage, excitement, and fanatical enthusiasm people had displayed when the Realm Quest was first announced, the atmosphere surrounding it had changed drastically.
Back then, countless individuals had viewed the Anomaly as nothing more than a walking treasure trove, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that could elevate their status, strength, and future beyond imagination.
Now, however, very few people still held such thoughts.
The reason was simple.
Fear.
After witnessing the terrifying power Ash had displayed firsthand, many of those who were far weaker than him had already abandoned any thoughts of pursuing him, realizing that the reward was meaningless if they lost their lives before ever reaching it.
Even those who still harbored ambitions of capturing him were no longer acting recklessly, instead carefully reconsidering their choices while evaluating whether the risks truly outweighed the rewards.
Of course, not everyone shared the same concerns.
Unlike independent cultivators and small factions, the powerful organizations that stood at the peak of the Realm possessed both the confidence and resources necessary to pursue the Anomaly relentlessly.
In fact, compared to the cautious and measured actions they had taken before, their efforts had only intensified after witnessing Ash’s strength.
They understood better than anyone that if Ash was already this powerful now, then allowing him additional time to grow would only make the situation far more troublesome in the future.
Because of this, large numbers of personnel were deployed to investigate every clue related to Ash, while specialized hunting groups were dispatched across numerous cities and regions in search of any trace.
These groups had gradually become known throughout the Realm as the Anomaly Hunters.
Among them, three organizations were particularly active.
The Transcendent Circle.
The Church of Darkness.
And the Church of Light.
Having witnessed Ash’s abilities from closer than anyone else, they were far more aware of the threat he represented, and consequently, they were investing enormous resources into locating him before he could become even stronger.
Under their orders, countless smaller organizations and subordinate factions also began mobilizing their own forces, resulting in an ever-growing network of Anomaly Hunters spreading throughout the Realm.
Fortunately, the vast majority of these individuals had only been assigned information-gathering duties because of their weak strength.
Only a select number of elites possessed the qualifications to directly confront the Anomaly.
What perfect timing...
Ash thought while dressing himself after a cold shower, the lingering bloodstains and scent of blood having long since been washed away.
The information regarding these Anomaly Hunters had come from one of the clones he had stationed within the Central Region.
For the first time since deploying them, Ash was beginning to see the true value of maintaining an intelligence network spread throughout the Realm.
Without lifting a finger himself, information from distant regions was continuously flowing back to him.
It was convenient.
More importantly, it was efficient.
However, despite learning that numerous organizations had begun deploying Anomaly Hunters, Ash felt little concern.
In the first place, he had no intention of leaving his current location anytime soon.
As long as he remained hidden and focused on increasing his strength, there was little those hunters could do to him.
Furthermore, Ash possessed absolute confidence in his own abilities.
Unless a Celestial Rank existence or someone above that level personally appeared before him, he was certain that nobody within the Realm could stop him if he wanted to leave.
"I was just pondering where I should go to obtain more Souls, and now the opportunity has practically fallen into my lap. Besides, these Anomaly Hunters should possess considerably stronger Souls than ordinary people. Perhaps the quality of the Soul also affects the Evolution process and reduces the required time."
After all, anyone who chose to hunt others should also be prepared for the day they became prey themselves.
However, Ash had no intention of personally involving himself in such matters.
Instead, he left the task of hunting down the Anomaly Hunters to his clones.
There was simply no need for him to devote his full attention to something so minor.
Even if his clones could only utilize 75% of his overall strength, that alone was already excessive for dealing with most opponents within the Realm.
Furthermore, their objective wasn’t limited to merely killing these people.
Just before death claimed them, the clones would transfer their targets directly into the Soul Space, more specifically into the Akashic Archive where Eva’s cocoon resided.
Fortunately, his clones possessed full access to the Akashic Archive, allowing the entire process to proceed without any complications.
Thus, while his clones carried out their assigned task, Ash turned his attention toward something he had been neglecting all along.
What kind of Domain should I create...?
And that was Domain Creation.
After all, he had practically bulldozed his way from Grandmaster Rank to halfway through the Demi-God Rank during his body reformation, skipping many stages that most cultivators would spend years, if not centuries, carefully advancing through.
Because of this abnormal growth, many of the natural milestones that should have accompanied his advancement had been left incomplete.
The creation of a Domain was one of them.
Thus, despite possessing strength that vastly exceeded his actual rank, Ash still did not possess a Domain of his own.
Thinking back on it now, he realized just how fortunate he had been during his confrontation with the Celestials.
Their objective had been to capture him alive, which was why they had merely frozen the surrounding space to prevent his escape.
Had any of them unleashed their Domains directly upon him, the outcome would have been completely different.
At that time, Ash would have died merely from being trapped inside a Domain he had no means of resisting.
Even now, if he were forced into the Domain of a true God Rank existence, he likely wouldn’t die immediately, but he would be placed under tremendous pressure and would find himself almost completely incapable of harming the Domain’s owner.
That was the terrifying nature of Domains.
A Domain was not merely a technique.
It was a manifestation of one’s path, one’s understanding, and one’s authority over reality itself.
Within a Domain, the creator dictated the rules.
Within a Domain, the creator possessed the advantage.
Of course, Domain battles were actually quite rare among powerful beings.
The reason was simple.
Once a person reached a sufficiently high level, almost everyone possessed a Domain of their own.
Although stronger Domains could certainly provide a significant advantage against weaker ones, Domain clashes rarely ended without collateral damage.
After all, Domains did not merely affect a single target.
They affected the surrounding world as well.
Mountains could collapse.
Cities could be reduced to ruins.
Countless innocent lives could be erased simply because two powerful beings decided to fight.
Because of this, Domain battles usually occurred in isolated locations far away from populated regions, where both sides could unleash their full strength without worrying about the casualties their conflict might create.
As for Ash...
He now needed to create a Domain powerful enough to stand among the greatest, because he had absolutely no intention of spending the rest of his life being crushed beneath someone else’s.
Creating a Domain was important, but it wasn’t the only thing Ash needed to focus on.
He still needed to temper his Soul.
As for creating the Second Immortal Seal, that was currently impossible.
The First Immortal Seal had only recently been formed, and like any newly established foundation, it required time to stabilize before Ash could build upon it further.
Moreover, the current bottleneck wasn’t the Immortal Seal itself.
It was his Soul.
The First Petal of the Immortal Seal had already condensed all of his accumulated Will Power into a single structure while simultaneously increasing the amount of Will Power he could store.
However, storage capacity and production capacity were two entirely different matters.
If he wanted to create the Second Seal, then he first needed to increase the rate at which his Soul generated fresh Will Power.
Otherwise, at his current rate of growth, gathering enough Will Power to form the Second Seal would take well over a year.
Of course, that only applied to creating a new Seal.
If Ash consumed the Will Power already stored within the First Immortal Seal, it would naturally replenish itself after a single day of sleep.
Will Power was unlike Mana, Divine Energy, or any other form of energy.
It did not exist within the atmosphere, could not be absorbed from the surrounding environment, nor could it be gathered from natural treasures.
Instead, it was generated directly by the Soul itself, and the stronger the Soul became, the greater the amount of Will Power it could produce.
Naturally, there were methods capable of increasing that production rate.
Unfortunately, most of them required an enormous amount of time.
Ash closed his eyes while organizing the countless pieces of information within his mind.
The only silver lining was that after studying countless records and cultivation systems left behind by Henry, Ash had finally figured out what kind of Domain he wanted to create.
Although, it might be hard, but I believe that I can pull it off.....
The next moment, Ash disappeared from the City of Light.
Or more accurately, he disappeared from the Realm of Eden entirely.
When he reappeared, he found himself standing upon a barren and completely uninhabited planet located somewhere within the vastness of outer space.
The world was silent.
Only endless stretches of desolate land extending toward the horizon beneath a Starry sky unfolded before him.
This should be enough.
No one will disturb me even if something unexpected happens.
The reason he had chosen this location was simple.
Creating a Domain required interaction with the surrounding environment, something that was impossible within the Soul Space.
Furthermore, Ash intended to incorporate Runes into the creation process if possible, yet even he had no idea what kind of reaction that might produce.
When it came to Runes, assumptions were dangerous.
The last thing he wanted was to accidentally damage his Soul Space while experimenting.
Taking a deep breath, Ash slowly sat down in a lotus position.
The surrounding world gradually became silent.
His breathing slowed.
Even his heartbeat gradually settled into a steady rhythm.
Then, as he closed his eyes, his consciousness gradually sank inward while countless concepts, possibilities, and fragments of understanding flowed through his mind.
Soon, Ash entered a state of deep comprehension.
****