Just after Azure Comet went into seclusion, trying to comprehend Gravity Fire, the Wall Builders readied themselves for war.
Whoever sent the next declaration of battle would get obliterated by their new Formation Arrays.
They didn't have to wait long before one of their neighbors sent one.
A gigantic battle ensued, and, as expected, the Wall Builders emerged victorious.
Not only had the size of their territory increased, but they had also gained more members than they had lost.
Sure enough, Azure Comet's Formation Arrays were insanely useful.
Naturally, people quickly got interested in their Formation Arrays and asked questions, but compared to the Mountain River Sect, the Wall Builders were honest.
They directly told everyone that Azure Comet had created their Formation Arrays.
Another investigation occurred. After all, how could Azure Comet still be a Crusher?
Yet, once again, Azure Comet was cleared of all charges. The Wall Builders had also asked Kyle to swear that he was still a Crusher.
When the Four Tigers Sect heard that the Wall Builders had received Formation Arrays from Azure Comet, they were filled with shock.
Azure Comet was still around?
"Hey, remember that one guy in the azure armor? What if that was Azure Comet?" one of the Fulfilled Crushers asked.
The connection was quickly made, and the Four Tigers Sect was consumed by regret and frustration.
Why hadn't this guy just said that he was Azure Comet?! They would have welcomed him with open arms!
Why hadn't they asked him about his name?! If they had just been a bit more open, they could have received amazing Formation Arrays!
Sadly, there was nothing they could do now.
However, one thing still changed. The Four Tigers Sect didn't issue any declarations of battle for some time. After all, what if Azure Comet were a spiteful person and helped more of their neighbors?
Within another century, their suspicion was proven true.
One of their other neighbors had won a war they shouldn't have won, and they also publicized that they had employed Azure Comet's services.
The Four Tigers Sect became even more terrified and frustrated.
How many of their neighbors had received these Formation Arrays?!
Until they knew, they couldn't send out any declarations of battle.
Luckily, among their neighbors, they were the strongest Organization, which meant they didn't receive any declarations of battle.
For the Four Tigers Sect, this was a strange period of peace and slow growth.
Well, the slow-growth part was only accurate for the members who were not Major Crushers.
Major Crushers needed to kill other Major Crushers to advance. Without a war, they were only left with individual duels. Of course, they could also kill Peak Crusher Beasts to advance, but fewer than 10% of Major Crushers could win such a battle.
Centuries passed, and the number of Major Crushers in the Four Tigers Sect reduced. Some of them died in duels. Some of them died to beasts. Some of them left the Secondary Sector.
Most Major Crushers were in the Secondary Sector to find other Major Crushers to kill, and when their current location couldn't give them what they wanted, they went somewhere else.
The Four Tigers Sect was suffering because of Azure Comet's Formation Arrays.
However, they were not the only ones.
The Wall Builders stopped receiving declarations of battle since everyone feared their Formation Arrays.
Yet, while they had grown stronger, they were still not powerful enough to send declarations of battle to most of their neighbors.
The Four Tigers Sect was still more powerful than them, and the only two Organizations they could realistically beat had also received Formation Arrays from Azure Comet.
If they sent a declaration of battle to them, they would have to fight against Azure Comet's Formation Arrays, and they knew best how effective those were.
The Wall Builders had gained peace. There were no declarations of battle.
Some of their Advanced and Fulfilled Crushers were happy since they could finally focus on their Laws, but their Major Crushers suffered.
The same thing that happened to the Four Tigers Sect was now happening to the Wall Builders. Their number of Major Crushers reduced until there were none left.
It was a silent period of peace with slow growth.
Yet, even slow growth could count as stagnation or regression if everyone else experienced fast growth.
Azure Comet's other clients experienced the same thing. All of them had been able to consume one other Organization, but after that, there was nothing.
No battles.
No wars.
As time passed, several Organizations that hadn't received Azure Comet's services disbanded and left the Secondary Sector. Azure Comet's Formation Arrays were too terrifying, and they were afraid of sending any declarations of battle to any other power.
Sure, they still had a couple of Law Wells, but they could also just buy access to those from some big Organizations outside the Secondary Sector.
Any Organization that managed to survive for several centuries during the Elite Period of the Secondary Sector had gathered significant wealth. Liquidating the entire Organization and returning to the actual world was the smartest move.
As more and more Organizations left the Secondary Sector, the weaker Seekers began to suffer as well.
The Organizations also provided valuable resources and opportunities to the weaker Seekers, and without these Organizations, the weaker Seekers found it harder to progress.
What was even worse was that many of the weaker Seekers didn't have the necessary funds to use one of the Teleportation Formation Arrays, which meant that they had to leave the Secondary Sector manually.
Even a powerful Seeker like Kyle would need a week to leave the Secondary Sector.
How long would a Minor Primal or Advanced Transcendent take?
Years.
Years spent traveling from one point to another.
And even if they managed to leave the Secondary Sector, what then? They still didn't have the funds to use any Teleportation Formation Array.
Yet, those who had these options were the lucky ones.
Whenever an Organization dissolved, they sent an announcement to every Seeker in their territory, but not all Seekers checked their Communicators regularly for announcements. Many of them were busy comprehending Laws for years on end.
And when they finally came out of seclusion and tried to leave the Planet by asking one of the stronger Seekers for help, they realized that there were no stronger Seekers left.
With horror, they would realize that they were stuck on a Planet with such a powerful gravitational influence that they couldn't leave.
Luckily, these poor people were in the minority. Most of them noticed the announcement and left the Planet before their Organization vanished.
Fortunately, some other Organization would claim the abandoned territory after some years, and the stuck Seeker got a way out.
Yet, as soon as they managed to escape their prisons, most of them vowed to leave the Secondary Sector.
The Secondary Sector was supposed to be a land of opportunity!
It was supposed to give them resources!
This was not how the Secondary Sector was supposed to be!
The number of Seekers in the Secondary Sector dropped by over 20%.
The entire Secondary Sector was stagnating.
A few powerful Organizations ruled, and the middling Organizations could only watch helplessly.
Their territories didn't change.
There were almost no battles.
The Secondary Sector…
It was now like the world outside.
And it was all because of Azure Comet.
He had ruined everything!
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