Chapter 204: Equilibrium of Chaos.
Jojo and the others rolled their eyes at him and did the same... although they still weren’t too pleased with it, they knew that Lord Idriss wasn’t the type to mess around.
Once they signed, Lord Idriss and Madam Naima showed two beaming smiles and opened the boxes, exposing four shimmering evolutionary formulas contained in glass bottles... Each one looked more unique and mysterious than the other.
"Are those?" Jojo’s eyes widened in disbelief... a reaction shared by everyone besides Jasmine.
Even Levi acted surprised, not wanting to draw suspicion on him... Jasmine was quiet and expressionless by nature, but not him.
"Yes... Four perfect evolutionary formulas for your next evolution." Madam Naima nodded, "It took the top three agencies and the government a massive amount of resources to test the formulas in the Boundless Expanse and purchase the materials for it... But we promised you full support, and that’s what you will get from us."
Everyone was still in a daze after the confirmation, feeling like a prank was being played on them... they understood just how expensive such formulas would have cost if they were to purchase them from the dimensional network or other sources.
Don’t even mention the price for the materials, and to check the validity of the formulas... A fortune was an understatement.
But no one was foolish enough to ask them if they had gotten them like this or through other means... not even Arthur.
People got killed for such knowledge, and this made them recognize the importance of the NDA to avoid slipping up and airing it out.
Also, the NDA contract was in place to slightly chill their souls as a reminder to keep their mouths shut, not as a punishment.
"We all know perfect formulas are priceless treasures... so, if anyone were to ask you about your evolutions or future mutations, you lie..." Lord Idriss uttered sternly, "It’s one thing for a region to have a couple of perfect evolutions spread out, and another to have a full team of them... especially when our region isn’t the richest out there."
"Wait... what do you mean by all of us?" Arthur tilted his head in confusion, "I only see four?"
’Good, don’t screw your brother over... he trusted you with the information, don’t make him regret it.’ Khu’zan approved of Arthur acting ignorant about the situation.
’I know, I would never...’ Arthur’s eyelids twitched, disliking being treated as a child.
But, he kinda had it coming with his big mouth.
Khu’zan was requested by Levi personally to keep his little brother’s mouth shut, knowing that he had no locks on, and almost always aired secrets out without realizing it.
As for the recording? Levi told him when the device was ’charging’...
Levi couldn’t risk exposing his Three-Body Problem identity to Arthur since it was much more serious than this, but he didn’t hesitate to bring him in on what he did to the treasury.
They were brothers who never hid anything from each other... complete trust. If it weren’t for Neuralink getting in the way, Arthur would have been knowledgeable about everything... maybe, even the Three-Body Problem situation, as Levi knew he couldn’t hide the truth forever from him.
Though for now, Levi refused to keep hiding anything with a slight inconvenience outside of his little brother’s scope... They would be on each other’s sides always, and Arthur needed to be brought in on Levi’s secrets one by one until the day he got his wisp inside his spiritual Leywell or vice versa... Only then could they communicate in utter privacy.
’Good... Khu’zan is fixing him straight.’
Seeing his reaction, even Levi smiled in approval.
Meanwhile, Lord Idriss had just finished explaining to everyone that they currently had only formulas for Levi, Arthur, Nurah, and Jojo... the ones needing to evolve to Pathfinder rank.
As for Shia and Jasmine, one was at the Pathfinder rank, and the other at the Warden rank.
"Also, we have perfect evolutionary formulas for your evolution to Warden rank... We are still struggling to collect all the materials required for their creation." Lord Idriss turned to gaze at Jasmine and said, "Unfortunately, we have yet to find yours to Solarbound rank."
Reading the holographic sentence under his lips, Jasmine shook her head with a neutral demeanor... then she replied, -I am okay... help my teammates first.-
Seeing this, Levi didn’t show much of a reaction besides respect... he respected Jasmine being cool about them getting perfect evolutionary formulas without her.
It would make anyone feel left out and unappreciated... although she was already at the Warden rank, seeing them receive Perfect evolutionary formulas while they failed to help her obtain even a Remarkable evolutionary formula was an upsetting situation for anyone.
Yet she didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.
"We want you to reach at least the second stage of Pathfinder rank before your first raid, and we are planning to invest a heavy amount of growth totems to make it happen." Madam Naima added, "Also, for the next two weeks, you will be training under the three agencies’ roofs, six times a week for three hours each."
"I hope that’s not a problem?" Madam Naima gazed at Levi as she said it, not forgetting how he went missing for a week to ’train’.
Everyone chuckled at Levi shaking his head with a wry smile. Then, she clapped her hands twice and handed them the formulas... she told them to keep the formulas secured before they reached the evolution stage, as it was their own responsibility.
If they lost or broke them... There was no second bottle.
After the meeting concluded, everyone was sent home and was told that tomorrow would be the official start of their preparations... today was for signing the contract and meeting their last member, Jasmine.
They didn’t forget to hand them boxes filled with tens of growth totems, with Levi being handed the most due to his condition... reaching up to sixty growth totems!
If the government and the three biggest agencies said we got you... They actually meant it!
Levi thanked them for the generosity, as he knew that they were placing a massive bet on him... they had no clue about his ability to absorb divine light, and they still committed to putting him on the team and shouldering the responsibility of his growth.
A blind Daywalker’s true problem was always in the Pathfinder rank, where the resources needed to evolve would dig a hole in anyone’s pockets.
...
After the squad split up to go on a feeding session with those growth totems, Levi decided to do the same and push his evolution to reach at least 5% to unlock his first spiritual-based Aspect, and start the music.
Once he got home with Arthur, they both entered their rooms and closed the door... having the same plan.
Arthur was already at the first stage and wanted to push straight to the third stage of his junior rank to prepare for the evolution... meanwhile, Levi wished that the growth totems and the divine light sessions would help him get close to the second stage.
If not, he would use his nocrix credits to purchase what he needed in the Infinity store... With that expensive business plan in his mind, he was trying to be frugal.
"Here we go..."
Levi started his cultivation session after using his echolocation to scan the perimeter like always.
After he completed his first session, stopping once he felt his body about to change colors, Levi checked how much he had gained.
’0,05%... Horrible as always.’ He frowned.
’Well, you used to stop only after smoke started to rise from your body... but now, there is too much heat on you, anyone can be spying.’ Ash’Kral said lazily.
Levi knew he was right... he still couldn’t forget how Madam Ysara had gotten so close to him in the auction without him realizing it.
It made him recognize that if she decided to spy on him, he would never be able to spot her... not at his current level.
’It’s best if you go out on your little pet like always... no matter who follows you, they can’t keep up the same speed while still maintaining their camouflage.’ Ash’Kral said, ’Not when your senses are too sharp.’
’It seems like the only way... damn it, I can’t even feel at peace in my own home.’
Levi sighed while standing up, realizing that keeping so many secrets wasn’t a good feeling at all.
***
About ten minutes later...
Levi did a massive circle around Heliodor’s region and then reentered it when he noticed that no one was behind him... only this time, he didn’t return home.
He settled in an apple forest on the outskirts, near the borders... Since the divine light was blessing the entire territory, he could cultivate here just as effectively as in his home.
This time... Levi didn’t stop absorbing the divine light until he reached his limits, with smoke arising from his red skin. Only then did he halt it and take a deep gasp, feeling his throat as dry as the desert.
Still, Levi wasn’t that satisfied after checking his progress.
’0,3%... It’s an upgrade... but still, too slow.’ He held his chin thoughtfully, ’Although I have the freedom to go anywhere I want as long as I attend the six weekly sessions, I can’t afford to remain this slow when I still have two more seeds to deal with... There must be another way to optimise the Nine Senses seed growth.’
Levi used the break to think more thoroughly about enhancing his cultivation pace... the divine light was still amazing, though, it was his body that couldn’t handle an extended session.
’The Nine Senses seed can absorb any type of energy... this means also dark energy filling the Shadow dimension. but...’
Levi shook his head, knowing that if he wanted to absorb dark energy, he couldn’t use Umbral Crown... The dark energy was a big ingredient in the Shadow Dimension’s corrupting atmosphere.
Levi could not absorb it alone without getting corrupted... Jasmine was living proof of what corruption could do to one without immunity for it.
’If the Shadow Dimension is off option at the moment... how about I absorb dark energy from the spiritual bridge of darkness as I have been doing while simultaneously absorbing the divine light?’ Levi pondered deeply, ’Will the heat and coldness negate each other or make it worse?’
Levi had this idea swimming in his mind for a while now, but he had never gotten the chance to test it out thoroughly since he needed to find concentrated dark energy around the region... He was too busy to go on such a tiresome hunt again.
Levi didn’t bother asking Ash’Kral if his past partners had tested it... Ash’Kral had told him that he was the only partner he had with the Radian bloodline, giving him access to absorb the divine light.
The others had some sort of bloodlines with an extremely thin link to Radians that helped them a bit with the Sun Origin Seed, but none could touch a genuine Radian Bloodline.
As Levi started searching for a concentrated cloud of dark energy, using his sound-based radar... The Titan was sipping tea with Ash’Kral, watching him work hard on his growth.
"The boy is quite special... a blind Half-Radian human Daywalker with stolen special eyes, who can also sense dark energy... how bizarre can he get?" The Titan chuckled, "Yet, for such an impossible problem... this uniqueness will come in handy."
"Why do you think I have decided to groom... cough, to keep my eye on him when he was young?" Ash’Kral continued against the Titan’s judgmental look, "He fits too well... it’s like his purpose in life is to solve the Three-Body Problem."
"Purpose..." The Titan murmured, "I don’t think the universe will ever give birth to such an entity... Equilibrium of Chaos has long been tested by others, using different multiple Origin seeds. Yet, no one grew more than two trees to their mature selves without ending up dead on the spot."
"It’s a theory that has been killed and buried for so long... I truly don’t know what has gotten into you to give it another attempt, and even change its name? Desperation?"
"Did I help you restore some of your memories to spread negative vibes or what?" Ash’Kral’s lips twitched, not a fan of having his hopes dashed like this.