"The Glorious Evolution... isn’t that what everyone refers to in the network as ascending beyond the final growth stage of the Shadowlife seed?" Arthur frowned, "I thought it was nothing but a myth."
"It is far from a myth." Nurah remarked solemnly, "While no news of anyone ascending has been spread in our current time, I have heard that a few managed to achieve it in past eras."
"Really?"
"Yes, it is believed that the energy levels across the entire universe and its realms have been at an all-time high... what we consider rare today was nothing but a normal atmosphere to some races." Levi supported Nurah’s claim with a head nod, "When this richness was added to the low population at the time, monsters were born left and right."
Levi had done his own research on what to expect if one managed to reach the end of the road in their evolutionary path... for Nightcrawlers (Tier 9), for humans (Eternal rank), the rest of the races also had their own names for their cultivation systems, even though 99% of them were based on the Shadowlife Seed Growth Cycle.
Although many names flew around, the fable Glorious Evolution was shared across all civilizations regardless of their timelines.
It was believed that reaching the final growth cycle of the seed wasn’t the true end... for one to bypass it and break their evolutionary limit, they needed to ascend.
But only a very, very rare few managed to achieve it from the Chained Universe... Levi and the others had no idea if the Radians, Oblivar, and other Ancient Lineages had achieved this kind of evolution, which explained their celestial status or not. However, they knew that the Glorious Evolution was nothing but a dream, a dream for those at the very top of the evolutionary ladder.
For them? They didn’t even dare to have this kind of dream when they knew that just becoming a Solarbound Daywalker was a difficult challenge of its own... not to mention the other ranks awaiting them.
’The Glorious Evolution... was the Dawn Phoenix at its wits’ end when dealing with the Shadow Dimension’s invasion, and believed that the sole solution for its people was to ascend despite the risks involved?’ Levi thought inwardly, many questions roaming through his mind, ’Why hasn’t the priest added any more details? Why did he refer to the Dawn Phoenix as a traitor? Also, why did my harmonic spine fail to sense the existence of Ashfall’s particles contaminating the temple? Even if it rose from dawn to dawn, my harmonic spine should still be able to spot them.’
Levi wasn’t born yesterday to believe anything that was written at face value... although he believed that the priest had no reason to lie in such a desperate situation, the letter did raise a couple of concerns.
’Is it capable of hiding from my harmonic spine detection, or did the plague already die out after eons went by?’ Levi asked his tenants.
’Everything has a natural frequency, and nothing can hide it from the Harmonic Spine’s watchful gaze.’ Ash’Kral replied calmly, ’The plague must have been eroded... There is almost no plague that can last forever, especially not one born out of a Highborn Lineage’s treasury.’
’I think so too.’ Levi nodded in agreement.
He didn’t show much reaction to the warning in the letter because he had full trust in his harmonic spine to fish it out if it was real... dormant or not, anything with a frequency around him can be perceived.
Though he still needed to upgrade his body if he wanted to spot energies or separate them from their frequencies.
This was currently the only small concern he had... what if the Ashfall plague was energy-based and awakened by sunlight or something like this?
’What do you think?’
’It’s a possibility, but too rare... an energy-based plague also suffers under time... although energy cannot be destroyed, only transferred, the plague shouldn’t be contaminating the desert and buildings after eons of corrosion... rising with each dawn? Maybe in the first centuries, but not from the Erased Era to the Modern Era.’ Ash’Kral replied.
’Makes sense.’
Levi could tell that Ash’Kral wasn’t withholding information from him... If he had any information about the plague, he would have shared it, considering that it could kill Levi or, at the least, ruin his chance to collect the treasures.
"So what now?" Shia wondered sternly, "Do we head to the Great Pyramid of Dawn to retrieve the Sun Amulet and the treasures, or do we leave the site? If the plague is still contaminating the buildings and the desert, we can’t afford to carry it with us to our planet."
Jojo and the others nodded in support, understanding that they would be dooming their planet too... if even phoenixes couldn’t handle a burning-based plague, how would humans fare against it?
"There is about 10% of the plague still tainting the planet... We can’t end the exploration without anything to show for it... Instructor Seraphis relies on us." Levi said calmly.
Hearing this, Arthur and the girls were surprised at the percentage given, believing that it was quite low considering that the priest seemed quite assured of his information.
Levi went on and explained to them what he had discussed with Ash’Kral to put their minds at ease... still, even with 10%, it was too risky for them and their planet.
"We were told that the Ashora Empire’s planet is on a forty-eight-hour day timeline compared to our planet... so we still have at least a couple of hours before dawn." Levi suggested, "We can go to the Pyramid and check the situation... once dawn is near, we can leave."
"Most importantly, we have to warn the other two teams." Jojo frowned, "They may not have the same information as us... If they remain beyond dawn and the plague proves to be true, it will be over for all of us."
Levi nodded in agreement... with the lack of communication tools between them, they had no idea where they were thrown... though, Levi was assured it would be near the capital, like this temple.
He didn’t have concrete evidence to support his claim; however, based on many exploration teams’ experiences, they almost always get thrown near the place with the richest amount of history connecting the two locations.
After all, it wouldn’t make much sense if they were thrown in a forest or a mountain when history or rich memories of a place were the sole link.
This meant... heading to the capital was a must if they wanted to meet up with Tyrese’s and Evangeline’s teams, since they would also be doing the same for the sake of treasures.
That’s if they hadn’t already been teleported straight inside the capital, unlike them.
"Let’s get going... we need to figure out how much time we have exactly before dawn."
***
Sometime later...
Levi’s team had emerged from the temple after putting some effort into bypassing the trapped Corrupted on the first floor... since Jasmine’s portal range was limited based on her peculiar vision, they needed to make two jumps to get out.
However, this time Levi had no plans to risk his life by putting the Corrupted in an illusion, understanding that they were too agitated and hungry to be fooled like before.
Now that they knew about their existence, nothing much could work on them besides slaying them.
Instead, he came up with a plan for Jasmine to create a portal with the least number of Corrupted gathered on the first floor.
Once the portal was created, Arthur went out first and used his Vermilion Fortress to protect the portal, sealing it completely.
Then, under the Corrupted’s fierce onslaught on his fortress, Jasmine created another portal, linking it to the roof of the Temple.
The only downside of this plan was Jasmine being forced to consume a decent amount of growth totems to recover her exhausted solar energy.
Right now, everyone was standing on top of the slumbering Phoenix’s head, gazing at the endless desert around them and the sparkly, starry night above.
"So beautiful..."
"Woaa... their planet has a ring."
Arthur remarked in awe as he stared at a wide ring circling the planet, glowing softly under the starry night... the view was calm and breathtaking, and for a moment, none of them said a word after Arthur.
It was like only after staring at the sky did it finally hit them that they were standing on a completely different planet than Earth... god knows where in the universe.
Only Levi seemed to stare at the sky with a faint, serene smile, unable to appreciate the same view as them... even with his current tools to replace his sight, his sky was still as dark as an abyss, none of his abilities capable of reaching such a great distance.
It was these very moments that reminded him of the harsh truth that he was still... blind.