Chapter 548 - A Dangerous Débutant
"Was that clear enough?" Daniel growled in anger to an universe full of immensely powerful, yet staggered cultivators. Who were now straightening themselves back to a standing position, while gazing at their surroundings with humbled eyes.
The pressure they had felt was only comparable to that which they had experienced in the presence of the aspects of existence they revered, but this time, there was a distinctive difference. In this power they couldn't feel the aloofness that these kinds of existence had for cultivators, but a true outburst of anger which matched Daniel's state of mind, and which terrified them.
Mere moments after the power disappeared, countless individuals teleported on location. Their powerful bodies clothed in dignified attires, which matched the respectful demeanor they were portraying on their faces.
"The leadership of Curiosity's domain greets Lord Aspect of Existence." Quaked a young, yet mature-looking man in scholarly clothes to the empty space. He then inquired, "May we be graced with your Lordship's na-" His attempt to pry for information was quickly interrupted by more voices.
"The domains of lords Path and Portal are honored to be in your presence."
"Spirit's domain offers their.."
".. pays respect to.."
All at the same time, thousands of cultivators who until now had spent the last few days waiting for the Exalted Assembly to begin, were now bowing their heads respectfully towards empty space, hoping to direct the anger of the aspect of existence they had felt, off their shoulders. Of them, not a single one had suspected that Daniel was the source of that power, but instead, that this unknown aspect of existence cared about him enough to intervene once Daniel's life was threatened.
In the mind of these cultivators, these attempts to appease this wrathful entity seemed successful, as no other sign of its existence followed. At the same time, their view of Daniel changed dramatically, as he appeared to have succeeded in what each and every one of them had failed miserably for millions of years.. And that was to get one of the aspects of existence that they represented to care for them.
After making sure that this unknown aspect of existence had no intention of taking out its anger onto them, the thousands of cultivators took a brief glance at Daniel, then took off, leaving him, the party of Morality's domain, and the two old cultivators alone.
"We.. We would like to have a word with you, if you don't mind." Stuttered the old lady who, along with her companion, had tried to stop the champion of War from killing Daniel. Her condescending demeanor had changed to a respectful one, as while Daniel was not as powerful as either of them, he had shown that he was not a simple member of the younger generation like any other.
"At a later date." Daniel replied before turning to look at the still injured champions of Morality's domain, ignoring the presence of the two old cultivators who soon left without saying a word.
Despite having saved them from certain death, and possessing the power to heal them, Daniel did not interfere any further. Instead, he headed towards the portal, whose countdown had almost reached its last stage. Before he could leave, however, the disembodied voice of what appeared to be a man in his late fifties reached his ears. "You lent us a hand when it wasn't necessary. You have my gratitude." This voice stated.
As this voice reached his ear, Daniel stopped, and without looking back, he inquired, "I have waited as long as possible for you to save your own people. Why haven't you?"
The voice remained quiet for a few seconds, then asked, "What is the one and only rule of Morality's domain?"
Albeit injured, this question seemed to light a flame in the spirit of the injured group of young cultivators, who gathered all of the strength they had left to recite almost religiously, "We live by our morals, and we are ready to die by them."
"How unexpected." Daniel uttered sarcastically. He then explained, "It seems that the wider you let your sense of morality spread, the more it stops being a driving force, and turns into an excuse. Maybe there is something you can learn from your juniors." As soon as he finished speaking, he resumed heading towards the closing portal.
Daniel's words left the owner of the disembodied voice, as well as the younger champions, dumbfounded. Their meaning was clear. By allowing his people to be killed just so that their wish to die by their morals could be respected, was in contrast with the reactionary behavior of a champion of Morality. With this pragmatic mindset, this champion had turned into an entity that would ignore his own morality, and allow for his people to die, instead of supporting the cause they were fighting for.
After millions of years, for its prideful champions, morality was seen as a candle flame. Ideals which were allowed to burn as brilliantly as they possibly could, before ultimately dying out. What Daniel's words reminded him, however, was that morality was something that needed to be kept alive, for letting a light die out does nothing but let darkness shroud you.
"I-" said the disembodied voice in an attempt to justify himself.
Before the faceless cultivator could say anything, however, Daniel added, "To our next encounter." then disappeared into the portal, leaving the members of Morality's domain alone.
-----
When Daniel reappeared within the restaurant, he immediately noticed that the building was now empty. The tables had been left for the workers to clean, the sign on the door had changed from 'open' to 'close', and it would remain as such until the restaurant would be ready to welcome more guests.
Aside from the waiters, who quietly dashed back and forth from the kitchen to the dining hall while carrying piles of plates and glasses, were Daniel's companions, who were still occupying the table while waiting for his return-Companions whom he rejoined with a slow and pensive walk.
What had become cause for concern to Daniel, was how, ever since awakening as an aspect of existence, he had felt small parts of his personality slowly slip away from his grasp. With time he found himself thinking less and less about his family, or feeling less sympathetic towards those in need.
An example of this was his part in the exchange that took place a few minutes earlier.
The young man he had been in the past would have never allowed for the conflict between the two domains to end like this, nor would he have allowed for the abuse forced upon the mortals employed as servitude, to continue.. He would have created a mission through his system, and found a way to help them.
Now, however, regardless of how much he disliked it, saving the waitress, joining the fight, or even healing the injured champions of morality, were not goals that he instinctively considered as worthy of his attention as finding a way for the other domains to acknowledge him, or gain allies.
This mindset was the reason why, for him, finding the flaw in the philosophy of Morality's domain was so easy.. Because the loss of interest in the small and individual picture was something he had experienced personally.
"What happened? They all stormed out right before you came back." Lilith inquired.
"Nothing interesting.." Daniel said while turning towards the restaurant's entrance. "Come on, let's get you back to your domain." He then added right before stepping out.
Once outside, Daniel immediately felt a thread of familiar essence, which after touching him, delivered to him a voice message spoken with Cassie's melodic voice. "Y-You need to come back.. A lot of people want to talk to you. Most of them left after learning you weren't back yet, but there is an old couple who said they would be waiting for you to return." She stammered with panic.
"Let them wait, then." Daniel said, sending his message back by using the very same thread of essence that had found him in a city filled with cultivators. He then put the matter to the back of his head, and turned to look at Lilith, who had now appeared next to him alongside Ashura, and said to her, "Go on, then. I'll follow."
"I have heard that during these types of events, our domain sticks to arenas. We should be able to find a champion of Competition in one of those." she replied with an uncharacteristic polite attitude.
After having her memory erased, Lilith's demeanor towards Daniel had changed. While before she could do nothing but follow Daniel as a victim of bad circumstances, now she believed him to be her best chance of going back to her life. To cooperate with him, was the least she could do.
"An arena.." Daniel asked as the corners of his mouth rose into a faint smile. The mention of arenas had made something click within his mind. He had only recently learned about the stakes of the competitions that would take place during an Exalted Assembly, and now that he had a chance, as well as the necessary knowledge, he had started to wonder why should he take part in it as well?
-----
Six hours later, entrance of the seventh arena.
"My apologies for wasting your time.." Lilith said apologetically after dragging Daniel in a morning long search for the members of her domain.
In front of Daniel, Lilith and Ashura, lay a pathway of cleanly cut stone which led to a small square packed with people. This square was laid at the bottom of a simple-looking arena made out of stone, and surrounded by grey columns, not unlike the many arenas of the mortal world.
What was peculiar about this arena, was the ring-shaped pocket of space that, unbeknownst to the participants that were constantly flooding in and out of it, was floating above the main building, and inside which Daniel could feel the presence of dozens of powerful champions.
"It's fine. We have the ti-" Daniel said before being interrupted by what he found to be an irritating laugh.
"Ahahah, what kind of domain brings lower cultivators to an Exalted Assembly?" Said a corpulent young man in distinguished clothes. In his voice was the domineering nature of Hierarchy, the aspect of existence he championed, and he was a young leader that belonged to its mid-tier domain.
This young man's tone was extremely loud, and it was aimed at grabbing the attention of the surrounding cultivators who, like he did, gasped in surprise at the presence of Ashura and Lilith, two simple high immortals. However, before this collective outrage could suddenly turn into a ruckus, a thunderous voice pierced the floating ring's surface, and expanded outwards. "Quiet!" Said the voice, which belonged to a second member of Hierarchy's domain, as demonstrated by the more pure, yet identical power hidden in it.
As this happened, similar, yet less evident messages were sent from the other champions to their juniors, who, after heeding them, immediately turned away from Daniel, and resumed minding their own business.
"What was that? Where did that loud voice come from??" Lilith asked Daniel, who did not share her confusion.
In the past six hours, Daniel's existence as the champion of a protective and unknown aspect of existence had spread like wildfire, making the members of the other domains wary of him. Unfortunately, what they were wary of was the wrath of the aspect of existence that was supposedly protecting him, and not his own power.
Despite being aware of this, instead of answering Lilith's question, Daniel moved his essence out of his body, and with it, he formed a flight of stairs, which he then constructed by turning his power into spatial essence. This flight of stairs led to the invisible ring-shaped tunnel that was hovering over the arena, a hidden donut-shaped room that only he, thanks to his comprehension of spacetime, was able to see.
Under the confused gaze of the other younger cultivators, Daniel walked up the stairs, with Ashura following with no hesitation right behind him. Lilith, doubtful, followed only seconds later.
Once at the top of the staircase, Daniel waited for Lilith to get close, then took control over the space around them, turning it into a separate pocket of time essence. Within this pocket, time had reversed to an unspecified point where the barrier in front of the did not exist.
With two confident steps, Daniel walked into the invisible barrier as if it wasn't there to begin with. On the other side, he found hundreds of ancient cultivators staring at him with several degrees of shock. "Is this where we can place bets?" Daniel asked with a polite smile.