Ten Lucky Draws: I Became OP

Chapter 169: Welcome to The Middle Veil – The 47th Cycle

The room became silent after Ash’s words.

Kaelthyr nor Sylvie could understand what was happening—they could just feel an overwhelming amount of power flowing through their bodies. Though they weren’t truly Void Emperors, if they could become a bit creative then they would be able to hold their own briefly against true Void Emperors.

Their raw power only matched that of a Void Emperor.

The Five Leaders stood at an impasse as each of them eyed Ash with intensity.

The other two weren’t ignored per se but Ash had just done something that flipped their world view a bit. They could clearly feel the power of a Stellar Law… yet these three people were exuding Void Emperor power.

“Is this some sort of illusion?” Zon Shade, the Nightborn Umbral spoke in a low tone. He had skin that was made of pure shadows, he sat on a throne with long black hair that nearly blended with his skin. His eyes were human-like white pupils that seemed to drink in the light around them.

“Impossible,” Zara Moon, the Lunar Direkin chimed in. She had silver fur that looked wild and untamed. She barely wore clothes only covering her private areas, with short silver hair. She had crescent moon eyes, that were all black.

“Illusions have no effect on me…” She continued as her eyes never left Ash.

“It doesn’t matter,” The Adamant, Kravos Ironheart said. He had skin that was star-metal, that shifted in hues causing the room to have a golden reflection. His voice sounded like grinding steel.

“What matters is that they are not weak. We are in no position to dig too deeply.” He said as he sat in the center throne.

As Ash watched the five chat he was a bit intrigued seeing their races.

’Anything worth copying?’

[Not necessarily, all their powers fall under similar paths we already have.] Elysia said as Kravos spoke again.

“Though I’m curious as to what your race is.” He said as he stood up and approached. As he walked the sound of metal clanking could be heard. He stood at about eight feet tall making Ash and the others look tiny.

“I won’t dive too deeply into your background… because truthfully I’m not sure how long you will survive.” He said as he stood in front of curtains that he began unveiling.

Behind them was the Middle Veil of Thal.

The continent unfolded like a living wound across the sky—vast, jagged, and impossibly massive. It was a single, colossal landmass that seemed to bleed at the edges, its borders fraying into swirling violet auroras and crackling energy storms.

Five massive pathways intersected at the center hub—each one a towering, glowing artery of stone, crystal, and living metal stretching outward like the arms of a star.

The central hub was a fortress-city built of obsidian and starlight, spires rising miles high, walls pulsing with defensive runes, and at its heart a massive throne platform where the five factions converged.

Each pathway led to one faction’s domain: one lined with iron forges and molten rivers for the Ironveil Bastion, another with moonlit forests and howling winds for the Starhowl Enclave, a third overgrown with black-petaled jungles for the Voidbloom Covenant, a fourth crackling with endless lightning storms for the Aetherstorm Dominion, and the fifth swallowed by living shadows and silent darkness for the Eclipse Warden Conclave.

The rest of the continent—beyond the five domains—was pure, untamed wilderness: endless fungal jungles that moved and hunted, mountains that breathed and shifted, plains where aurora storms birthed new beasts, rivers of liquid starlight that drowned anything they touched.

No cities, no outposts, no civilizations—just raw, predatory nature claiming everything it could.

“Welcome to the Middle Veil,” Kravos said, voice like grinding steel echoing in the room.

He turned back to Ash, grey eyes steady.

“We were all born here. Our ancestors moved up many eras ago, but we have been stuck in this Middle Veil for the last 6 million years. Even though so many beings in this level sit at the peak of Void Emperor, we are unable to move forward. Over the millennia, the only lead we gained was to restore this land to a state of Order. At that point we believe we will be able to ascend.”

He paused, studying Ash with a mix of caution and curiosity.

“You can join one of our domains—gain our protection, resources, knowledge. Or… you can form an extraction squad. These are solo squads under no select domain that move to fight against beast and Nature. They roam the wilds, claim treasures, and bring back what they can. The choice is yours.”

Ash smiled—wide, casual, unbothered.

One must know he had no intention of bowing to anyone. And the wilds sounded far more interesting anyway.

“Extraction squad,” he said simply.

The five leaders exchanged glances—surprised, wary, but not opposed.

Kravos nodded once.

“Then you are free to roam. But know this—Nature does not forgive weakness. And the beasts here… they hunger.”

Ash’s smile widened.

“Good. I’m starving too.”

The Mid Veil had just gained three new predators. And the continent would never be the same.

—-

On a world that had known nothing but war for millennia had finally achieved a few years of peace. It had been a little over a year since Vexar Thanor completely eliminated the Radiant Order. Before he attained his past army and items he was nothing more than superb talent of the Necroshade Empire.

It was tricky how his power worked because technically his body was but 489 years old.

Once he died and returned to his checkpoint, reality wouldn’t reset nor would it revert to the point of his return. Everything would go as it always would, however his checkpoint created a branch timeline completely separated from the time continuum.

In this branch timeline that reality would create a version of him that would ’live’ amongst the continuation of the current timeline. The only thing was that before he achieved his title he couldn’t retain anything at all but his knowledge.

That brings us back to now… Vexar a ninth Calamity expert at 489 years old was looked at in a different light by the leaders of the Necroshade Empire. He knew that they would want to question him, but before he allowed that to happen…

He eliminated them all turning them into his own shadow army. This boosted his ranks with Calamity warriors, Stellar Sovereigns, a Few Void Emperors and one more Cosmic Overlord.

After bringing the Necroshade Empire under his control he chose to seclude himself as he stepped into the Stellar Sovereign rank. As a being who’d sat at the peak of this Universe before, ranking up was a breeze for him.

Not just that his comprehension was completely broken.

With the knowledge of now millions more of shadow subordinates, he had insights to things he knew before and things he didn’t.

Now, in a dark throne room he sat on a throne.

The throne room was vast and cavernous, carved from black obsidian that drank in every scrap of light, leaving only the faint green glow of his veins and the dim purple runes etched into the walls to provide illumination.

The ceiling arched high above like the ribcage of some long-dead colossus, dripping with stalactites of crystallized blood that caught the light and refracted it into bloody crimson patterns across the floor.

Pillars of fused bone and shadow lined the chamber, each one pulsing faintly as if still alive, and at the far end rose the throne itself—forged from the spines of a fallen Cosmic Emperor, their bones fused together and wrapped in living darkness that writhed slowly like breathing flesh.

The seat was wide enough for a giant, yet Vexar sat upon it with casual arrogance, long black hair flowing down his back like spilled ink, green veins pulsing beneath pale skin that seemed almost translucent in the gloom.

With his long black hair flowing down his back and green veins pulsing on his pale skin, his eyes opened as the doors swung open.

Nyxara entered with her pale skin contrasting in the darkness. As she walked the shadows bent to her will—parting her path while protecting her all at the same time, coiling around her like loyal hounds.

Seeing her Vexar didn’t even have to speak. He knew what she’d come for and he was excited to say the least.

’I truly hope that Old Dragon isn’t dead yet. He still owes me a rematch.’ He thought briefly. Before he entered his seclusion, he ordered his subordinates to find all the interesting news around the Venia Galaxy.

Not only that, but he also asked for all information about the Dragon of Eternity… An old friend from his that even knew of his secrets.

“Master, congratulations on attaining the Stellar Sovereign rank.” Nyxara said with a bow as she continued.

“As you ordered we found all the important and interesting news floating around the Galaxy. Not much out the ordinary has happened. There are a few newly discovered ninth era worlds, we’ve already planted subordinates at each one.”

Vexar frowned a bit hearing this.

“This Galaxy truly never changes…” He said with a scoff as Nyxara continued.

“There is something though… The Arch Eternal Nocturne and Noctis clan both placed bounties on someone named Ash Originat. Apparently, months ago the Nocturne Clan placed a bounty of 500 Worlds, a hefty amount of mana stones and more on this guy. Recently, the Noctis Clan traced the deaths of two heirs to this guy and doubled the bounty.”

She explained and at the sound of this Vexar was intrigued.

“A bounty so hefty and an Arch Eternal Clan?” He couldn’t believe his ears actually. He knew just how powerful Arch Eternal Clans were and offending not just one… but two of them was destruction.

“Exactly… something else, he’s apparently only a mere ninth Calamity warrior.” She said as she waved her hand creating a projection of Ash’s Bounty. It showed an image of him, his rank and the rewards.

“Haha!” Vexar began to laugh as he truly could not believe what he was seeing.

“Alright… this bounty is ours. I will visit a special someone and will find his location.” He said wiping tears from his eyes. He then spoke in a more serious tone.

“And the Dragon of Eternity?”

Nyxara shook her head.

“Nothing… I’ve calculated that we are currently in the 47th Cosmic Cycle.” Nyxara began with a jaw dropping bombshell that caused Vexar eyes to widen.

“4-47th Cycle? That’s impossible!” He exclaimed, feeling the weight of all this nonsense finally getting to him. Before all of this, he believed his last death had been around 3,000 years ago… but the last time he was alive was during the 19th cycle.

That meant nearly 20 Cosmic Cycles had passed before he regressed again.

He was sure everyone and everything he once loved was gone and destroyed. Unless they attained enough power to withstand a Cosmic Cycle’s birth and destruction.

“I know Master…” She didn’t even have to continue her words as he knew what she was getting at.

’If so much time has passed then I’m sure no records exist of that guy…’ He had no thoughts that the Dragon of Eternity was dead… such a being could only grow more powerful.

But this also left him in such a confused state.

Seeing him daze off, Nyxara removed her presence.

“Did he find a path beyond?” He questioned as he stood and disappeared. He channeled the law of void as he began to walk through space. Each step he took cut the distance down by 80 million km.

As he walked his thoughts began to visit the past.