Chapter 164 - The Dimension Traversing Formation (Long - !)

’Hey, how many enhancements do you think Noxis can survive?’ Cale asked his system.

[As long as it is a soul-bound sword, it can withstand any kind of formations within the host’s cultivation.]

’Well, that’s good.’

Recently, in one of the pages of the Book of Endless Refinement, Cale had acquired a technique — or rather, a skill.

It allowed him to store arrays and formations within weapons, or rather create a type of artifact to store small attacks like explosions, even his Flame Spirit Bomb itself. Such an artifact would definitely be coveted by many, so it was far better to turn Noxis into such a weapon so he wouldn’t have to rely on too many external artifacts.

But creating that would take considerable time, so he’d do it later.

"Hey, are you done recovering?" Sesrir asked.

"Hmm," Cale nodded.

He got up, stretching his body.

"So, what’s the next one?" Sesrir asked, obvious exhaustion coloring his voice.

He was getting tired of this. How many tests were there?

Filled with tens of deadly arrays, beasts, and the humans here weren’t any good either. It was relentless.

Cale thought for a moment, then asked the system internally.

’How long, no rather, how much information do you need of a thing to get its complete information?’

This was necessary. If he obtained the inheritance but didn’t know how to properly use certain items, just like what happened with Genesis — it would be problematic.

Thankfully, his system was becoming increasingly talkative, so if provided enough context, it could dig up the entire history and mechanics of an item.

It was quite the feature, like taking a piece of hair and finding a person’s DNA, then searching for their descendants!

[If provided a decent amount, the system can detect most of the necessary information for host. It depends on what and how much it is.]

’Hmm, is that so...’

He looked at Sesrir.

"Don’t worry, we aren’t going to take any routes. Hell... the next time we step out, we will leave this damn place."

Sesrir frowned, then questioned with a bit of disbelief.

"How? How the hell can we leave so easily? There’s definitely a few more trials ahead. Don’t tell me you don’t want it and want to quit..."

Cale shook his head.

"No, that’s not what I’m saying. What I want to say is... we will stay in a cave — an isolated one if possible, and I will set up a formation to go directly to the core of this entire inheritance grounds. While you guard me."

Sesrir’s face became completely expressionless. Rather than shock, surprise, or fear, he lost all emotions entirely.

’He’s lost it! This kid’s gone mad!’

While he too was going mad, he still had a bit of his sanity left...

If even Cale, who likely knew a lot about this dungeon-like place, had gone crazy, how the hell would they even escape?

Cale narrowed his eyes and sighed.

"I can seriously read your thoughts from your face, you know."

"A-ah... was it that obvious?"

Cale walked out.

"In your case, it likely is."

They both left the location and searched for an isolated cave.

After finding one suitable, Cale settled inside while Sesrir positioned himself outside to guard.

"Okay, can you at least tell me what the hell you’re doing!" Sesrir shouted from his place.

"Hmm... in simple terms, we are bypassing this inheritance’s owner’s powers and creating a hole in space itself to directly enter its core and take the rewards," Cale replied while taking out tens of spiritual stones.

Sesrir was shocked once again.

Who the hell was teaching Cale such impossible techniques? If he’d known even a few of those before, how many deadly situations would he have survived?

"Is... is that even possible? I’ve never heard of people even thinking about inheritances in that direction..."

Sesrir’s doubt was obvious.

No one; literally no one — would even conceive or think of such a technique. If people from bigger forces got even a hint of this, they would wage a world war for it.

But even Cale didn’t know of this technique until a few hours ago.

’Why the hell was such a technique in the Book of Endless Refinements anyway... it’s not even related to it.’

Was this the fate thing again? He had taken several people’s fates, so his own luck increasing was logical and pretty obvious. But wasn’t this too much?

A technique unrelated to alchemy was in such a book, and presented to him at such a perfectly critical moment...

But he didn’t dwell on it. Who knew — maybe the system itself had helped him by providing it.

It wasn’t like he didn’t know how to clear this inheritance ground. This was the last one he knew. He would have gone to any lengths to claim it... and he also knew what the remaining trials entailed.

One was related to fighting your own mimics, and another was like a race- something about clearing an obstacle trial within a given time limit.

But with this new technique, he didn’t need any of that.

’In the future, maybe I can use this technique more efficiently.’

It was called the "Dimension Traversing Formation."

Cale looked at Sesrir and smirked.

"Man oh man, what kind of backward place are you from? Your elders didn’t even teach you such a simple technique~"

Sesrir got mad now. This kid was going too far!

"Y-you! If you had such a thing, why the hell did we even cover this much of this trial land! We could’ve—"

"No, that would have failed," Cale cut him off.

"The technique I’m using is called the Dimension Traversing Formation. While I do hope you won’t spread this once we get out, it’s still your choice. As for not using it from the start, this technique can only cross one or two trials. Each trial exists in a different dimension, all joined by gates. If we had to cross more of them, we would need more energy... and this one doesn’t use your qi or essence. Those wouldn’t be nearly sufficient; heh, they wouldn’t even cover a single percent of what’s needed."

Sesrir understood what he meant. If it were that simple, given Cale’s personality, he would have used such a wonderful technique immediately upon entering.

Sesrir theorized that Cale had always planned to use this technique but waited until they reached the last two trials. Perhaps due to their low cultivation, or insufficient supplies, they couldn’t directly traverse more than two dimensions. But as long as it saved them from the troubles ahead, and given that these two were the final trials — they would have been even more difficult anyways.

Cale continued.

"What we’re powering it with is... our lifespan."

Sesrir’s eyes widened.

"Y-you’re using your life force... no, rather our life force!"

Cale nodded.

"Don’t worry, I will only take ten years from you as an extra addition. My lifespan can be slowly increased by absorbing souls. To absorb enough for ten years, I’ll need a few thousand souls. To be honest, twenty years is nowhere near the amount we need. To traverse dimensions is like breaking the laws of the inheritance’s creator. There will be backlash from the trials themselves, so we need lifespan for that too. But don’t worry, I’ve always had a few items on hand."

He withdrew a 100-year lifespan Gu.

Sesrir’s eyes widened in shock. Then understanding dawned.

"So that’s where you’re going to get that extra lifespan from. But will that be en—"

Before he could finish, Cale took out seventeen more of the same Gu.

"Y-you had so many of these! Where in the hell did you get them... no, right... you just killed hundreds of thousands of people a year back! Of course you have their loots! You thief."

Cale smiled, placing the Gu on the floor.

"While I did get many treasures, most were useless, so I absorbed them. Some were useful, so I gave them to my team. I have the spiritual stones and well... this lifespan Gu thing... I’ve got at least ten more. Tsk, I had a few extra but I gave them to Fiora and others."

He mumbled the last line to himself.

Sesrir stared at the collection of Gu in disbelief.

"Sigh, you aren’t even in your thirties by the looks... and who knows how long it will take for you to ascend ahead after becoming an Emperor. Are you sure you want to use about three thousand years of lifespan on this single trial?"

Sesrir was concerned at this point.

After becoming an Emperor, every single stage could take from decades to centuries. Some people even died before ascending, and despite their talent, if they had just a bit more lifespan, they could have succeeded.

Seeing Cale throw away such a precious thing just for some rewards made Sesrir wonder how extraordinary those rewards must be.

Cale replied, while getting ready.

"If I can’t even get things I’ve set my eyes on, what’s the point of long life? Heh, would you want to live for a hundred years dwelling on how you could have gotten a Divine inheritance in your past? Hell, if I stay weak now, I would be killed within five years. Don’t you know it?"

Of course Sesrir knew. Now that Cale had offended tens of thousands of sects, he would likely be monitored by many, with a hundred bounties on his head daily.

"Sigh... alright. What can I even say?" Sesrir frowned in resignation.

Cale grinned with grimace etched on his face.

"Oh, and remember — even after all this, the gate will only be open for six seconds. You better enter, or well... it’s over. Haha. To think thousands of years of lifespan with an additional twenty from us two living ones, add to that a few thousand spiritual stones I will add, only for six seconds..."

Sesrir let out a wry laugh as well.

"Haha... such is a Divine Stage inheritance, I suppose... maybe we would have crossed a few more trials if it was a normal one."

Cale nodded.

"Let’s start then. You go out to guard."