After Michael revealed the connection between Aterna and Sumeru world, the relationship between the Divine Sea Sect and Sumeru world changed significantly. The primary reason Oceania Sect Alliance had come to this world was to promote trade. Unfortunately, the level of a war-torn Oceania was much lesser than the Sumeru world. While the sects had some resources that interested Sumeru world inhabitants, the astral legacy in hands of the other party was much more valuable. As such, the great tribes of the Sumeru world had not been too interested in opening trade with the sects. This was because there was a fundamental difference between their cultivation systems. People from Oceania could start their cultivation in the astral path as long as they received the world's blessing. It was a one-time affair to obtain the blessing, making it extremely valuable. On the other hand, there was no way for the tribesmen to cultivate laws until they left the Sumeru world. Also, law cultivation in the initial stages required extended contact with fluid laws, making it so that the tribesmen saw no value in the celestial path except as a reference. But with Michael's information, there was now a possibility of connecting the celestial system to the Sumeru world, opening up the celestial pathway for their inhabitants. This suddenly drew the interest of all tribes. All dao gods of the world wanted to create an information link between Aterna and Sumeru world, obtaining the principles of operations of a celestial world. But now, the Divine Sea Sect knew that they were in control of the situation. After all, an information link between Aterna and Sumeru world would benefit the Sumeru tribes a lot more than the Divine Sea Sect. Thus, a series of negotiations was carried between the dao gods of different tribes and Diablos.

At the end of these repeated negotiations, the two sides finally came to an agreement. In exchange for allowing the formation of and protecting the information link at Aterna, the Divine Sea Sect obtained a huge amount of astral stones. The amount was enough for the sect to not worry about astral stones for the next ten thousand years. They also obtained a large number of slots for getting different blessings from the Sumeru world. Needless to say, a majority of these blessings would be availed by the geniuses and other promising cultivators in Fate Seer divinity's camp. Besides, with the information link, Aterna would also become a plane capable of providing more of such blessings and awakenings. This would make the plane a holy land for astral cultivation, and the Divine Sea Sect, or more specifically Fate Seer divinity would naturally benefit from it. Overall, the value of Aterna was going to increase tremendously with the creation of the information link, making it an important place in the cultivation landscape of Oceania.

Personally, the Fate Seer divinity directly obtained the research results and comprehensions of all great tribes of the Sumeru world regarding the laws of fate. It was of direct benefit to her cultivation, and she predicted that she would easily reach the five-star stage as long as she could get a preliminary understanding of all the results. It would also help her in further cultivation, making her future cultivation journey much smoother. She also managed to obtain the promise of all great tribes that they would sincerely help in finding a solution for calamity fate. In fact, the fate path research results and the contract of finding a solution for calamity fate were valued many times more than the other benefits that the sect received. This was the main component of compensation from the tribesmen.

Michael, being a key person involved in the entire thing naturally obtained many benefits as well. First of all, the information link was a good thing for Aterna. With this, Aterna would become a major resource point for the Divine Sea Sect. As the Divine Sea Sect was the greatest hegemon in Oceania, Aterna was going to be in a very safe situation going forward. External powers would find it much harder to attack such a resource point. Even in the case of a sect war, enemy sects would try to preserve the plane as much as possible so that its value remains the same. It was like a golden ticket to survival for the plane. Aside from the political standing of the plane, the link would allow the Aterna plane-will to awaken astral blessings, making it another path of cultivation for the natives too. More importantly, Aterna's plane-will would benefit from this link tremendously. After the devil war, Aterna was forcefully turned into a primary plane to act as an operating base for the expedition. But this was artificially induced growth, which was not much beneficial to the plane-will. As such, even though the plane was considered a primary plane, it was structurally not much different from a secondary plane. But with this information link, the plane-will would have access to the experiences of the world-will, which would lead to a transformation of the plane. Not only would the laws become much more stable, but the life level of the inhabitants would also increase to match the plane's level. For example, while there was a dragon race in Aterna, the dragon factors of an average dragon of Aterna was almost negligible. As such, they were nowhere near as strong as dragons of powerful worlds. But now, they would become much stronger. The same would be true for humans and other races too and the humans of the plane would likely become as strong as immortals of the past. But, as the level of the plane would also grow proportionately, it would not change the lives of mortals at all. By estimate, the plane would rapidly grow to become a peak primary plane with this opportunity.

For his personal cultivation, Michael was given the special right to enter the ninth level of the tower of inheritance. The tower of inheritance was one of the key attractions of the rock island. It was a dream of countless cultivators to visit the tower at least once in their life. The tower was a treasure trove of cultivation knowledge, storing the dao principles of countless cultivators in the history of the Sumeru world. The inheritance tower was also the final test and reward of all competitions in the Sumeru world. Candidates would try to climb the tower and take the tests of different inheritances. If they passed the tests, they would obtain then said inheritances. The knowledge would be greatly helpful for junior cultivators, especially for those who had yet to fully bloom their dao. It had a total of ten levels, with ten floors on each level. The level of inheritances also increased as one reached higher levels. Needless to say, the ninth level was out of reach for Michael even in his dreams. Even the weakest inheritance there would benefit a grade-9 astral cultivator. The fact that Michael was allowed to enter the ninth level and obtain the inheritance that resonated with him was a reward that few would even dare to dream of in the Sumeru world. Only children of dao gods, the prestigious god-children would be given such treatment. One should know that these inheritances carried the soul strands of previous cultivators and every impartation would consume the true meaning in them. Thus, such inheritances were a finite resource. With this chance, Michael would find his future cultivation path in astral cultivation much more secure than others who have to open their path on their own. Aside from this, another benefit that Michael was getting was a small number of highest-grade meditation pills. Meditation was the standard method for cultivators of the Sumeru world to ponder on dao. Thus, the geniuses of the world were all talented in meditation. This was in some sense similar to the derivation of laws during celestial cultivation as both activities required a huge amount of focus. But, meditating on dao was even more difficult as one needed to enter the realm of emptiness to truly ponder on their dao. Most cultivators could achieve such a state in some fraction but even divinity rank dao cultivators found it difficult to reach complete emptiness of mind. Thus, they used meditation pills to achieve the same. Michael's dao cultivation till now had been based on epiphanies from his life and not through meditation. Thus, he would benefit a lot from these meditation pills.

Apart from these corporeal benefits, Michael was also recognised as an in-name disciple by the Lord of Might. This gave him the opportunity to receive one personal lesson from him. Needless to say, this was another valuable reward. This lesson could help him in resolving bottlenecks that he might face in the future. It was a chance that again would not be available to anyone less than a godchild. Besides the tangible benefit, the in-name discipleship was a symbol of status in the Sumeru world. It would also give him an advantage if he tried to apply for discipleship under dao gods in the future. While Michael was the owner of half of Aterna in theory, it was not practical for the Sumeru world to give him so many benefits for that reason. The true reason for his rewards was that he was acting as a link between Aterna and Sumeru world. He was also required to participate in the fate-link ritual. As Michael was the chosen one of Aterna, he was the most suitable and only available link that could be used. Michael was naturally briefed about the situation in detail by Fate Seer divinity. After saving Alexis from certain death in calamity space, Michael had already grown to be the favourite disciple in Fate Seer's and Sword Saint's eyes. In fact, Fate Seer divinity had already accepted him as her personal disciple, raising his status in the sect from a core disciple to a legacy disciple. She had made an exception despite Michael's cultivation not reaching the requirements. This had completely solidified his position in Fate Seer divinity's camp, granting him protection from many schemes and deterring others from making trouble.

As the Sumeru tribes were providing so many things, it was evident that they had a lot of benefits at stake. The information link between the two sides was bound to help the Sumeru world many times more than Aterna. As Sumeru world was a fully developed world already reaching its end, with the information of world mechanics of a world from the celestial pathway, there was a chance for the world-will to extend its lifespan by a good amount. This was already very important for the tribes. Another use of the corresponding information would be in creating sealed realms in the Sumeru world that would allow celestial cultivation. This would allow the tribesmen to embark on the celestial pathway, in much greater numbers than the Divine Sea Sect's cultivators obtaining astral cultivation pathway. This would also allow the world-will to mount a much more effective defence against the invading devils or other forces from the celestial pathway, greatly reducing their war efforts. This expedition had led to a win-win situation for both sides. Even in the history of Oceania, this could be considered as one of the best results for an expedition into an unfamiliar world.

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Michael was currently being groomed by many maids, who were preparing him for the upcoming ritual. The fate link ritual required two anchors to represent the two sides of the link, and Michael was naturally one of the anchors. This was a very important occasion for both sides, thus there were many formalities and steps that had to be followed. Michael was quite nervous about the upcoming ritual. The fate of his home literally depended on it. It was natural for him to be worried. Another reason for his nervousness was that the anchor from the Sumeru world was the Lord of Might himself. Michael was naturally not as ignorant about the Sumeru world as he was before. With his ascension as a legacy disciple, he had become privy to a lot of information regarding the history of Oceania, Treasure Emperor and the levels of gods. Thus, he knew how powerful Lord of Might truly was. It would not be wrong to say that he was more powerful than an average true god despite only being a dao god! He could be considered as one of the leaders of the universe, his status and power only lacking compared to god-emperors! He was also an extremely ancient entity that had seen through life and death as well as a cultivation cataclysm. Such a being could wipe out Aterna with just a gaze and perhaps destroy Oceania again with his might. So, Michael was naturally feeling pressured.

As the steps for his preparation were completed, Michael was led to many different processes and made to do many different mystical rituals that he did not understand at all. Only after completing a long sequence of rituals was he brought to the main ritual altar. All the important members from both sides were already present. After bowing to the gods and divinities, Michael solemnly made his way towards the position marked for him. The main ritual was started by many shamans surrounding the altar, with powerful and mystical chants. Their words resonated with the world-will, which was gathering around the Lord of Might. It also seemed to stimulate the mark of Aterna that Michael carried. Laws of fate swirled around him, bringing out the plane-will of Aterna from an extremely far away place. Two flames symbolizing the two worlds lit up around Michael and Lord of Might. It was the true sight of comparing a firefly to the moon. As the ritual proceeded, many dao gods started proving the strength of their cultivation to form a channel between the two world-wills. As this was happening, Michael suddenly felt himself receding away from his body and soul as his conscient entered a new world.

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This world was completely different from the main material world that he was used to, which made it hard for him to sense anything. Here, he was just a floating blob of consciousness, in some sense his true self. As he found his bearing, he finally managed to form the giant shape from his astral avatar and stand on the ground. Even though his astral avatar was quite powerful in the material world, he felt like a flickering flame that could be extinguished anytime. He could feel that this was an incomparably dangerous world, where he could truly die just from a slight wind.

As he looked around, he could see that he was standing near the edge of a canyon that was hundreds of kilometres deep. Meanwhile, his sight could see another landmass almost a thousand kilometres away across the canyon. In the sky, he could see six suns blazing with tremendous power. Each of these suns was much more powerful than any other suns he had seen with the possible exception of the sun in Heaven world. As he was trying to figure out his situation, a voice came from his side,

"How do you feel, child?"

Looking to the side, Michael found the Lord of Might standing there. He hurriedly bowed towards him before replying, "I am fine, Lord God."

"You might be wondering what this world is. This is the world of consciousness, also called the astral dimension. It is different from the material dimension where we come from. It is the dimension of consciousness. It would be wrong to call it a world because it is not. It is a different aspect of the universe. This place is the origin as well as the end of all conscients. In some sense, it is the true source of life and death."

Michael was left stunned by this revelation. Conscient was a widely researched topic among cultivators. Many powerful cultivators had tried to find the origin of life but they were always stumped by the problem of conscient. No one knew how bodies and souls, which were constructed out of matter and energy led to the formation of consciousness, which was neither matter nor energy. As a cultivator of the laws of life and death, Michael had also pondered on this for a long time. He had never expected that the answer would present itself before him this easily.

The Lord of Might continued, "Astral cultivation is the cultivation pathway of conscient. We cultivate our dao, mind and inner strength to become more powerful. It is all in the hope to become more and more independent in this astral dimension. When cultivators reach grade-7, they are able to make a connection to the astral plane. This allows them to borrow the inexhaustible power from this dimension of the universe, making them vastly superior to those in grade-6. But, to enter the astral world, one needs to be at least grade-9. They would also need to understand the astral dimension in great detail. Only great geniuses and astral gods are able to enter the astral plane and not die immediately. I have brought you into this world because I wanted to discuss some things with you."

Michael was again stunned by the sheer power of the being before him. If only powerful grade-9 cultivators could enter this dimension, it made sense that Lord of Might was able to enter as well. But not only did he bring Michael into this world, but he was also able to ensure that he did not die here. Michael did not think that any other god in the universe would be able to achieve this, even if the emperors were to be included. Respect and admiration flooded his thoughts as he politely asked the god before him to continue.

"The axis of time has been reversed. It is something that is highly unusual, and even true gods should not be able to achieve this. The universe isn't that easy to manipulate. But in some special situations, the true god of time, the Empress of Antiquity would be able to do so. There is currently a divine war of unprecedented scale going on, and the Empress has revealed a hand that has defied destiny. I am humbled by her power, but I am also the leader of the Sumeru world, and I can't not interfere with her plans. Can you tell me all that you have experienced so that I am able to set my own plans? In return, I will help you too."

Lord of Might's words left Michael completely speechless. Michael knew that the entity that reversed the time of the universe was likely to be the Empress of Antiquity as she was the most powerful cultivator of the laws of time. Michael did not have much idea initially about the level of power of god-emperors but as he got to know more, he was even more confused. From what he had heard in rumours, even emperors were not omnipotent, capable of controlling the universe. Apparently, the three emperors were trying to break through to the next realm of cultivation and achieve omnipotence but they hadn't been able to do so. Initially, Michael thought that the Antiquity empress might have already broken through and become omnipotent, but from Lord of Might's comments, Michael felt that she had used some external resources to achieve the same. The fact that even law gods like Samsara god had not been able to feel anything regarding the reversal of time had made Michael very scared about his future. It showed him that even the interference of a law god like Samsara god would not be able to save him. It was truly a despairing situation. But because he could find someone who was also aware of the same, Michael could finally see some hope. Knowing that it was meaningless to hide anything, Michael told him about his experiences in complete detail. The Lord of Might listened to his story attentively, asking questions about some things. When Michael was finally done with his story, Lord of Might stayed in thought for a while before saying, "Thank you for sharing this information with me. It has helped me confirm many things. You have helped me a lot, so I should naturally return this favour. Is there something that you want?"

The offer was something that Michael had not expected. After all, Lord of Might was incredibly powerful, thus it was not a big deal if he just left after obtaining the information. But as the offer had come, Michael naturally tried to think of something that would be the most helpful to him. From what he knew, he was already a part of the divine war. Even with his willpower, there was no way to prevent himself from dying. Thus, till now, he had been focused on improving the situation of his home plane and family, to make sure that they were able to maintain their lives in safety and comfort. This was his atonement, as he had already sold his life to a higher entity. But now, Michael could see a trace of hope. Thus, he asked, "Lord, you already know my situation. I fear that I am already a pawn in this battle between deities. I don't want much but to save myself and find a path of survival. Please help me in this!" He bowed deeply while making his request.

"Young man, you are very remarkable. Chance has put you in a place that others would dread with all their heart. Even the calamity fate of that girl has more chance for survival than your fate. To give you an example, you are currently branded by two true gods, the Devil and Antiquity. Both of them have deep schemes built around you. From what I can see, your conscient has the recovery attribute and you used an astral flower to obtain this talent. The devil ancestor was likely the one who gave that flower to you, as the recovery talent of your conscient carries his mark. As long as he wants, he can destroy your consent from inside. When you likely made that deal with Antiquity empress, she had already planted a time seed in your conscient, which can erode your conscient as soon as it is activated. These gods already have full control over your life!"

These words left Michael completely stunned! While he did know that he was being watched by gods, but he never felt the terror of gods till now! Both gods had already grasped his life in their hands, there was no way to go against them. He had been bound from the beginning. It was truly despairing. Even Michael, who had the indomitable dao felt himself giving up. His dao slowly weakened in front of adversity, about to crumble at any time. But before he could fall towards his destruction, the Lord of Might made a gesture and stabilised his conscient. He then said, "You are a very brave child, or else you wouldn't have awakened the indomitable dao seed. You should be proud of what you have already achieved. Even I am impressed with your achievements. I have seen many geniuses born with much greater talent than you, but none of them has your temperament and willpower. You are also a part of the Sumeru world. I will help you, so don't worry. I can't allow such a talented junior from my lineage to suffer from other gods."

This meeting with Lord of Might changed the predestined fate that Michael had been given, creating a variable that would throw the entire known universe into turbulence and completely derail the divine war. Many years later, Lord of Might had said, "The best decision I made in my entire life was to help that child!"

As Michael regained some hope, the Lord of Might went on, "I can feel the connection that you have with your clone. You might not have realized it at that time but this clone has given you a chance for survival. While you have a lot of abilities that your clone lacks, it is also free of the mark of two gods. After all, the gods did not consider you an important enough pawn to make full-proof contingencies. They are confident in their ability to subdue you no matter how powerful you become. I can't say that they were overconfident because it is the case. But with me, their carelessness will give you a chance of survival. I have an astral dao spell called astral rebirth. It can be considered as one of my trump cards. It allows me to create astral points and scatter them around, and then revive using the corresponding astral points in case of death. As astral cultivators have the majority of their cultivation as part of their conscient, this rebirth technique maintains their power. It is the highest level of life-saving technique that our world has and only dao gods or grade-9 cultivators with potential are able to avail this privilege because it causes me to spend some of my dao-foundation permanently. I can refine your clone into an astral point, as well as obscure the connection between your conscient and the astral point with my power. Even the Devil and the Antiquity will not be able to see through it."

Following that, he went on to activate the dao spell. Michael felt that his clone had become dead in essence, but he could still control it through his will. Only now, it was like controlling a puppet from a long distance. At the same time, he found that the connection between himself and his clone had become extremely faint and profound. He could also feel that as long as the astral point remained, he would be able to revive with all his astral powers even if he were to die. It was much more powerful than a psychic rebirth, this technique couldn't be stopped or interfered with. Michael felt a wave of gratitude and relief. He knelt in front of Lord of Might and performed the salute of greatest respect and devotion that existed in Sumeru culture. The Lord of Might smiled as he accepted his gesture. He said, "This astral point can be considered as an extra life, while also a way for you to break out of the shackles of gods. It is also extremely hard to destroy an astral point. This should give you the chance of survival that you were looking for. You must note that true gods are unfathomably powerful. If you use astral rebirth, they will know that you are still alive. If they truly want to find you, they will be able to do it. Thus, this method is not a guarantee of survival, it will only level the playing field by a small amount. Since you are already a part of the divine war, I hope that you can become a chess player from a chess piece. If you can actualize your indomitable dao and become a god, I would have another ally. I believe that you can achieve it. I will be waiting for the day you would be able to stand by my side."

Michael felt deeply moved by these words. He knew his talents very well, and he knew that even cultivators more talented than him were not able to become gods. A god was not only a culmination of talent and hard work but also luck and destiny. For the Lord of Might to value his indomitable dao that high filled him with pride and confidence. Even though he was facing insurmountable odds, as long as his dao remained undefeated, he would remain undefeated. Having prepared his mind for the upcoming challenges, he reforged his indomitable dao stronger than before. His vast willpower surged and his eyes burned with fighting spirit. Bowing again to the Lord of Might, he expressed his respect. The Lord of Might waved his hand and Michael slowly disappeared from this world. Before leaving, he heard, "Keep this meeting between us a secret."

After Michael had left the world, another figure appeared from the void of space. This was an old woman, looking extremely frail and weak. The Lord of Might looked at the woman and nodded. The woman said, "Sumeru Lord, do you truly value that child that much? I don't think that he deserves such praise. You should have already figured out why he managed to survive the torture of devils and obtained such a powerful will. Anyone with a primordial fragment in his situation would have been in the same situation. Why do you think that he can reach godhood?"

The Lord of Might stood silently before saying, "Every one of us is a product of our past and history. Even true gods, who have become free of their past are ultimately created through the same past. I can see his indomitable dao. It is the dao of never giving up, the dao of remaining undefeated in spirit. Such a dao is very rare, and while it may not be the strongest dao, in the long run, the one holding this dao would become the strongest. As long as he can grow without dying, he will reach godhood. I don't know if he will be able to grow to that extent, I can only give him some help and hope for the best."

"The world-will has already told you about the divine war and the future. The Heaven Emperor is a monstrous being, and Antiquity Empress was actually forced to use her primordial fragment to rewind time. Even in this iteration, it will be hard for them to stop the Heaven Emperor. What are you planning to do? Are you going to accept Devil ancestor's offer?"

"I haven't decided. I need some more time to think about it."

After that, the old lady vanished from the astral dimension. Lord of Might stood there thinking for a while before he sighed.

I guess there is no other way. I will have to take the next step.

He dissipated his avatar and closed his eyes. The six suns in the astral world were extinguished.