"It seems the Comb judges the end of the battle based on the influence emanating from the combatants." Inala nodded as he observed the bound individual, "Since he's still alive, his body is resisting the influence of the Comb."
Inala closed his eyes and focused on the Prana flowing through his bloodstream, observing that the influence of his Primary Nature of Mystic Royalty on it was ever so slightly fluctuating. Currently, Inala was at a place that could be considered part of the Major Treasure of Pet's Influenced Region.
So, the Major Treasure's influence was mildly present in the air he inhaled. 'Can I gather this?'
Inala expanded a Biome Bomb—with a porous boundary—to its maximum size, causing it to encompass a good portion of the hexagon chamber. He activated his Secondary Nature of Perfect Biome Domination, intending to control his surroundings.
Unlike the Attributed Region where the compressed water was flowing at the speed of sound, the ground here was immobile. Therefore, he could condense his power at a spot in order to eventually control it.
Sweat dripped from his forehead as Inala sensed the presence emanating from the ground, intending to control it through his Secondary Nature. Everything encompassed by his Biome Bomb was under his perfect control. That was the essence of Perfect Biome Domination.
Inala casually threw a Biome Bomb to the side. Sprouting two strings of Prana to form legs, it crawled towards the bound middle-aged man, controlling him. From time to time, it would seep Lifespan into his body to ensure his condition didn't deteriorate.
Inala placed a portion of the middle-aged man's Lifespan in the Biome Bomb and imbued his will in it, allowing it to focus on keeping the individual alive. In the meantime, he focused on sensing the influence stemming from the Comb—which was basically an extension of the Sanctuary.
Influenced Regions had a major flaw, which was already depicted in Sumatra Chronicles. But there, it was never described to be a flaw but rather written in a way to highlight Resha's speciality as the Main Character.
The Keys given by the Major Treasure of Attribute were necessary to enter the respective Compartment in the Attributed Region. But the crazy thing about this was that it wasn't perfect.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe Keys were only necessary to pass through the gate. Once Inala entered it, he could easily bring out Empyrean Zingers from his stomach biome. The Attributed Region didn't have any mechanics to stop them.
The Key was only necessary to enter or exit a Compartment. That was the only functioning rule in the Attributed Region. The monoliths in every Compartment gave them a mission to do, which was to hunt the Attributed Creatures for resources and Keys.
But there was no power or existence to enforce the rules. A cultivator could simply sleep in a corner of the Compartment if he had the means to. Nothing was stopping him.
The various Empyrean Tusks had reached Layer 1. If they wanted, they could enter Layer 0 upon finding the respective Keys and then release all the Mammoth Clansmen in their biomes. Basically, even if they were to live in the Attributed Region, there was no one related to the Attributed Region capable of stopping them.
Similarly, Resha and the Boar King fought while the latter summoned Bolts of Transcendence nonstop. Using them, the Boar King passed through the gates without Keys. This was no different from trespassing the Attributed Region without following the rules. But the Boar King faced no consequence from the Attributed Region for doing so.
Rather, had he touched the Major Treasure of Attribute, he would have obtained it.
This highlighted a major flaw of these Influenced Regions. They had existing rules but if one could form a loophole to take advantage of it, they could do so without facing any consequences.
The existence of an Empyrean Tusk itself was a loophole for Influenced Regions. If Gannala were here, she could enter the Comb after obtaining a Key from a Phell. And when she enters, she'll be matched up against a Gold Grade Ravaged Tribesman who was capable of killing her.
But she could bring out a Millinger Body—in human form—from her biome and equip herself onto it, instantly changing the gameplay to absolutely destroy her opponent. The moment she equips herself onto a Millinger body, the condition with which the Comb matched the two is nulled.
However, nothing will change. The Comb will not change the matchup, since it didn't have the mechanism to do so once two individuals were placed in a hexagon chamber. Therefore, Gannala could take advantage of the place without consequences.
And if need be, she could even flood the place with Mammoth Clansmen from her Settlement, "That's a major flaw of this place."
"Right?" He said and stared at his two Mystic Grade Biome Bombs that weren't affected in the slightest once he entered the hexagon chamber. In them was the entirety of the Quip Clan.
In essence, Inala had entered this place with an army and was only considered as a single unit. Even the match-up was done accordingly. As he focused further, Inala was able to picturise the reasons.
The Biome Bomb layer covering him was merely a physical layer, similar to armour. There wasn't space being twisted inside. However, space was compressed heavily in the Mystic Grade Biome Bombs to keep them at thumb size.
Their true scale was as a sphere with a radius of 180 metres each. If both the Mystic Grade Biome Bombs were to revert to their original size, the space in the hexagon chamber would prove insufficient.
Thereby, it could be concluded from all examples that Influenced Regions weren't able to see through biomes, whether they be an Empyrean Tusk's or the Royal Zinger's.
'This could also be a result of Sumatra's power system.' Inala thought. During the time period when the cultivator—who resulted in the birth of the Major Treasure of Pet—lived, the power system of Sumatra was simpler as compared to today.
Empyrean Tusks didn't exist back then. So, there wasn't any information in the Bolts of Transcendence that formed the Major Treasure of Pet to ensure the rules operating its Influenced Region weren't countered by Empyrean Tusks.
The case was the same for the Brimgan Founder too, which ended up as the Major Treasure of Attribute. The entire setup he did for the Brimgan Empire in the past would be unnecessary in the current era.
After all, Empyrean Snappers exist in this era. Had they chanced upon the Lotus Range, they would have definitely made it their territory. After all, through Subtle Terrain Domination, the Empyrean Snappers would treat the dangerous reason as an endless free-for-all buffet of resources.
Moreover, had Gannala collaborated with the Cooter Clan to allow Empyrean Snappers to assume human form, the Attributed Region would have been dealt with instantly. After all, a bunch of people—Empyrean Snappers in human form—
could huddle before a gate and combine their usage of Subtle Terrain Domination.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe combined power of a couple dozen or more Empyrean Snappers was enough to carve a path through the gates. With a bit of time and preparation, they would have managed to deal with the Attributed Creatures systematically.
Moreover, they could even use the Attributed Region's ability to condense Attributed Creatures to selectively create Spirit Pools of their liking. A lot of things could be done.
This was just what Inala had thought of based on the information he knew. There could be Humans and Pranic Beasts with powers in other regions of Sumatra that could breach these Influenced Regions too.
Sumatra Continent had developed tremendously as compared to the past. And the more it develops, the greater the means through which these Influenced Regions could be taken advantage of without following the rules.
Inala wasn't even the first person to have this idea. Boul Brimgan had already infiltrated the Sanctuary by figuring out the means to infiltrate it and steal gains from it, through which he conceptualised his Kinesis Felines.
His mother, Harla Brimgan too managed to create the Secondary Nature of Minor Treasure. But her Minor Treasure was just an extension of her Spirit Weapon as a Minor Treasure. It wasn't as extraordinary as his Kinesis Felines.
It was why Inala was confident in taking advantage of this place, "The process is pretty stressful."
Though he complained, his eyes shone with excitement as he observed a minuscule cluster hover before him, barely reaching a size of one millimetre. Through Perfect Biome Domination, Inala managed to perceive, interact, dominate, and gradually collect the presence oozed by the Comb in the hexagon chamber.
Empyrean Snappers too weren't a thing when the cultivator who became the Major Treasure of Pet lived. So, whether it was the Comb or the Sanctuary, they didn't have the means to guard against the power of Subtle Terrain Domination, and in extension, Inala's Perfect Biome Domination.
His head was hot though, for it was extremely difficult to focus on the presence and condense it. The moment he became happy, his focus lapsed, which caused the condensed presence to dissipate. "Phew!"
"It's hard," He collapsed on the floor, heaving ragged breaths as he absorbed Lifespan to heal the stress experienced by his brain. After eight hours of comfortable sleep, Inala got up and grinned, "Alright, since I'm able to do this at Silver Grade, it's time to make preparations."
After collecting enough Prana and Lifespan, Inala would return to the hexagon chamber and elevate himself to the Mystic Grade. Since he could already collect the influence at the Silver Grade, it would be child's play at his full strength.
"Next, I need to focus on this." He approached the middle-
aged man, "Is it possible to camp here even after consuming the Nectar?"
"Only one way to find out."