Soul of Searing Steel

While the other Legendary champions returned hurriedly to their own factions and prepared to make estimations of future goals and projects with their close advisers, Joshua did not rush in his return to Fairyland, walking slowly instead in the void, feeling the ripples of the dimensions around him.

The existence of worlds itself caused the Void to stir, and hence when the ripples of infinite worlds within the Multiverse assembled it would form those immeasurably chaotic dimensional turbulence. Inferior civilizations could not even directly see through that layer of natural barrier, to observe the existence of other worlds. Legendary champions, however, were different. Every extraordinary body of ascended superior beings had observation methods that could pierce that turbulence, and Joshua's Steel Strength Vision was one of them. His gaze saw through those folds and layers of ripples, sweeping towards those worlds flickering in radiances.

Thanks to the gift from the Steel Python Star, Johsua's Steel Strength was greatly empowered and could now see even further worlds. If he seriously looked towards the distance now, he could discern most of the situation in this dimensional realm—it was a vortex-shaped world cluster with two spiral arms, and the world of Mycroft itself was located slightly upwards from the center of the vortex. Incalculable worlds were glittering dazzlingly beneath the light of the Great Mana Tide, allowing people to observe the shape of the Multiverse easily.

The trip to Stellaris had been brief but difficult, although the gains were extremely enriching. While Steel Strength, Steel Shard and Psionic Core were part of it, it was in fact of immeasurable value. Indeed, the intelligence regarding the Evil God of Pestilence was another, but apart from those, Joshua had another attainment that was rather surprising.

Out of nowhere, Joshua took out a crystal cylinder that was exquisitely made yet imposing, as well as carved with endless ancient Midgardian text. He scrutinized the 'Amber Pole' in his hand as he strolled over the Void—through the generated magnetic field inside made by the finest Midgardian technology, the crystal cylinder had the ability to stop time from flowing for the object stored within.

Time and space were fused as one. To freeze space itself so that nothing moved was an equivalent to stopping time as well, with the reverse applicable as well. From a certain perspective, the Amber Pole that could stagnate the movements of all substances had granted the objects stored within it eternally, and because it no would never move and be affected by external forces, it was also almost invincible. Joshua believed that if he could learn to create a stagnated boundary like the Amber Pole and applied it actively on his body's external armor, within a short period, he would acquire stronger defensive capacity thanks to the pure accumulation of matter.

More importantly, there was also the object that was stored within the Amber Pole.

"Droplet."

As he lifted the crystal cylinder right before his eyes, Joshua lifted his brows and directed a serious gaze toward that blue droplet substance being the stagnated boundary that had supremely simple aesthetics.

'Droplet.' In the Midgardian language, it could also be translated into 'dew' or 'dewdrop', but Joshua had simply called it 'droplet' out of habit. It was a gift from the Sage to the Midgardians more than a thousand years ago and bore unknown functions, but to the Midgardians it was a sacred relic that must not be tainted, and kept over a millennium with the Holy Hall inside the Mother Tree's body. If not to conduct the Void Door Ritual as their civilization approached despair, Milhabus and the others would never have withdrawn the sacred object.

Even the Midgardians' technology could not help them identify the substance that formed the 'Droplet'. That in turn proved that the Sage's existence and power far surpassed Midgardian civilization and was one that was almost divine, which in turn granted their religious nation to stay unified and continue. However, it did not mean that none could determine the origins of the Droplet if the Midgardians could not—or at least, Joshua himself could clearly tell the true essence of the object.

It was Steel Strength of utmost concentration.

Turning around the Amber Pole in his hand, Joshua looked at the Droplet within thoughtfully. Perhaps to others the Droplet was essentially an ultra-dense degenerate matter, and equivalent 'Steel' formed after a planet crumbled, but to Joshua's point of view as a Legendary champion whose fundamentals lay within Steel Strength, the Droplet was not actually any real substance, but was actually fundamentally identical to the Steel Shards gifted to him by Karlis, Illgner and Star.

In reality, by trying to determine the Steel Strength ripples unleashed by the Droplet, Joshua could largely guess why the Sage would present it to the Midgardians all those years ago.

"What a coincidence. The Steel Shard granted to me by Star was correlated to spirituality and psion, and this Droplet would actually have the same effect."

Unable to refrain from murmuring to himself, Joshua nodded with a subtle expression.

As he had put it, the Droplet was basically a Steel Shard same as the one he received from 'Star' the Steel Python, containing the profound power of 'spirit', 'psion', and 'will'. However, unlike the Steel Shard, the Droplet could not directly grant any beings with spiritual strength comparable to Supreme-tier, and yet it could subtly influence the beings within a wide area, awakening their spiritual talent bit by bit.

In other words, and provided that Joshua was not mistaken, the seemingly unextraordinary blue gem was a powerful stimulant that could help an entire race. It was all the Droplet's effect that every Midgardian awakened their psionic ability in over a thousand years, and even Joshua had been feeling that something was out of place—if the Midgardians really had such great psionic talents, why would they not develop over a millennium, and why would such a great starfaring race that had began to colonize different planets be so overwhelmed by the Void Mother? Now, it was clear that while the Droplet accelerated the Midgardians' psionic awakening, which hence created the discrepancy between ability and technology.

That way, everything made sense.

Joshua nodded. It was unquestionably a fine Item. Due to being in a different world and because the Extraordinary powers in Mycroft were not mainly psionic, the Droplet's power and area of effect was therefore not as great as he imagined, having shrunk from the area of a planet down to covering half a state. Still, the spiritual powers of any individual within the present area of effect were brimming with and incessantly augmented. Apart from humans, some ores and plants that were rich with mana might awaken their intelligence after a thousand years, becoming natural earth elementals or treants—such was the function of the Droplet.

"Could put it at the liege's residence… Or Winter Fort Academy, both are in the area of effect." Joshua considered hesitantly while continuing his amble through the Void. "It's a little hard to choose, especially after I turned Israel's Nuclear Star into powder. Reasonably, I should be repaying him with some treasure, but this thing would be meaningless. Tsk, why is everything about the Midgardians so slow? According to the intensity of this ripple, it should take eighty years to show its effects. Humans, being no plant life, would never have such lifespans—they would at most have a greater chance of becoming specters."

Though the Droplet was a fine object, it was a treasure tailored to the Midgardians that they did not need now. Joshua believed that the Sage had intended for leaves-for-brains to use the relic as a locator for summoning him after every single one of them became psionics, so that he could give them their next instructions. Nevertheless, due to various reasons, both sides met unexpected events, which was why they accidentally summoned minions of Evil Gods.

After some thought, Joshua decided to first place it in the liege's residence. He was ultimately a master in the aspect of Steel Strength and had acquired many Steel Shards. If the warrior really chose to alter it, the Droplet might be adapted into a form that was more suitable for the world of Mycroft, and might learn quite a few Steel Strength techniques in the process. There could perhaps be a day that Joshua would become light the Sage—he would leave just a little energy shard and unwittingly influence the future and path of development for a civilization.

Furthermore… for the Sage to create something similar to Steel Shards, it meant that he had already arrived at a threshold equivalent to 'World' with a 'human' body over a thousand years ago. An object such as a Steel Shard were typically objects created by Steel Pythons as World Wills through splitting their body's power, and for the Sage to do the same thing, it was evident he had refined his lifeform to an unimaginable level. After all, even the Steel Pythons that acted as World Wills only had such power through innateness, while the Sage reached the same threshold from mortality, step by step.

One was an innate mastery, the other an acquired learning. It was not at all the same as most stories put it—acquired was the truly powerful one.

Carrying such complex feelings within him, Joshua entered Fairyland from the Void and slowly flew towards the Northern Empire expedition base.

At present, Fairyland did not appear the same as the warrior seen it a few months ago in its near-dilapidated state. The four Fairy Queens had restored balance to the realm, and now, after recovering from the brush of the Great Mana Tide, the entire Fairyland had completely changed into as legends told—a beautiful garden belonging to fairies.

A gentle wind billowed through the vast plains, where green grass swayed in waves beneath the shining golden sun. Silver silky rivers reflected the radiance and quietly flowed through flatlands and hills, and at the edge of the plains, majestic and dense emerald forests were wrapped in creepers—many young fairies that resembled specks of lights lived there, and were laughing and chatting away happily. Power from the Four Elemental Fairy Queens of Wind, Earth, Water, and Fire maintained that complete ecosphere in the Void and created a complete world, for such was their way of Legendary. Now, it appeared that their way was unquestionably right. If there was a day in which the Fairyland truly became a world and could naturally survive without the Queens' power, they would be fit the title of 'World Builders' even after developing into full-fledged pinnacles of Legendary.

The encampment of the human factions was built on an empty, barren land not far from the fairies' forest by the edge of Fairyland. The power of the Four Fairy Queens were weakest here—even the air seemed thin. To the expedition team that was selected from the very best, however, it was not much of an issue.

In the Northern Empire encampment, many expedition members bearing the Black Raven Army's crest were making urgent preparations: The Commanding Will of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds had lowered its alert levels following Joshua's return. The hundreds of Giant God Warriors that patrolled every spot of the Sacrificial Grounds, returning instead to the center of the plane to undergo their first service and upgrade in a thousand years. To the alert expedition team, it was undoubtedly a fine chance to venture deep within and explore the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds.

Joshua did not disturb the explorers who were busy working, landing instead in an empty spot within the encampment—he had seen the rainbow elemental radiance that illuminated after the camp, which must be Light's work.

"What are you guys doing?"

Joshua could not decide if he should laugh or cry once he arrived. The sight before him was extraordinary—perhaps to restrain Light that intended to dart around, Ling and Ying were gritting their teeth, holding on to the luminous orb from left and right so that it could not fly around and trouble others. It was also the precise reason that the powerful elemental ripples were entering the bodies of the two divine armaments, shifting their psionic bodies in colors along with Light itself. In other words, by embracing Light, both Ling and Ying had simultaneously turned into lights, emitting dazzling rainbow colors.

Letting out a sigh, Joshua took a step forward and grabbed both divine armament siblings despite their surprised cries, holding them below his armpit which was relatively easy given their difference in height. Then, he reached out with his other hand to pinch Light who remained extremely restless—and it was in Joshua's hand that Light settled down, ceasing its crazed hue transformation as if it was in a disco hall. Even so, the core of the luminous orb that resembled the most complex of diamond cutting was flickering all manner of radiance.

'Ding-Ring… Ding-Ring-Ring-Ding!'

Light did not speak out of excitement, and began to jingle. Joshua was not concerned since he understood, and nodded after listening to the orb for a while.

"So, you're saying that you feel an infinite power is building within your body after eating that Steel Shard? It should be caused by the three Steel Powers of Nature, Life, and Spirit forming a cycle inside you—I'll let you have a thorough look when we returned to Moldavia later, so that you won't get too excited and shine everywhere."

Joshua mentioned 'later' because he still had some matters to discuss with the Commanding Will. But just as he prepared to depart directly from Fairyland and head to the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds, a member who appeared to be part of the Empire's expedition appeared before Joshua with noticeable discomfort. His posture was standard, his back straightened and made a knight salute to Joshua before speaking with a loud voice, "My liege, Hill, and Fina, the Leviathan Knights of the Eastern Oceans have appealed to meet you, would you…"

Before the expedition member who was clearly born a messenger could finish, Joshua waved, gesturing for him to stop. After recalling for a moment, Joshua also remembered the two comrades who once fought alongside him in Anos Abyss.

"Hill and Fina, huh? It's certainly been a long time. Never thought that they would join the expedition too, looks like the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds definitely attracts the powerful factions."

And since they had come on their own initiative, it was natural to go ahead and see how they were now.