Got it , - Ogras grinned . - I’ll deal with it . -
What about you? - Catheya asked .
I’m heading inside , - Zac said . - These things will disappear in a day or so . No need to wait for me if I’m not out by then . I have no idea how long this will take . -
We’ll stay in the area in case you need our help later , - Catheya said before grabbing Zac’s hand . - Thank you , and be careful . -
Don’t listen to her . Take some risks and find something good for me in there , - Ogras said , narrowly avoiding an icicle shooting in his direction . - What? Just look at him . The worst that can happen is him tripping and falling into a hidden treasure room . -
Zac laughed as he walked back toward the temple . - Remember , if some lunatic arrives , call for me , and I’ll try to come . -
A moment later , he was back on the steps and eagerly entered the gates . Zac’s vision shuddered as he passed the threshold , and the floating star was now in full view . It hovered five meters above the ground . Surrounding it were seventeen floating disks , each with a distinct rune pointing toward the sun’s center . They looked different , but they reminded Zac of the Dao Spikes he’d seen in the center of the Technocrat Research Base .
As far as Zac could tell , they were there to empower rather than restrain the sun , which seemed to be wholly self-contained . Apart from the sun , there was not much else inside the massive structure . There was a second set of pillars and braziers mirroring those outside , along with a simple table right beneath the sun .
Zac hesitated a bit before approaching . The sun drew closer , but no heat emanated from it . Zac breathed in relief at not having to withstand the searing heat of an ancient sun . This close , he got a better look at the fireflies flying about and crashing into each other . It looked chaotic , but it seemed like there was order to the madness .
There was a mystery within , but Zac’s attention soon shifted to the table . Only three things were lying atop it : a crystal , a tome , and in the middle , a tool with a small hammerhead on one side and a pick on the other . Curious , Zac’s eyes turned to the hammer . He’d encountered all kinds of tomes and crystals over the years , but this was the first time he’d seen a simple tool given such a prominent placement .
Zac reached out and touched the pick , and the whole sun shuddered as an immense presence descended . Zac heard a distant scream , but it was immediately drowned out by a booming voice reverberating through his body . Each word was like a clap of Heavenly thunder , containing immense will . Each syllable was a hammer hitting an anvil , steady and powerful .
Master the myriad transformations! Subdue the elements and bend them to your will! Make the Cosmos your forge! -
38
COSMIC FORGE
The firefly sun turned into a storm that engulfed the whole building , even dragging the flames out of the braziers by the walls . Zac stood in its center , pick hammer in hand as he looked around with wonder . The billions of fireflies created dazzling patterns that kept changing in incredibly complex ways . Just like he’d sensed before , there were truths hidden in their movements .
An impartment .
As the fireflies danced , a seal started to appear inside his Soul Aperture . It formed a hidden chamber much like the Remnant prison , likely invisible to any outsider . And as the seal appeared , Zac felt his vision split in two . He was looking at the dance around him , yet he was also witnessing a completely different scene—a different life , even .
He stood in an unfamiliar , yet familiar room with piles of materials on the floor . Zac took up a piece of glowing rock , and a swirl of fireflies began dancing around his hand . One by one , small seals appeared on the stone , written in the script of the First People . The stone cracked , and he sighed in despondency . A warm consciousness buffeted him , and the crude scripts detached themselves from the rock and flowed into the air .
They formed a simple dance above Zac’s hand in the alternate reality , mirroring the vastly more complex patterns around him . They showed him the true path and the mistakes he’d made . Zac retrieved a second stone and began anew .
One scene after another appeared in Zac’s mind’s eye . Years of practice crystallizing into an experienced hand’s intuition . It truly felt like it was him experiencing all these experiments . His attempts were based on his understanding and his failures because of his shortcomings . So every time that gentle consciousness showed the way , he gained true skill and comprehension .
Zac lost all concept of time . He was fully committed and entranced by the magical technique . All the while , the firefly sun shrunk , and the seal grew . The motes of light weren’t expended , though , but rather absorbed by the small stone pick .
Eventually , only a few thousand motes remained , at which point Zac had lived through decades of apprenticeship under a master artisan . Thousands of trials and errors had given him an instinctive understanding of materials and energy . It was a form of information impartment he hadn’t encountered before , akin to flowers naturally blooming rather than having things forcibly crammed into his brain . Of course , it couldn’t compare to real , hands-on experience . However , he had likely saved years on his journey , and the vision ensured he wouldn’t set off on the wrong path .
The remaining starlight formed a small swirl in front of him that turned into a bust of a face of a member of the First People . They looked like a mix of an herbivore dinosaur and a humanoid , with two large black eyes but no nose or ears . Instead of hair , they had back-facing horn-like formations that resembled flower petals . Over twenty of them formed a flower at the back of his head .
The bust was decidedly alien , but Zac got a warm feeling . He’d never seen this man in the visions , but he could tell it was this man who had guided him through his spiritual apprenticeship .
I am Dasorm , a Cosmic Pathfinder of the First People , - the bust said . - Fate brought you to my forge , and I gift you my creation with no expectation beyond remembering my name . I was not the most powerful of my kin nor the brightest . Neither did I ever cross that final threshold and join the six ancestors . -
Zac’s heart shuddered when he heard the voice . It was the same as the booming voice that spoke when he touched the stone pick , but it was gentler this time . Like the voice of a patient teacher who’d guided him for a large part of his life . His emotions swelled , but he focused to avoid missing anything the long gone craftsman had to say . Zac could tell this was a recording rather than a lingering spiritual will , and this was likely the first and last time Zac would see his benefactor .
There were a few things he could deduce from that short introduction . First , this wasn’t one of the peak inheritances left by one of the six gargantuan beings Zac suspected were Supremacies . However , it was still not far-off . Dasorm was only one step below those six , which meant he had to have been one of the top beings in the innermost circles .
Then again , that was probably the case with all the 229 inheritances . There had been millions and millions of cultivators on that platform , but only a few of their creations could become a star heritage .
Dasorm continued . - I was , however , the only Cosmic Pathfinder to ever forge an Ancestral Instrument . -
As expected , Zac was amazed but not surprised . Even if he’d only experienced the basic techniques of this master artisan , he could tell Dasorm’s methods were unique . Almost Heaven-defying . Since the highest-grade cultivators were called ancestors , it was a safe bet that an Ancestral Instrument was something at a similar level .
He took a ragged breath in anticipation , his heart rapidly beating . Zac had been so swept up in that vision that he hadn’t fully grasped what he’d been given . A Void-based crafting method , possibly the greatest one of the First People .