The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order

Chapter 2281: Empyrean Trade District

Cain began with the five super powerhouses before him. A 41-Revolution Refinement swept through their bodies and minds, threading world energy through soul and life force alike.

When the final ring of energy faded, Cipher, Zephirax, Arkam, Amara, and Uriel opened their eyes with quiet, relieved smiles. Every wound from their battle against the High Lords of the Root—burned essence, fractured will, torn soul—had been repaired. Their strength surged back to its peak, steady and unshaken for the first time in months.

Yet Cain did not stop there.

What followed was a very strenuous labor. Moving with deliberate restraint, he extended the refinement to ArchDeities and Prima Deities across the alliance.

Since he had implemented a 40 Revolution Refinement in all those warriors before the Invasion of the Heart of the Root, Cain had to use flames with 41 colors for all of them. Given their cultivation base and power, it would mean not only fixing their funds but improving their potential and talent in a significant way, so they were all more than happy to receive it.

The Scarlet King did not attempt to finish with the warriors of all five Empyrean Worlds in a single effort; instead, he worked methodically. After a batch from each world, he allowed himself three days of stillness to cool the strain burning through his damaged soul, then resumed.

A month and a half passed before the final divine wounds were mended.

Every Third Realm Master who had stood in the invasion of the Heart of the Root was restored, with burning potential and rising talent. As for the Divine Transcendent Masters who supported the Runic War Avatars, Cain gave orders for the countless Tribulation Masters of the Everstrife Empyrean World to march into the Grand Hall and take charge of their recovery.

There were too many for Cain to handle personally—but it was unnecessary. The Scarlet Kingdom had hundreds of Prima Deity-tier masters ready for the task.

The war ahead would be long. They could not afford to lose so many promising cultivators or delay their cultivation in any manner. Even if only a fraction—one in a thousand—broke through to Prima Deity in the next decade, that still meant thousands of new Third Realm Masters, and from them, hundreds of ArchDeity-level Runic War Avatars. A force capable of tilting even Alpha-Omega Overgod battlefields.

Those numbers could mean the difference between victory and defeat. After all, without the powerhouses who delayed the Champions and High Lords of the Root, Cain would never have shattered the decapitated head in time. Everything would have been lost.

And the effort benefited Everstrife’s own cultivators as well. Refinement was skill, and skill progressed through use. After so much work, their mastery of Tribulation Enhancement would inevitably rise.

Every step Cain took was chosen with the future in mind—strengthening the coalition, sustaining morale, and preparing the alliance for the moment the wall of fire and rot finally fell.

When the final patient rose renewed, Cain and the super-powerhouses of the Six Sacred Races gathered once more in the great chamber. The representatives of the two Empyrean Worlds that had stayed out of the invasion had returned to their realms after Cain’s earlier warning, and no one else came after they left.

”It seems they still refuse to show themselves,” Cain murmured, his eyes narrowing slightly.

It was disappointing. He would have preferred their leaders appear in person. Especially the Alpha Omega Overgod of the Godslayer Humankind—an unknown factor whose intentions were impossible to predict.

If they were merely cowards who did not dare to face the Root, that would have been a pleasant surprise. But after learning that the master of the Abyssalcrown Empyrean World had been nothing more than a puppet of the Tenth Empyrean World, Cain no longer trusted appearances.

Even lies would have been useful. With the Flow and the Power of Chaos, he could have read the truth beneath their falsehoods. But no such opportunity had been granted.

”One step at a time,” he muttered, letting the irritation settle into cold discipline. His gaze shifted back to the five super-powerhouses before him.

”Our current situation,” he began, ”is not good—but neither is it catastrophic.”

Silence fell over the chamber.

”The Heart of the Root has taken an entire Empyrean World, becoming the World of the Root. With the wall of fire in place, it will be years before entry becomes possible. But the barrier is not eternal. It will fade. And by that time, the Root will be far stronger.”

Grim tension tightened the faces around him. None challenged his assessment. Half the Champions and two-thirds of the High Lords had been forced into battle before finishing their gestation, drastically limiting their combat power. That advantage would not exist next time. Now, with the vitality of a full Empyrean World feeding them, the Root’s forces could complete their evolution in peace.

When the barrier fell, the coalition would face enemies displaying their true Alpha Omega Overgod might.

That knowledge did not weaken the resolve in the room—if anything, it sharpened it.

Cain nodded, satisfied. Pressure was a blade; applied properly, it forged stronger wills.

”Since the wall prevents any immediate battle, we must focus on strengthening ourselves,” he continued. ”Cultivation. Consolidation. Advancement. The best way to accelerate that is through collaboration.”

He raised a hand toward the vast golden construct around them.

”I propose that we transform the Golden Hall into a unified exchange center. A place where cultivators from all six Empyrean Worlds of the Alliance may trade treasures, cultivation techniques, battle insights, soul scriptures—anything that strengthens us collectively.”

Rippled light flashed in the eyes of the great powerhouses. The idea was bold, practical, and long overdue. But a single concern surfaced immediately, voiced by Amara.

”Who will administer the trade district?”

Even after fighting side by side, their worlds were far from harmonious. Competition for resources was natural; jealousy was natural. If left unregulated, the exchange center could become a breeding ground for chaos. Someone had to maintain order, and that party would have power over the other five Empyrean Worlds.