Sovereign of the Ashes

With their course set once more for the Myriad Springs Worlds, Sein and his group picked up the pace.

The God of Dusk Desire proved to be sensible. Upon reaching Flowing Water Plane, he simply had his men deliver the ransom and did not enter the plane himself.

His merchant fleet continued traveling alongside Sein’s group as well.

His actions helped avoid suspicion. It made it less likely anyone would think he had turned informant.

In return, Sein removed the magical restraints he had placed on him.

At least on the surface, the God of Dusk Desire had regained his freedom after paying the ransom.

Another twenty-one years passed.

At last, Sein and his crew reached the outer edge of the Myriad Springs Worlds.

After such a long journey, one thing became clear—interstellar travel and trade were far beyond the reach of ordinary lifeforms.

For most, a lifetime would be consumed just by the cost of travel alone.

Of course, part of the problem lay in the ships they had been using. The vessels Sein had seized were of poor quality.

If they had been traveling aboard a Magus Civilization space fortress capable of continuous spatial jumps, the journey could have been cut to a third of the time.

It was also just before their arrival that Sein finally returned to peak condition.

Tests conducted with his crystal ball, along with detailed observation, showed clear improvements. His physical strength, mental focus, and mana reserves had all increased compared to before the Mordora Star Domain War.

His constitution, in particular, had improved the most. After enduring the last space-time turbulence, his body had become far more resilient.

With just the defensive boost from his Ashen Demon form, Sein could now match the durability of a late-stage Rank Five passive evolution creature, nearly on par with Master Gregory.

As for his knowledge and control over the elements, Sein could feel the difference as well.

Repeatedly passing through portals and space-time corridors had deepened his understanding of spatial laws.

“Every brush with death pushes a lifeform to evolve. It forces one closer to their limits,” Sein murmured.

He paused, then added with a faint smile, “Still, if I had a choice, I would rather pursue the truth quietly in a lab.”

Standing in the ship’s control room, he adjusted the “cape” draped over his shoulders. Tourmaline had recently made it for him.

Lately, her interests had been shifting on a whim.

Not long ago, she had been obsessed with playing space pirate.

Now, for some reason, she had taken an interest in making clothes.

At first, she wanted to make Sein a proper magic robe.

Halfway through, she realized she was not skilled enough, so she scaled it back to a cloak.

In the end, even that did not quite work out. What she produced looked more like a cape.

Sein did not mind Tourmaline’s terrible skills.

As he ran his fingers over the cape that was woven from a mix of rare materials, he could almost picture her sitting there, focused and absorbed in her work.

Gurgling Spring Plane was the first complete plane Sein and his crew approached after arriving in the Myriad Springs Worlds.

The closer they moved toward the heart of this world cluster, the stronger the water-vapor energy became.

Sein had traveled through many large-sized star domains and had a solid grasp of how such civilizations functioned.

The God of Dusk Desire had not exaggerated in the slightest. If anything, the overall strength of the Myriad Springs Worlds exceeded Sein’s expectations.

Even from the outskirts, Sein could already form a reasonable picture of the world cluster from just a small portion of it.

The dense water vapor law power pressing in from all sides made him slightly uncomfortable.

As a pyromancer, this kind of environment naturally worked against him. He still preferred star domains rich in pyro elemental energy.

Lumen elemental energy would have been acceptable too.

In contrast, Tourmaline was completely delighted. The moment they reached Gurgling Spring Plane, she could no longer hold herself back.

Without warning, she leapt straight out of the ship and revealed her true dragon turtle form in the void!

Even if Sein tried to stop her, it was already too late.

Now that she had fully recovered, Tourmaline’s body stretched over ten thousand meters. Her presence easily rivaled that of a Magus Civilization space fortress.

Tourmaline tilted her massive dragon head back and released a long, resonant roar.

She then surged into the depths of the starry sky, completely unrestrained as she reveled in her restored strength and happiness.

Her sheer size and presence quickly drew attention. More and more creatures from the Myriad Springs Worlds began to notice her.

Seeing this, Sein smiled wryly and immediately signaled Fermera to prepare for combat.

Before arriving, he had heard from the God of Dusk Desire that the Spring Lords of this star domain were gentle creatures who rarely initiated conflict.

Still, reality could be very different. They had only just arrived, and Sein could not fully trust those claims yet. There was still too much he did not know about this large star domain.

If a unique dragonkin with an unusual bloodline were to appear in Magus Civilization’s territory and let out a roar like that, Sein felt the mages would be disgracing its rare bloodline if they did not capture it and bring it back for study.

The Rank Four God of Dusk Desire could only stare in shock at Tourmaline, who had just unleashed her full form.

Back in the Vermi Star Domain, her sheer size had already left a deep impression on him.

He had never imagined that had not even been her full strength—and that she could grow even larger!

His reaction said more about his limited experience than anything else.

If he ever saw White Stella at her peak, or their father Baxia in his true form, this would not seem nearly as shocking.

Compared to her family, Tourmaline was still “very young”.

Before long, several Rank Four and Rank Five beings appeared in front of Sein and the others.

The first to arrive was a Rank Four hydro elemental creature from the Gurgling Spring Plane below them.

It looked like a mass of flowing spring water with no fixed shape. From a discreet explanation by the God of Dusk Desire, Sein learned that this being was Gurgling Spring itself—the ruler of that plane.

The reason Sein had chosen this plane as his entry point into the Myriad Springs World was simple.

Gurgling Spring was known to be relatively easy to deal with, and the God of Dusk Desire had dealt with it before.

The other Rank Four and Rank Five beings drawn here by Tourmaline’s roar were mostly hydro elemental creatures as well.

They were likely the various Spring Lords of this world cluster.

Only one stood out. It was a massive red fish with thin wings on its back, radiating the aura of a Rank Five being.

It seemed to adore Tourmaline.

After arriving in the nearby void, it began hovering around her, flapping its wings.

Despite its Rank Five strength, it was less than a third of her size in her full form.

As it circled around Tourmaline, translucent white bubbles formed between its wings and drifted toward her.

Tourmaline watched them with wide, curious eyes. Every now and then, she reached out with a claw and popped one.

Even in a completely unfamiliar place, she showed no sign of nervousness or panic. Instead she was already playing with the Rank Five fish.

Seeing this, Sein could only shake his head.

Tourmaline really was a natural social butterfly.