Sovereign of the Ashes

The Vitality Spring Plane was not very large; it was merely a low-level plane.

Even Vitality Spring itself was only a Rank Five Spring Lord, so its overall strength within the Myriad Springs Worlds was not particularly impressive.

However, Vitality Spring Plane lay near the heart of this world cluster.

Sein was not entirely clear on the power structure of the Myriad Springs Worlds or how its hierarchy was divided.

But based on the details and information previously revealed by the God of Dusk Desire, Vitality Spring seemed to hold greater authority than other Rank Five Spring Lords and Rank Five beings within this world cluster.

This was evident from the numerous interplanar teleportation channels found on its plane.

It was also the deepest point within the Myriad Springs Worlds that the God of Dusk Desire had ever reached—and was qualified to reach.

The Crimson Featherpyrus led Sein and the others all the way to the outskirts of Vitality Spring Plane.

During their time in the Myriad Springs Worlds, Sein gradually noticed that the Spring Lords of this vast star domain were a bit similar to the Rank Four plant beings he had encountered before.

One example was the Verdant Wilderness God, a vassal of Lorianne’s Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

As a Rank Four plant entity, the Verdant Wilderness God found it extremely difficult to leave its home plane under normal circumstances.

It would not have been an exaggeration to say that it was one with its world.

Although these unique, law-wielding lifeforms were restricted by their inability to easily leave their homeplanes, they also enjoyed a level of support that other types of creatures could hardly imagine.

The entire plane served as the Verdant Wilderness God’s foundation.

That was why, when Lorianne sought to conquer the Verdant Wilderness World, her first move was to destroy the planar nodes and weaken its native god’s power.

The Spring Lords of the Myriad Springs Worlds were similar to such deities in that they, too, had become deeply integrated with their respective planes.

Within their own respective hydro elemental planes, these Spring Lords could unleash combat power beyond their normal limits.

For those who had cultivated their worlds over long periods, where the environment and laws were closely tied to their own, they could push that power even further!

However, these hydro elemental Spring Lords did not share the usual weakness of plant-type deities, who struggled to leave their homeplanes.

Most Spring Lords could move about freely.

It was just that once they left the plane they were bound to, they could no longer fully unleash their strength.

“The overall strength of this star domain exceeds my initial estimates. In fact, there’s more than one large-sized plane within it...” Sein murmured as a dense stream of elemental runes streaked across Sein’s Faceless Mask.

This mid-tier world-class secret treasure was operating at full capacity, gathering all kinds of information about the Myriad Springs Worlds for him.

At the same time, his other world-class treasure, the Magic Cube, was also running at full speed.

In terms of raw “intelligence,” the Magic Cube far surpassed the Faceless Mask.

Drawing on the vast knowledge Sein had fed into it, along with the complex technological knowledge it had absorbed from the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization, the cube was analyzing the entire star domain in parallel.

After a long pause, Sein could not help but wonder aloud, “Could this be a special star domain with the potential to grow into a top-tier civilization?”

He was not entirely sure of his judgment. At his current level, the criteria for a top-tier civilization were still unclear to him.

Still, the overall strength and elemental environment of the Myriad Springs Worlds clearly surpassed the large-sized worlds and star domains he had visited before.

It was hard for him not to wonder.

***

With the Crimson Featherpyrus leading the way, Sein and the others soon arrived at Vitality Spring Plane and even met Vitality Spring himself.

True to the Law of Vitality it wielded, this Spring Lord was an energetic and enthusiastic Rank Five being.

Unlike the Magus Civilization, where everything revolved around interests, or the Magus Alliance, where hierarchy was clearly defined, the beings of the Myriad Springs Worlds did not seem to place much importance on social standing.

The Crimson Featherpyrus was clearly of lower status than Vitality Spring, yet it was still greeted with warmth.

Vitality Spring also showed clear delight and affection toward Tourmaline, who was riding on the giant fish’s back.

None of it felt forced. The beings of this star domain were simply peaceful by nature.

“The aura you carry... it feels familiar. But I feel more drawn to you than the others with this aura. Welcome to the Myriad Springs Worlds!” Vitality Spring said to Tourmaline.

“Oh? Is that so?” Tourmaline leaned in for a closer look at Vitality Spring, then glanced back at Sein.

Sein was not sure whether Vitality Spring had ever come into contact with Tourmaline’s family before.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he did not reveal that he was from the Magus Civilization. Instead, he asked which nearby planar civilizations had established teleportation links with Vitality Spring Plane.

“No problem. The teleportation spring is located at Rainbow Falls below. Crimson Featherpyrus can take you there directly,” Vitality Spring said.

“Energy crystals are the primary currency within the Myriad Springs Worlds. We also accept rare metals, but not souls or the remains of living beings,” he added, playfully splashing water at Tourmaline.

Being gentle did not mean being foolish.

Vitality Spring was clearly experienced enough to tell that Sein was very different from Tourmaline.

He also cast a few extra glances at Fermera, the eight-winged angel standing behind Sein like a bodyguard.

This Rank Six robot did not seem to make Vitality Spring particularly wary.

In truth, ever since his birth, there had been very few beings bold enough to cause trouble within the Myriad Springs Worlds.

Leaving Tourmaline behind to chat with Vitality Spring, Sein headed toward the teleportation spring.

Vitality Spring Plane was indeed connected to many civilizations in the surrounding star domains.

There were a total of fifty-six direct links to planes and star nodes.

As for indirect connections to other planes and distant star domain coordinates, there were over two hundred!

The data clearly reflected the strong ties between Vitality Spring Plane, the Myriad Springs Worlds, and the surrounding civilizations.

To Sein’s disappointment, none of those connections led to any planes affiliated with the Magus Civilization.

The reachable coordinates were still not far enough.

If Sein wanted to return directly to the Magus Civilization, he would have to venture deeper into this star domain and seek help from more powerful Spring Lords.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, a pitch-black shadow began to descend upon Vitality Spring Plane.

A powerful surge of dark power made Sein instinctively look up.

The once-clear sky had turned completely black.

“A peak Rank Six presence...!”

Sensing the overwhelming pressure descending from beyond the plane, Sein immediately went on high alert.