Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1660 Bad Blood

Gralith hadnʼt said much to Sylas after returning. In fact, Gwenu and Khan were nowhere to be seen even now. It was like they had disappeared for good.

But since Gralith hadnʼt said much about that either, Sylas didnʼt question it. He wasnʼt one to speak much anyway. Plus, he had already done his duties in saving Gralith.

Right now, he needed to press forward.

”Cryst Emperor...” Gralithʼs eyes narrowed, looking at Sylas deeply. ”A dangerous question, indeed.”

Sylasʼ expression didnʼt change. He already expected that a Cryst Emperor wouldnʼt be a simple figure if they were even remotely tied to his Gene Class, but it seemed they were even larger than he knew.

”Do you know how Heavens work?” Gralith asked.

”I do not.”

”It could be said that a Heaven is the first true division of territory that makes a meaningful difference on a large scale. A Heaven isnʼt just a parse of land. The most meaningful difference in territory there is happens to be the one between the Real World and the Demon World, and a Heaven is a much smaller reflection of the same thing.

”We are under the Skai Heaven, ruled by the Thryskai Gods. We skew toward Will, and creatures born here tend to have stronger Wills than those born in other Heavens. Cryst Emperors are very rare here because they represent the path of elementalists.

”Although you can find them, they almost all come from the most powerful of Races, while those that donʼt are quite good at hiding them until they no longer have to.”

Gralith didnʼt have to elaborate on this at all. It was obvious enough what he meant.

If they werenʼt hiding their secrets anymore, it meant they were powerful enough not to have to. In that case, even if they didnʼt come from their own powerful Race, they could make their own powerful Race.

Why would you need a powerful backer if you were your own powerful backer?

”That said, because Cryst Emperors also have strong Wills, we actually have a higher proportion of them than many of the other Heavens as well. Only the Mesmer Heaven is comparable, as they tend to have very strong Charisma talent.

”However, the Heaven with the highest proportion of Cryst Emperors without a doubt is the Cryst Heaven. They have the strongest talent in Intelligence across the entire Real World. But...”

Gralith shook his head.

”Travelling between Heavens is a death sentence for you. Your flying vessel is impressive by the standards of this Sector, and even this Horizon, but it wouldnʼt even be able to touch the void between Heavens without being shredded to pieces.

”Even if you did have such a vessel, the punishment for trying to leave a Heaven without the express permission of the Thryskai is a death sentence. Their system will unilaterally act on its own and wipe you from existence.

”And, even if you had a vessel and could escape punishment, it would take you millennia to finish crossing the distance. Itʼs entirely impractical unless you are an S-tier, and that could be considered to be the bare minimum requirement for most.

”Even the great powerhouses of a Heaven could go their entire lives without seeing another Heaven. The God Beasts of The Emperor Sanctum, for example, may go into the strata of the Gods, but that is only the Holy Land of the Skai Heaven. Even they wonʼt attempt to cross.”

Sylas slowly nodded. In that case, making it to another Heaven just for the sake of an F-tier Class Quest was really asking for too much. Then what other options did he have?

It wasnʼt like he could make it to the E-tier without upgrading his Classes.

Well... he technically could, but it would probably make him one of the weakest E-tiers—especially considering his starting point.

Plus, he would be forever stuck at Level 51, never able to make it to even Level 52.

”If you need a Cryst Emperor, then the place most likely to have them would be the Seeing Eye Guild.”

”Seeing Eye?” Sylasʼ gaze flickered.

Normally, if he heard a name that just sounded somewhat familiar, he might brush it off. Back on Earth, plenty of things had similar names.

But in this world, especially where Will was so important, and given how sensitive Sylas was to it, he knew it carried hints of the same aura.

The origins were definitely the same.

Petals of the Seeing Thorn.

The Seeing Eye Guild.

”Your intuition is good. They are related, but not in the way you might think. They are not allies in the usual sense. Itʼs instead that the Seeing Eye Guild was once the Petals of the Seeing Thorn before they took another path.”

Sylas raised an internal eyebrow. The Petals of the Seeing Thorn didnʼt exactly have a path. They were an information network. As far as their path went, it was maybe their reliance on the Seeing Thorn Seed to terraform and take control of territory.

”The Petals of the Seeing Thorn have lost their way somewhat, but you can consider them to have once been a path more in line with the Seeing Heaven, one whose talents lay with Wisdom. But the Seeing Eye deviated toward the Cryst Heavenʼs path.”

”And thereʼs no punishment from the Skai Heaven in doing so?”

”No. If anything, the Thryskai encourage it. This way, thereʼs a less likely chance that their own paths will be encroached upon.”

Sylas nodded inwardly, coming to an understanding. If Convergence was something so frowned upon, you would end up in this contradictory tug of war where your talents might very well perfectly align with the Heaven you were born under, but you would have to deviate from it nonetheless in order not to step on the wrong feet.

”By this point, the ties between the Petals of the Seeing Thorn and the Seeing Eye are so thin they hardly exist in anything but name.

”The ties between the Seeing Eye and the Weavers, though... that is a different matter entirely.

”Or, rather than ties, it might be more accurate to say the bad blood.”