Freedom!

"Freedom? Freedom! How did I never think about that, how did none of us think about that? Yes! What better represents the Heaven Forsaken than freedom? Freedom from the heavens and the earth, freedom from past and present, freedom from cause and effect, we are freedom!"

"Originally I thought you may just be another one of our dead end lives, especially after that fiasco at sea, but I severely underestimated you."

"Dead end?" Minos asked, not understanding what he meant.

"Don't worry about that now, just know that I was wrong, very wrong. You aren't a dead end, quite the opposite, in fact, you may be the one…"

"The one?" Minos once again asked curiously.

"That'll become clear in time, for now, I have to say goodbye." The man said with a smile, repeating the word freedom to himself as he laughed loudly, his laughter being the last thing Minos heard before he vanished completely.

Despite still being confused as to what just happened, Minos could only turn his concentration back to the starry skies, his murky pupils reflecting the galaxy that extended beyond him.

'These are my apertures, huh? It's a shame I still haven't awakened my Divine Sense, or else I'd be able to break through immediately…'

Despite being able to see all his apertures, he couldn't actually interact nor open them without his Divine Sense, meaning that at this stage, he could only look, but not touch.

If one's Path was the eyes that let one look upon this world, then Divine Sense were the arms that allowed one to interact with it.

Still not completely content, Minos tried flying towards one of the closest 'stars' but no matter how close he got, it seemed to forever be out of reach.

However Minos wasn't unsatisfied, he had already taken half a step, and all he needed to do now was keep progressing his cultivation.

Soon enough this world too would be conquered by him, but now wasn't the time, instead it was time to go.

Closing his eyes, the entire space once again was reduced to darkness, and when Minos re-opened them, Jena's face came back into sight.

"Are you okay?" She asked in concern, Minos having gone blank for a couple seconds.

"I'm fine, thank you, your words have helped me tremendously." Minos said with a smile but this time Jena felt a warmth from it that was lacking in the past, no longer just a face he was putting on, but completely genuine.

"Hehe, I guess I'm pretty wise too then!" Jena said with a giggle, happy to help.

Thinking for a moment, Minos suddenly tapped on his spatial ring, bringing out some empty sheets of paper and writing on them at tremendous speed.

Curious, Old Man Joyata and Jena just kept looking at him as he quickly filled the pages, only taking a few minutes to finish what he was doing.

"This is for you." Minos said, handing the thick stack of paper to Jena.

"What is this?" She asked curiously, taking a cursory glance at the front page.

"It's an Inner Heaven Realm cultivation technique called Pure Nux Ascension, along with all the tricks and knowledge I've accumulated throughout my cultivation career. It should make your path much easier."

"R-Really!" Jena said with shock, her hands slightly quivering as she held the papers.

Her family wasn't one that focused much on cultivation, so the best technique they had was only a Mortal Renewal one, Jena having practiced it hard ever since she was young, dreaming to become a powerful cultivator.

Unfortunately, despite her talent being good, she had been trapped at the peak of Mortal Renewal for a few years now, never having been able to get an Inner Heaven Realm technique.

"I never lie." Minos smiled, his words causing Jena's eyes to once again begin tearing up.

"T-T-Thank you…"

"No thanks needed, I'm a hero after all, aren't I?" Minos said with a laugh, patting Jena on the head as he slowly walked out of the room.

Before leaving completely, he shoved a few Gold Nux Cards into Old Man Joyata's hand, each one worth 10,000 Nux Stones.

Seeing them, the old man couldn't help but freeze, but before he could even say anything, Minos vanished, the sound of the door shutting behind him being the only thing left of his presence.

…

"You ready?" The Chess Grandmaster asked from the carriage.

"Let's go." Minos replied, entering the luxurious carriage and taking a seat beside him.

"You heard the man, let's hit the roads." The Chess Grandmaster said, the coachman at the front quickly getting into action.

As the massive horses up front kicked into action, the carriage quickly bolted down the streets, traveling at a speed Minos didn't know was possible.

"Surprised, huh? These aren't regular horses, their demonic beasts, Fire-Hoofed Horses to be exact. Adults of these species naturally reach the peak of the Mortal Renewal Realm, and taming them isn't easy."

"Impressive. By the way, to this day I still haven't gotten your name." Minos said, still only referring to the man as the Chess Grandmaster.

"My name? I've gone by my title for so long that I guess I just forgot to mention it. You can call me Hyth."

"Hyth? As in Hyth the first Sect Leader of the Future Flux Sect."

"You know about him? To think you know such niche information, and yet had no idea about the Eternal Enigma or the Golden Generation… I really wonder where you get your information from."

"Wherever I can find it." Minos smiled.

"Well you must be looking in odd places, and yes, my mother named me after him, hoping I could be as great as he was."

"Those are some grand aspirations." Minos said, aware of some of Hyth's tremendous achievements.

"Too grand. This name has always suffocated me, making me feel inadequate no matter what I accomplish, but if I solve the Eternal Enigma, things will be different…"

"Well I hope we succeed then." Minos said, causing Hyth to finally smile, which he did rarely.

"Don't worry, we'll succeed. This is a time unlike any other, and I've gathered the most competent people from across the continent."

"Then where are we heading now?"

"Well the Eternal Enigma is located in the Mountainous Abyss Continent, which is by no means easy to travel."

"First we'll stop at the Blue Cross Kingdom, then we'll take a teleportation formation to Grand Alp City, where the others are, then we'll have to figure out how to exactly reach the Eternal Enigma itself..."

"So where exactly is the Eternal Enigma then?" Minos asked.

"It's located at the lowest point in the Hell Point Abyss Range."

"Hell Point Abyss Range? Doesn't exactly sound safe…"

"It isn't, but don't worry, I've also hired a team of guards to escort us, and other than the Hell Beasts, nothing else inhabits that area."

"Hell Beasts? Were you ever planning on telling me this information before I agreed to join you." Minos said, annoyed at the lack of transparency.

"I know you must be annoyed, but I assure you that none of this is as dangerous as it sounds."

"I don't believe you, and if you aren't completely honest with me starting now, I'm just going to jump out of this carriage and head back." Minos said, his milky eyes staring daggers at Hyth.

"... Fine, I'll tell you the truth. The reality is, reaching the Eternal Enigma itself is extremely dangerous, it's one of the reasons why progress towards solving it has been so tremendously slow."

"But like I said, I've hired a team of Aperture Opening Realm Cultivators, which should be enough to protect us until we reach it."

"How many apertures have they opened?" Minos questioned.

"... Does that really matter?" Hyth said after a moment's pause.

"Of course it matters. If they've only opened a few apertures, they won't be much stronger than we are."

The Aperture Opening Realm was special in that it was one with the most massive gaps between realms, the early stage and late stage being completely different beasts altogether.

While at the Mortal Renewal Realm, a low-stage cultivator could possibly beat or even kill a high-stage one if they played their cards right, this was no longer the case at the Aperture Opening Realm.

High-stage Aperture Opening Realm Cultivators could instantly kill low-stage one's, the gap being even bigger than the difference between Inner Heaven Realm Cultivators and Mortal Renewal ones.

Because of that, while they shared the same realm, one would be foolish to think they are all the same, the gap between the two being unscalable.

"Fine, they've only opened a few, but since you know this much, you must know that mid and high-stage Aperture Opening Realm Cultivators aren't something you can just get your hands on."

"They are the backbone of large sects, it's hard to even come in contact with them, much less hire them!"