Two Weeks

No surprises happened on this day. His meetings with the two Heaven's Chosen went extremely smoothly. Neither of them thought too highly of themselves, only genuinely seeking the shade underneath a big tree.

The first to arrive was a young man of decent, honest looks. Apparently, he had grown up as an orphan without any backing, yet had managed to pick up a bit of knowledge about the Supreme Pillars while working as a concierge at a high-class establishment. He was called Conrad, with no surname to speak of.

The sole thing noteworthy about him–and what had qualified him to take part in this competition–was that he had a Mythical-grade Talent, Cultivation Luminary. This alone allowed him to progress far faster than a regular person on his path to greatness, yet it was also so common amongst Heaven's Chosen that it didn't give him any edge over others whatsoever.

On the bright side, he was extremely close to a blank slate, so he could be moulded into whatever form fit the circumstances best. Judging him to be very agreeable and easy to get along with upon their encounter, Theodore accepted his application to become his Retainer without a fuss, assigning him the role of a guard under his command.

For now, he was to focus on strengthening himself and doing a few odd jobs here and there. He could also keep Satoru company, so that the youngster wouldn't feel too lonely or alienated.

The second interviewee was a woman by the name of Corinna Booras. Contrary to all other peers he had met so far, she was already in her early thirties. By normal standards, she could be considered quite the looker, yet she blended mostly into the backdrop when compared to those descending from Named Families. Just like Conrad, the Talent which had made her worthy of participation was a cultivation-related one, yet it was merely of Legendary-grade: Cultivation Savant.

If that was all which she had to offer, Theodore would have had to consider whether she was actually worthy of becoming his Retainer, but she also was quite the experienced seamstress. Additionally, she had worked as a maid before, so fulfilling the role of a proper Servant shouldn't be an issue.

With all of this considered, he hired her on the spot, assigning Li Shuying to her tutelage. Neither Conrad nor Corinna needed to strive for the absolute peak of perfection–merely doing their best and following orders was all that was expected of them.

'All things considered, these last two are the norm when it comes to Heaven's Chosen. Most are merely cannon fodder in comparison to the more exceptional folk. It was outright outrageous for me to encounter so many unusual ones up until now.'

Silently shaking his head, he sipped his tea and enjoyed a moment of peace and quiet. Due to how smoothly today's talks had gone, he was now ahead of schedule, so he could afford a bit of relaxation.

Never had he been too much of a tea aficionado, yet he couldn't deny that it could help him to relieve some–primarily self-inflicted–stress. Naturally, his peers in this world couldn't bother him, yet he had far too many long-term matters to worry about.

'... alright, that's enough. Time to get back to work!'

Less than ten minutes after his break had begun, he returned to overseeing the Arrays and cultivating. Everything on his retinue's end was in order, with Vigdis and Cheong Suhyeon being more than capable of dealing with any ordinary matters which might crop up. Besides his daily cleansings, he soon sank into a semi-secluded state, with the days passing him by like cars on a highway.

No other Heaven's Chosen decided to make the trek all the way to Qinglong City, but a few of them still called Vigdis every now and then. Most likely, they had simply been frightened off by the Anti-Winter Alliance and wanted to stay out of this mess altogether. Theodore wouldn't blame them for that–only if they stood against him would he not even bother to give them a chance to explain themselves.

Over the next two weeks, Xie Mei managed to ignite her Coreflame, earning plenty of joyful praises and hugs from everyone around her as a reward. From the moment of her breakthrough, there was an added hint of serenity to her gaze, yet it was remarkably fleeting. If one didn't look closely enough, one might never notice it. Still, it was undeniable that something at her very core had changed... or been unearthed. But like everyone else who had made it this far in their cultivation journey, it might take her a lifetime to figure out the exact details.

Han Junqiao had not yet broken through to the Thunder Tempering Realm, but she was doing her best to prepare for it. Her initial slight melancholy at having been overtaken had quickly faded, as she had never been a competitive person to begin with.

Due to the Teleportation Array in Qinglong City not allowing anyone stronger than a peak Initial Ascension Stage being to make use of it, Vigdis had been a bit reluctant to progress further once she had reached that point. Only after Theodore had reassured her that he would tweak it later when they needed to make use of it to invade other worlds did she heave a sigh of relief.

Breaking through to the Dawning Numen Stage took her an entire day, during which Cheong Suhyeon was the sole one to accompany him on his cleansings. Contrary to all other cultivation stages before it, the Dawning Numen Stage focused exclusively on the power of one's will, making it by far the hardest to progress in–even for those whose Talents usually made getting stronger a breeze. It was the first real watershed on the journey to greatness, and some Named Family members would spend years to take a single step forward once they arrived here.

Considering this round's highest present Energy concentration, the peak of the Dawning Numen Stage was the limit–and not even remotely in the same way as other stages had been restricted in less Energy-rich areas in the current event venue. Previously, these 'limits' had only been enough to hold back regular people–Heaven's Chosen would always be capable of going further, it would simply take them a long while to do so.

Yet this time, even the most outstanding ones could not possibly progress any further once the pinnacle of the Dawning Numen Stage was in sight. Maintaining their power would be challenging enough, with no surplus Energy available whatsoever. This was the true 'cap' of the first round, and the one which Array Formation experts would be able to circumvent.

Both Cheong Suhyeon and Navya easily broke through to the Soul Sculpting Stage, with the two of them finding themselves at the Nascent Soul Realm within 14 days. As for Satoru, he had progressed from the Faux Energy Refinement to the Faux Core Formation Stage.

Conrad and Corinna were usually instructed by Vigdis when it came to matters of cultivation, therefore the two of them had improved quite a bit too. Yet neither of them had exceeded the Core Formation Stage yet. As for Li Shuying... well, she was doing her best. Thankfully, nobody made fun of her for having drawn a less fortunate lot at birth–else, whoever did so would experience the beating of a lifetime.

During Theodore's semi-seclusion, the Heaven's Chosen not affiliated with him weren't idle. Many of those who had previously challenged various ruins finally escaped the wilderness, with a few of them getting convinced to join the Anti-Winter Alliance.

Naturally, some battles between peers also broke out, with the first two not Theodore-related Heaven's Chosen deaths of the Qinglong World occurring. But perhaps due to the influence of having two colossal groups hanging over their heads like swords of Damocles, the vast majority of all those who chose to remain neutral banded together as well.

Surprisingly, the atmosphere amongst this faction was markedly better than that at the Anti-Winter Alliance–mostly because they were all in the same boat, seeking peace and stability. The warmongers aiming their blades at Theodore's party, on the other hand, had frequent disagreements and brawls taking place. However, this also allowed the Beast Lord and the Insect Lord to assert their absolute dominance with an iron fist.

In any case, pretty much no Heaven's Chosen still resided in cities of at least prefectural capital-level. By now, everyone knew that these were rapidly being swept clean by Theodore, therefore only a suicidal fool would choose to go there. Fortunately, quite a few ruins with decent to remarkable Energy concentration had been discovered, so these now functioned as the new homes to many. The Anti-Winter Alliance as well used a ruin which Renault had taken over as their base.

Amidst the planning and careful arrangements of Kjartan and Renault, their forces stealthily sneaked through the wilderness and small towns, ever getting closer to Qinglong City. Due to being aware of Theodore's Array Formation-related capabilities, they stayed far enough away to not possibly be discovered, yet they also had to dodge the constant streams of fanatical believers coming and going from all sides.

Due to space limitations, Qinglong City could only house close to ten million people–yet Cheong Suhyeon now had far more believers than merely this number. Therefore, she had only the most powerful and pious come to the 'holy city', whereas the rest were out wandering the entire world, informing her whenever they came across a new settlement. At the end of their daily cleansings, Theodore would then teleport her to some of these discoveries, allowing her believer count to increase further.

The sole exception to being incorporated into her flock was made for Shanxi Village, which had played host to Theodore for a while and was Xie Mei's home.

In any case, dodging the 'patrols' of the believers would have given the Anti-Winter Alliance quite the headache, if it wasn't for Kjartan's and Renault's extensive scouting around their forces. Sure, it required them to micromanage a lot, but other than occasionally causing their brows to furrow in annoyance, it didn't pose much of an obstacle.

One day, a hooded figure dashed wildly throughout the woods, frequently glancing over their shoulder. From the panicked breaths and trembling pupils of this person, it was clear to see that whatever it was that they were looking out for, they really hoped that they wouldn't encounter it.

A sudden gust of wind blew past, causing the figure to halt in their tracks momentarily. The hood was lifted, and their cloak was fluttering strongly, revealing a man of maybe 25 years of age. His general appearance was bright and sunny, with an instinctive feeling of closeness sprouting in the hearts of anyone who laid their eyes upon him. He wasn't divinely gorgeous, yet he would certainly turn the heads of the vast majority of all women in his vicinity.

His usually friendly and encouraging gaze was now marred by an unprecedented seriousness. Not wasting any time on wrapping himself up properly once again, his sprint continued, at a speed vastly surpassing human limits. Only cultivators at the Core Formation Stage might have a chance of catching up to him.

Out of nowhere, a group of monstrous wolves blocked his path, clearly having anticipated his direction of flight in advance. The gravitas of this situation settling in, his face turned a shade more solemn, then he sped up even further. With swift strides, he dodged most of the animals, with only one of them managing to truly get in his way.

Wordlessly, he jumped slightly, then stomped straight on its skull, shattering it in the process. His advances wouldn't be halted by these weak beasts, yet they weren't what he was worried about. Rather, it was their controller.

Finally, after he passed through another three groups of ferocious animals, he saw a city wall in the distance, alongside a flashy, holographic advertisement. Not allowing himself to become complacent so shortly before reaching his goal, he forced himself to his limits and almost instantly arrived at the major settlement.

Everything he had done had been a gamble–he hadn't known that this place had also been 'cleansed'. Yet, fortunately, his bet had paid off. Ignoring the incensed and threatening howls behind him, he jumped across the city walls. Reaching out, he snatched up the communication artefact, continued his sprint and injected his Energy into it.

Right after the call had been picked up, before the person on the other end even had the opportunity to speak up, he hastily rattled off his message.

"I have vital intel to share and am currently being pursued. My life is in danger, I plead for immediate extraction!"