"Ninth-Heaven?" Rein asked with visible confusion.

"Oh, right. My bad." Guin chuckled. She started to explain to him the extent of the universe in a simple way as to not break his mind.

"..and there, we are gods, rulers of dimensions, wielders of Faith. Trust in us, and you will have strength." Rein's mouth was widened the entire time. His view of the world has been shattered, and to know that they are but within a realm inside a small world made him shudder, thinking of the endless expanse of the universe.

"Then, what's the point of living?" He muttered to himself.

"Oh no, I broke him." Guin thought to herself.

"Rein, young man, the point of living is to let the universe flow, to keep balance, Order and Chaos, intact. To lose that would be losing the entire universe to Nothingness." Guin consoled, patting the young man on the back.

"You are living not just for yourself, but for the universal cycle." She added.

Although he still couldn't accept it, Rein could only nod in response. "Anyways, it will take time for your sister to awaken. You can reside in my cave until that happens. I shall also guide you to different paths you can take."

From that moment on, Guin taught Rein many things whilst maintaining that mysterious feeling to ease her way into his heart and mind. While she guided him, she also made herself look like an omniscient existence from the cosmic universe.

From divine scriptures to summoning techniques, and even the basic laws that serve as the cogs of the universe. It was even to a point that Rein himself created a cultivation technique especially to strengthen a Spiritist's soul.

A week later, while Rein was busy perfecting his very own cultivation technique, the orb containing his sister suddenly moved. It released a strong wave of spiritual energy, alerting the two.

"Is it time?" Rein's eyes lit up. He rushed towards his sister's orb and waited in anticipation.

historical

A while later, a blue wisp slowly floated from the orb. It gradually formed a silhouette of a slender woman that could be compared to Guin's figure.

The spiritual power emanating from the silhouette was so strong that even Guin was shocked. 'Such potential!' She thought.

Immediately after, she smiled. Once Anna becomes fully integrated with the Boundless Flood Dragon Spirit, Guin could deduce that her strength would even be above that of Xuan, the progenitor of the Matheon Dragons. She would surely become one of the Divine Gods under Matthias, effectively becoming one of the important figures of Divine Heaven.

Taking her under her wing or even just granting protection for her in her early stages would prove beneficial to her, putting the Royal Faction on an even higher pedestal than the other factions.

It is true that there would be no truly effective civil war while the Divine Emperor is still in power, but there would still be conflicts due to resources between the different factions of Heaven. Having a powerful ally would guarantee greater resources for them.

While she was thinking of this, Anna finally opened her "eyes". It shone with a bright golden hue, with patterns of two dragons at each side of her pupils.When she saw Guin, her figure suddenly knelt, shocking the two of them. "Anna greets you, Goddess."

Guin nodded in response. "Have you sorted out your previous memories?" She asked.

Anna nodded, "Yes, Goddess." She replied, "But, there seems to be additional memories that might have come from the Boundless Spirit."

Confused, Guin asked, "Memories? But the Boundless Flood Dragon Spirit has just been formed, and I have wiped out the two souls' memories before I merged them."

Anna then shook her head, "I also don't know why. But it presents an outline of a cultivation technique for Dragon Spirits."

"Can I see it? Do you know who or where they came from?" Guin questioned curiously.

"It says I can't show them to anyone else except for my descendants who inherited the Dragon Spirit. As for its origin, it says it came from a Dragon Deity who ascended into heaven and gained the ability to see the past, present, and the future." Anna explained.

'A Dragon who ascended Heaven? Is it Heavenly King Streid?' she thought.

"If you can't, then it's fine." Guin understood what the creator of the technique wanted, and based on her words, it would seem that this "Dragon Deity" is very powerful, beyond that of the Dragons of Matheon. It would be beneficial for her to cultivate a technique that came from a Dragon of such a high status.

"Then, cultivate and become strong. I shall accommodate you in my humble abode as long as you want to." Guin offered with a smile.

"We wouldn't impose on you any longer, Goddess." Rein immediately got up and went between the two before bowing down, "We have stayed here longer than we should be."

"Do you have anywhere to stay after you leave?" She asked kindly.

"Yes, Goddess." He nodded, "South of here is an underground city created by the ancient humans to survive against the spirit onslaught. But two hundred years ago, after the method for Spiritists was distributed, the city started to send people outside to spread and contract spirits. Currently, it is the largest city in the land and could already be considered the center of humanity."

"There's a city underground?" Guin was shocked, but she did not show any reaction on her face. She excluded that possibility when she first got here because of the prowess of spirits living in this realm. It seems that she had made a mistake that no god should have made.

"Alas, I still need to improve to become a worshiped deity." Guin smiled wryly to herself but maintained a normal face outside.

"Then, you can go." Guin nodded to them, "But first.." She raised her hand and placed her palms on their heads.

"I grant you my blessing, for you to be protected and be safe in your journey. I grant you favor to the spirits, and the favor of the world." Guin said using the Divine Language, which sounded like a heavenly chant to them.Soon they felt the blessings and favor of the laws fall down upon them and merging with their souls. Their bodies felt as if they were floating in the sky, feeling the soft breeze of the wind caressing them.

"Thank you, Goddess. We shall be back if we have time." Rein bowed and smiled before leaving with Anna down the mountain.

Guin watched them as they descended the steep rocks and sighed, "I guess I'm alone again."

Months later, Rein and Anna arrived at the Underground City of Requiem. It was named as such because everyone thought that this city would be where humanity would fight their last futile struggle against the deity-like spirits. Instead, it became an abode that stands as the greatest pillar of the race.

Located inside a ravine, the city is hidden inside a wide waterfall and is defended by crystal walls. Behind the walls were stone houses that looked as if it came from a stone age movie.

The city was bustling with activity, and with it a great number of soldiers patrolled the territory.

Northernmost of the city stood a tall palace. It was somewhat similar to the palace of the Moon Empire back on the surface, except this palace was made of stone.

When they reached the city gate, two soldiers stopped them from entering further. "State your names and where you're from." One of the soldiers asked stoically.

"Rein Duranclan, member of Fretgorn Village to the East. This is Anna, my Contract Spirit."

Oddly, the soldiers looked at them with a raised eyebrow. "Why that look, sirs?" Rein asked confusedly.

"Please wait for a moment, mister." The soldier replied to them. The other soldier guided them to sit at the side, much to the two's suspicion.

When the soldier returned to the other soldier's side, they then talked about something, at which they noticed that they were frowning.

"Brother, news about Fretgorn Village's annihilation has already reached here." Anna suddenly said to him telepathically."

"What?!"

"We should formulate our reasons now, lest we are sentenced to jail or even death for wiping out an entire village." She reminded.

Nodding, Rein started to plot it with her.

A while later, a company of soldiers came out of the city gates with one soldier at front armed in a gold-plated armor.

"Are you Rein from the Fretgorn Village?"

Rein nodded.

"We need you to come with us." The man in front commanded.

"Why, sir?" Rein asked with a flabbergasted expression.

"There needs to be some questions to be answered." After saying that, the man in front glanced at the soldiers behind him and nodded his head.

The soldiers immediately rushed to their side, preventing them from going away.

Rein was "flustered" and complied with them due to "fear".