NOVPUB
Chapter 379: To Caritas City
The heavens replied to Aldrian, making him raise his eyebrows.
"What do you mean you know but at the same time don’t know?"
Aldrian wanted to pull his hair in frustration, he couldn’t truly understand the true meaning of the heavens’ intent. He sighed and kept focusing on the heavens as they had yet to finish.
"Obstructed, losing control? Something is disturbing you?" Aldrian raised his eyesbrows.
Something that even affects the heavens? Does that mean they are under some kind of influence and aren’t in their proper state? He continued to focus on the heavens’ intent.
"In... my... domain. Ah, you mean that only inside my domain do you regain full control of yourself, without any obstruction?"
He finally understood something and stopped walking toward the inn.
"Wait, the loss of purity in the church’s holy energy, the heavens, my domain, my power..." Aldrian felt as if he was touching upon one of the truth about his domain’s power.
"After the church came under my domain, the holy energy from the heavens was restored—and even became stronger. I myself am connected to the heavens and have strong karma with them. The heavens said they only have full control when they are inside my domain."
"Why am I at my most powerful state within my domain? Why can I do things more easily than outside of it? Is it because whatever is obstructing the heavens beyond my domain is also indirectly obstructing me?"
He felt the fluctuation of intent from the heavens, but he did not know what it meant. However, he couldn’t stop thinking about this matter. If what he thought was true—if someone or something was affecting even the way the heavens operated—then didn’t that mean his domain was the one negating whatever was interfering with them?
Didn’t that mean he was restoring the heavens to order? Yet, inside his domain, the heavens seemed to favor him, treading carefully around him. He could even say, with a touch of arrogance, that the heavens were submissive to him.
The heavens’ intent called him ’Your Majesty,’ and praising all his glorious titles, the same ones spoken by many of the people in his visions.
Aldrian continued walking while lost in thought. Didn’t that mean that, within his domain, he was essentially the heavens’ monarch? He only smiled at the idea.
When he thought about it, he found the idea not so bad, it was just another title after all. He had already been called many names, like ’The Absolute One’ and ’The Absolute Ruler.
If his domain was what restored the heavens’ control, then he would gladly continue expanding it. It aligned with his pursuit of strength, after all.
"Truly, my mind and character have become more arrogant since I met that man," Aldrian thought to himself.
Meeting that figure and cultivating for so long inside the Shrine of the Beginning had truly changed his mindset. More and more, he felt like a higher being, one who soared above and viewed all others from a greater height.
Aldrian arrived at the inn not long after. Even before he stepped onto the second floor, he could already see that his group was ready. They seemed to have been waiting for him, which made him smile.
"Let’s go to our next destination," he said.
They all smiled in response before setting off toward the nearest teleportation station. After more than a year, they were finally about to embark on a new journey into new territory once again.
Upon arriving at the teleportation station and stating their destination, the station operator paused and looked at them for a moment.
"You’d better be careful. Caritas City is under Baroness Charoline, and she belongs to the faction opposing the second prince," the operator warned. "I heard that Caritas has already fallen under the second prince’s faction and is now under martial law. Everyone must obey their arrangements."
"Is the situation that dire for those opposing the second prince?" Aldrian asked.
"I’ve heard that some noble families have already fallen to ruin. Many travelers from Atria empire say the same. As for Baroness Charoline, she’s at her wit’s end—only a small part of her territory and army remain in Weilmar City."
"Alright, thank you for the warning," Aldrian said.
While waiting for their number to be called, Aldrian connected himself to the Great Peng and the Phoenix outside the Heavenly City.
"You two, the Pope already knows about your existence and will come to meet you. He has his own arrangements for you until I return, so you’d better behave until then," he sent a voice transmission.
"Yes, Master," the two of them responded.
Once Aldrian’s group was called, they wasted no time stepping into the teleportation portal, leaving the territory of the Heavenly Direction Church.
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As Aldrian’s group stepped out of the teleportation portal, the sight before them was unlike anything they had seen before upon arriving in a city through the teleportation portal.
Destruction was everywhere, the streets were quiet. Few people could be seen, and there was barely any sign of daily activity. Soldiers patrolled the area, moving back and forth. It truly felt like a city that had just experienced a great war.
They were immediately met by a checkpoint, where soldiers were already waiting for those arriving through the portal. Every traveler was thoroughly inspected before being issued a clearance token, allowing them to roam the city—though always under the watchful eyes of the guards.
When it was finally Aldrian’s turn, the soldier responsible for taking notes glanced at him for a moment. He could immediately sense the powerful aura of a Duke-stage cultivator emanating from Aldrian, placing him among the upper strata of cultivators on the continent. Aldrian himself deliberately did not hide his aura, allowing others to sense it. n𝚘𝚟𝚙𝚞𝚋.𝚌o𝚖
Realizing this, the soldier subtly adjusted his posture, not wanting to appear disrespectful.
"Your name, sir..." the soldier asked.
"Aldrian."
"Purpose of your visit?"
"Looking for someone."
The soldier paused for a moment before looking at Aldrian again.
"May I ask who you are looking for?"
"A traitor," Aldrian replied without hesitation.
The soldier was momentarily stunned but quickly composed himself, writing down what he had heard. After a few more questions, Aldrian received his token. The rest of his group went through a similar process, answering nearly identical questions before they, too, were given the same token.
With their clearances secured, Aldrian led the group out of the plaza.
Once their silhouettes had faded into the distance, the soldier who had processed them took out a communication artifact and sent a voice transmission.
"A suspicious group has arrived. They’re looking for a ’traitor’... Yes... They just arrived... Understood, Commander."
After ending the transmission, he kept his gaze fixed on Aldrian’s retreating figure until it disappeared between the buildings. Then, he returned to his duties.
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After they had walked a fair distance from the teleportation station, Aldrian glanced at Sylphia and the others.
"It looks like we’ve already found a clue, even though we just arrived," he said.
Sylphia tilted her head. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"The soldier who gave us the tokens—he seems to know something about the ’traitor.’"
"How do you know?"
Aldrian smirked. "It’s a secret."
Sylphia pouted, but Aldrian simply smiled, letting her show her cute expression.
Of course, he knew the reason. When he had answered the soldier’s question with "traitor," he had sensed the reaction from the soldier’s heart—his heartbeat had skipped for a brief moment, as if he had heard something important enough to take note of. The way the soldier looked at him, as if trying to engrave his face into memory, was another sign.
That kind of reaction wasn’t normal for someone whose job was merely to take notes and distribute tokens.
There were a few possible explanations, but the most likely one was—
"That soldier was already ordered to take note of anyone suspicious who seemed to be looking for someone."
Why had the soldier been ordered to take note of anyone looking for someone—especially when the word "traitor" had clearly triggered a reaction? Aldrian had a theory, but he needed more proof before he could be certain. Fortunately, he had an easy way to test it.
"Let’s head to the church branch in this city," Aldrian said. "We’ll stop by for a moment before gathering information elsewhere."
Not long after, he finally sensed several presences trailing behind his group. Xin Haotian noticed them as well. The figures trailing them hid themselves among the surrounding buildings since there weren’t many people on the streets.
If they simply followed from a distance, they would appear inconspicuous.
However, Aldrian and Xin Haotian quickly saw through their act. Their movements followed a distinct pattern, and their line of sight repeatedly drifted toward Aldrian’s group—clear signs that they were being watched.
After asking a passersby for directions, Aldrian finally found the way to the church branch and headed there. Under the watchful eyes of their stalkers, his group appeared oblivious, strolling leisurely and casually observing their surroundings.
After taking a few turns, Aldrian finally spotted the church branch in the city.
This was a bait, a way to confirm whether his suspicions were correct!
