Chapter 1652 1645: God Cage of Eight Directions
"Hahaha!"
Rampant laughter imbued with an air of freedom and mystery resounded as the comet sped forward at faster speeds than before. Meanwhile, the galactic layer glazed over with a dark silvery glow that instilled a chilling sensation within the soul. All spatial fluctuations were forbidden. Countless Void Vessels were having all sorts of issues, and certain conflicts that revolved around escape and chasing indiscriminately.
The No-Name Galaxy had thirty-four regions-twenty-two minor regions and twelve major regions. Each region was like a Galactic Zone in its own right, utterly massive in scale and population. They had countless starfields and thousands upon thousands of Stellar Regions. The sheer distance of a galaxy was massive enough to instill existential dread in lower-stage Mystic Ascendant Realm cultivators as they might never venture beyond their region.
The current conflict was located in one of the twelve major regions, the region ruled by one of the eight Sages of the No-Name Galaxy, Sage Imentet. The comet originated from another Sage's dominated territory-Sage Pakhet. She was known for being devastatingly beautiful yet equally cold as everfrost and as ferocious as a lioness.
She was blazing across the void using her physical power, a mixture of mystic power and heavy emphasis on physical energies. She was a bonafide Martial Cultivator! While she visually seemed as luminous as a comet, she was kicking with each acceleration, reaching absurdly fast speeds with concentrated force. The glow was purely the force of razing through the void with unstoppable momentum!
Due to the galactic-wide spatial restrictions they imposed, the Sages had to rely on other means to arrive, and she was the least subtle.
While the male voice originated from Sage Nepri, and he was a renowned Spiritual Cultivator. While he wasn't a Spiritualist, it was once said his Spiritual Spells were not inferior to a true Spiritualist. Whether that was true or not was only something the other Sages of the No-Name Galaxy could attest to. Despite being further away than Sage Pakhet, he was projecting his Spiritual Sense across regions with ease. This was a clear sign of his immense Spiritual Strength.
Back in his major region, the region whose natives called the galaxy the Yang Grain Galaxy, a middle-aged man in white, black, and red colored tight-fitting, sleeveless robes that showed off the contours of his muscular arms while sporting tricolor bracers. He wore a wide belt and had a sky-blue hinted curved dagger at his waist, his hand holding it tightly as his light bluish eyes pierced across the Dark Void toward the region where its natives referred to the No-Name Galaxy as the Hidden Desert Galaxy.
A figure swathed in a shadowy haze was being assaulted by black and white sand formed of mystic power. They formed crashing, twisting pillars that resembled terrifying tornadoes. He was surrounded!
Sage Nepri projected his Spiritual Sense across that vast distance.
"Sage Imentet, you must keep him there!"
He hastily reminded her. The culprit had finally been cornered. They couldn't let this opportunity slip through their fingers!
"I KNOW!"
A roar of anger boomed outward from a beautifully alluring voice, almost sultry to a fault, completely contradicting the total ravenous rampage of sandstorms she was unleashing that was disturbing the very orbital cycle of nearby starfields.
Nearly two months ago, an incident that shook the entire galaxy had unfolded! Across the stars, the protected vaults of countless organizations were infiltrated by an unknown, foreign thief and every last thing was taken without discrimination. If it wasn't fastened to anything, it was taken, and even if the fields were half-mature, the trees and stalks were picked clean.
This wasn't immediately noticed either. The chaos it caused as it was slowly discovered with countless forces believing it to be an isolated response was intense as investigations were thoroughly conducted. While most forces discovered nothing, those with Original Magistrates and Mystic Overlords noticed traces of an aura that could be extracted and studied. The scrying spells of Oracles and Heavenly Seers were demanded by these forces and they eventually found the potential culprit.
It was a vagabond Cultivator known as Teng Jiangwen! That was what the top-tier scryers determined by scouring the world's information and beseeching the Heavenly Daos' awareness. This wasn't an unfamiliar name either, as those top-tier experts of the No-Name Galaxy weren't entirely unfamiliar with this thief. Some had even met him prior for a brief period as he settled here both recently and long ago. As a Vagabond Cultivator at the level of a Sage, traversing across galaxies was his field of expertise.
This was why Young Master Shang had hired Teng Jiangwen despite his vagabond status. Mostly due to wanting to remain anonymous, and to borrow his expert knowledge to evade the dangers of the Void-Blank Space between galaxies that Mystic Overlords wouldn't dare to carelessly traverse. Teng Jiangwen had also grasped a true Minor Law-Minor Authority of Momentum-and had reputable combat strength.
This realization induced a few reactions. The most common was teeth-gritting acceptance. How could an Original Magistrate dare to seek revenge against a Sage who grasped a genuine Minor Law and had no set home? The possibility of revenge was spine-chilling at the very act of trying to hunt them down.
Moreover, various Alchemist Organizations were spared, so none of those connected to those larger, prominent, and absurdly wealthy forces could casually hire out Sages easily. Even If they could, what Sage would choose to hunt another Sage with a full Minor Law? It required insanity and great courage of thought and heart to even try. Even then, the resulting cost would be extraordinarily high.
But they were just robbed blind of everything! EVERYTHING! How could they afford to hire an Enlightened Sage or higher for a great possibility of revenge? Additionally, they could only dream of regaining their treasures, materials, and resources. The hunter would take it all with a smile!
Some of the most petty forces released news of Teng Jiangwen containing an absurd level of wealth after seizing a Supreme Sage tomb or a Supreme Sage's abandoned vault, however. They obviously didn't outwardly say they were robbed as this only highlighted a level of personal insecurity and could inspire grave distrust of their competence as powerful experts.
At first, the chaos that was unleashed as a result was intense as forces hid under the illusion of investigating the rumors to find this recently blessed vagabond Sage. Even the eight Sages of the No-Name Galaxy took interest, some more than others, and they scoured their regions for signs of Teng Jiangwen or beyond the No-Name Galaxy's galactic layer for fluctuations of his departure either personally or using a Void Vessel. They saw no evidence of him leaving, so all evidence suggested he was still here, hiding and potentially cultivating with his recently ill-gotten gains.
Yet the efforts of a week or so bore little fruit. The various forces still began to fight against each other. It was hard to truly understand the implications of losing every last one of their available resources. It wasn't very often that the resource-rich, overly-abundant cultivation society was bereft of cultivation resources, and this created an urgency. They couldn't predict that something obvious would rear itself!
The need for cultivation resources! Not just high-level, rare resources but generally used resources! Billions upon billions of cultivators from all levels were now unable to acquire resources and this feeling was soul-seizing. For the first time, many couldn't acquire anything.
The thief was thorough to an extreme. He didn't even spare the minor merchant organizations that existed. He didn't just aim for the Mystic Ascendant Realm-led forces, but mortal-tier organizations with chiefs led by Realmlords, Timelords, and Starlords were targeted without mercy!
The thief swept through EVERYTHING!
The lack of resources was almost like an addict going through intense withdrawals and the effects were rippling as internal strife and conflict continued to unfold. The prices for existing or newly formed resources skyrocketed to near unaffordability for the majority, and desperate forces began to resort to banditry. Some were direct, and others were righteously coated under the theme of offense leading to war or accusations of theft.
Since many forces hadn't outright announced their fates, those who were unable to coup had targeted others and raided bases, bandit mountains, and dark(evil) organizations were routed on the basis of them being responsible for anything. In truth, they simply wanted their resources. Eventually, it was discovered many times that those forces wiped clean were also as poor and lacking as the others.
Few could even power their formations and arrays, resorting to using cultivators as batteries.
The chaos was like dominoes falling. Initially, it was smaller forces and then larger forces!
Eventually, a great war between Original Magistrate-led forces alerted the higher forces and further investigation realized their selfish motives of plundering the other force to deal with the absence of resources or to cull excessive members who needed too much to sustain themselves. This was when the top-tier forces began to realize that something was amiss. They realized that this wasn't some isolated, targeted incident! Countless other forces had been victims of robbery from mortals to Ascended beings indiscriminately!
The Sages rushed to inspect their vaults and were relieved to see that everything was intact. They congregated soon after to discuss the ongoing of their galaxy and this recent series of merciless thefts and unknown infiltrations. That was when the Sages took action and realized that the Teng Jiangwen rumored to have obtained a Supreme Sage's tomb or forgotten vault was utter drivel disgusting the fact that he was the culprit!
Or at the very least, he was the suspected culprit. All signs suggested that! But when they tried to pay a heavy cost to locate him through Oracles, Heavenly Seers, and Spiritualists, they discovered that Teng Jiangwen was alive but his location was impossible to discern. He was under a terrifyingly powerful shielding.
Those of genuine skill determined that he was using a Heavenly Treasure, perhaps even a Supreme Heavenly Treasure to obfuscate his location and details regarding his status. They would have to exhaust an indeterminate amount of energy and pay a heavy, potentially lethal cost to pierce through the veil of the heavens to find him.
Considering Teng Jiangwen was no longer Teng Jiangwen but Zhan Jiangwen, even if they succeeded, at most they would realize that he was designated as spoils by the Law of War, and only those familiar with the War Talisman of the Battlefield would be able to deduce why exactly, and then they would have to redouble their efforts to locate him again! It was a triple layer of protection!
There was an incident of an extremely old World Prophet dying outright after piercing through the first layer and learning that Teng Jiangwen was hiding behind the Laws of the Heavens to obscure his information!
Teng Jiangwen, by default, was a Minor Law-possessing Sage. He wasn't an existence that could be casually investigated under any circumstance.
Due to all the chaos, the eight Sages had finally decided to take action. They argued and debated, and in the end, had come to the conclusion that they would set a cage across the galaxy that could be sprung at a moment's notice. They didn't think that Teng Jiangwen had escaped and there was a high chance he was trying to devise a way to steal from them!
Regardless, they would make the attempt. The sheer wealth that Teng Jiangwen had in his possession was far too alluring to simply give up on, and it was such a monstrous sum that these eight Sages who often fought against each other had decided to unite!
They swiftly established their plan and created a temporary shroud of spatial-restricting array around the entire galaxy, and drawing on the strength of the major and minor regions of the galaxy and their leaders' strength for a chance at 'regaining' their lost wealth, they swiftly created and established the God Cage of Eight Directions Array!
And after a while, they were right! The culprit...had brazenly aimed his greedy hands upon their vaults!
-----
From five other regions, void-piercing gazes observed intently the fight between Sage Imentet and the thief. They were silently observing, unable to easily project their Spiritual Sense outwards and transmit their voices so easily without causing unrest and destruction due to the spiritual waves they would unleash. They didn't have the precision and skill of Spiritual Power that Sage Nepri did!
And while Sage Nepit did, she was maintaining the God Cage of Eight Directions Array within her Yin Grain Galaxy. It was hastily established so it required an extraordinary being to helm its functions and continuously needed maintenance lest an opening was exposed for the thief to exploit.
The other four didn't rush over but they took pre-planned positions! If the culprit tried to escape in one of four directions, they would immediately move to intercept and stall!
This was a coordination trap! And the thief?
"Haha! No need to rush over, beautiful. I still have things to tend to, so I'll take my leave."
With a hearty peal of laughter, the shadowy haze of a figure took a short breath, and steadied their footing while surrounded by gargantuan tornadoes of white and black sand.
"HA!"
A single punch that was demonically-inspired blasted forth! The very void shook, the chaos mana stirred, and a roar of a demon from the depths of an infernal origin bellowed outwards with a violent, ferocious, extremely forceful will!
Asura Power carrying the ethereal will of an obscure, ancient demon raged! Three tornadoes directly exploded apart, shattered into complete nothingness like a popped bubble.
"Haha! Fairy Imentet, I can feel your desire for me, but alas---HA!"
A second fist stronger than the first was thrust forth like an infernal lance! A single percentage of the entire Major Region that called the galaxy the Hidden Desert Galaxy was violently shaken.
"...!"
Sage Imentet was startled. She hurriedly devoted waves of black sand, conjured from the void, to block the Shockwave that threatened to destroy a large portion of her region.
"Sage Nepit!!"
Her angry and slightly anxious voice shook the void.
"..."
Sage Nepit remained silent. She was a slender, shorter-than-average woman with rich, warm skin and golden, glistening eyes that could dazzle the senses and ensnare the spirit. She wore brown and white, resembling the shade of milled rice, and she wasn't too beautiful or ugly, and perfectly fit as an attractive, steady woman who was reliable. She had the characters for 'Yin', 'Grain', and 'Prosper' etched on her glabella in a triangular formation. They would periodically swap locations.
The God Cage of Eight Directions drew power from the regions, most notably, the eight five-belt Mystic Stars! It was clear that while hasty, they were investing everything here! The chaos of the rumbling Hidden Desert Major Region was quelled immediately, and Sage Imentet could breathe a sigh of relief as she redoubled her efforts.
But the third fist was thrown!
"HA!"
This fist seemed to be escalating with demonic momentum and the tornadoes within tens of thousands of miles were all blown away! It created a small opening, and the shadowy haze of a figure rushed forward to escape and seemingly vanished using an obscuring art of the senses.
"DELUSIONAL!"
Sage Nepri kept a hand-seal, his pupils reflecting the shadowy haze of a figure with unprecedented accuracy. He actively transmitted the location of that figure to prevent any escape!
-----
Meanwhile...
The Yin Grain Major Region's Capital Planet, the Renenutet.
"So they moved their vaults? And left behind fakes in its place? How amusing,"
a figure who stepped out of the void inside the vault recently transferred a hoard of materials and resources of an entire Major Region's accumulation of hundreds of thousands of years, perhaps even longer if they stole from ancient forces to establish their dominance.
Walking inside and inspecting the materials as if he were taking a stroll, the figure's silver irises shone with an elated light.
"All mine,"
with a wave of their hand, things began to be sucked into multiple void-empowered Saint Rings.