21 Another 'Ruin'?

Shura rarely bothered with the administrative task of his empire. Neither did he enjoy himself by being the above millions and below none. He lived in a small and secluded residence in the imperial palace. He ate three meals a day and focused himself only on cultivating his foundation and source of power: cultivation. He was cultivating cultivation. Shura was a cultivating cultivator.

In the morning his eyes were closed and he cultivated. During noon his eyes were still closed. During the evening they were still closed and he continued to cultivate in calm, silence, and darkness. He was surprised that he was able to do such a monotonous thing continuously. If every living being could be like this, then what need was there for the joys of living and other activities? People would have no wants.

He didn't believe that he needed to be something else to be able to increase his strength. Anything could help him get faster results, but the cultivating basics that he was doing here now with his eyes closed and absorbing spirit energy would increase his strength, even if there were faster ways out there.

Shura closed his eyes all day long and cultivated. He cultivated while awake, and he also cultivated while asleep.

During all this cultivating another person was managing the empire on Shura's behalf. That man was doing such a stellar job that the people never thought of the absent emperor at all.

The Grand Chancellor was a skilled man of wisdom and intelligence and did his best to run the country. He was all but an emperor in name only. But even so, he did not spend his time in luxury or plotted schemes to usurp the throne. The Grand Chancellor governed the country fairly and justly. The nation was running smoothly and peace and abundance were felt by all the citizens.

Everyone wondered why the Grand Chancellor was so loyal to this new emperor. The Grand Chancellor's family and subordinates encouraged him to 'change' the 'heaven'. His popularity was such that no one would bat an eye or voice any concern were he to do so.

But he would not do so. It was not that the Grand Chancellor did not have ambitions or desires to be a ruler. It was just that the Skyward Emperor was too strong! He was so strong that he didn't put so-called emperors in his eyes at all. He focused his all on painstaking cultivation and left everything to the Grand Chancellor. Unless it was something of supreme importance or emergency, the emperor told him that no one was to disturb him.

The Grand Chancellor only felt awe and veneration for this powerful and focused man, and so he continued to do his duty. The Grand Chancellor ruled the empire in the emperor's name and made countless past emperors pale in comparison to him, even though he wasn't an emperor at all.

The Grand Chancellor's aged mother used to tell him when he was a child that every person had their duties to fulfill. They were the thing that they were born to do. And that he shouldn't be envious of other's duties and fulfill his own. The Grand Chancellor was approaching old age. His life's duty was clear to him: to manage the empire for his emperor.

The next time he saw his mother, the Grand Chancellor was sure she wouldn't scold him anymore since he'd found his duty.

The massive resources of the world were divided into six pie pieces by the six super nations. The Skyward Empire was one of them. One piece of the pie went into Shura's stomach, literally.

One-sixth of the world's available spirit stone was being constantly poured into Shura, every moment, every day. His cultivation soared in a short period of time. Shura had long stopped thinking about the difference in cultivation time between himself and others. What others took years of hard work, he could achieve with ease quickly. And what others couldn't do their entire lives, he could one day.

Shura no longer thought about the time. Whether one day or month or year passed, he didn't know nor care. He was solely focused on cultivating. From the first layer, he smoothly transitioned into the second layer of the Spirit Emperor level.

Shura was not only cultivating, but he was also meditating. He came to understand his mind and body more and more. He was becoming a greater person each passing moment.

Insights and enlightenments showered down on him like rain when he was absorbed in cultivation. He was filled with bliss and serenity.

Not long later Shura stepped into the third layer of the Spirit Emperor realm.

He was no worse than the emperors of the other five empires now. Those old monsters wouldn't be able to take advantage of him now even if they wanted to.

One day a piece of news entered Shura's ears. The ruins of an enormous city that looked like a flying ship had been found within Heaven's End Mountain, one of the top danger zones in the entire world.

The times passed and soon another piece of news arrived. All the top and supreme experts of the world was 100% sure that the ruin of the city came from a higher realm. And that there might still be something valuable inside. Something like the secret to the legendary level of a Spirit Sovereign.

Shura had no idea how they came to this conclusion and he didn't waste his time pondering it either. If it was a trap, who would they entrap, and why bother going through such a tedious and troublesome thing to screw someone over?

Countless cultivators all over the world clamored on hearing this news. The five emperors were also every excited about this.

If someone was going to get done in by this new development, it would be everyone in the world who was interested.

One day Shura received an invitation from the five emperors to jointly explore the ruin. The ones going to be exploring wouldn't be the five emperors and their retinues, but also other top experts in the world including reclusive experts and wandering experts. Although these people weren't the leaders of a country or organization, their strength can't be underestimated at all.

Shura had long felt that he was now at another bottleneck. He'd either need to wait it out as usual, or he'd need something to break through it. Perhaps this city from a higher realm might have something that could do so.

Shura decided to accept the invitation.

Without further delay, he headed toward the meeting location.

…

There was a city outside the Heaven's End Mountain. This city was being used for the meeting by all the world's experts who were interested in the ruin of the city from a higher realm.

This city was nearly deserted all year long as there was rarely anyone who would be there. Not a lot of people wanted to live near one of the danger zones of the world either. If they died everything was over. Such a bad area wasn't suitable for comfortable living either.

But now the city was filled to the brim. There was not a single inn that wasn't occupied. Many buildings were also quickly built up to accommodate so many people being present. The city was also expanded.

Just as Shura was about to step through the gate of this city, a strange thought suddenly came to him and he halted his steps.

'Why did he need to do this with others?'

If there was something valuable to be found, he should just go and take it. Why would he need to bother with other people? What could they give him?

Shura immediately dismissed the thought of going with other people. He would do this alone. He didn't need anyone else. Whether this way of thinking was right or wrong, he could only find out in the future.

He was going to do it now. He had been spending a long time leisurely cultivating and meditating to increase the mind of his strength and body, yet now all of a sudden there was a sense of hurry. He needed to hurry. There was no time to waste on anything at all.

The time for leisurely waiting was over. Now was the time for frenzied action. Being slow and deliberate could carry him up to a certain point, the rest had to be done in the moment and with speed.

The time for the latter was this occasion.

Shura turned around and headed in another direction. This city was on the periphery of the danger zone. He was not truly inside yet. The ruin of the city was discovered inside, but not too deeply. He would be able to find it if he just looked.

Shura flew into the sky and headed toward the danger zone. His mental awareness spread out in every direction. The range his mental awareness covered was expansive, and before too long he had found what he was looking for.

It was an enormous city with countless spires shooting into the sky. half of the city was embedded deep into the ground, while the other half was above it.

Was there something inside, or not? Shura suddenly thought. This place reminded him of the ruin and the palace on Aggradise Continent. The feeling they both engendered in him caused his hair to raise all of a sudden.