Read Novel Full Chapter 1262: Awakeners With Their Own Cornerstones [3]
Chapter 1262: Awakeners With Their Own Cornerstones [3]
For this particular benefit, Michael had initially hesitated. One had to remember that the Land of Origin did not contain only natives.
There were Awakeners there as well. People like him who came from outside worlds. Allowing large numbers of people to gather around something as important as the Subsidiary Territorial Anchor had naturally made Michael uncomfortable at first.
The Universal Cornerstone was already one of the greatest treasures he possessed. The Anchor was directly connected to it.
Letting too many unknown people study the station, work around it, and repeatedly interact with it felt dangerous. For a while, Michael considered restricting the entire area to natives he personally trusted.
But the more he thought about it, the less practical that became, so he decided to be less restrictive.
Most of his confidence came from the fact that his strength had increased tremendously. He was no longer the same person who had to carefully hide every unusual thing he owned and constantly worry that someone much stronger would simply take it from him.
Except for something stronger than Rank Five deciding to intervene, Michael felt he could walk freely anywhere in the universe.
More importantly, guarding something that had already been exposed was exhausting. Sooner or later, other civilizations would claim their own Cornerstones and begin discovering the same functions.
There was no point acting as if the secret could remain unique forever. Michael also had no confidence that his own identity within the Land of Origin was completely hidden anymore.
He had tried his best to keep his identity secret. But there was no certainty in the world.
Ever since he conquered the empire, his movements had become too large. The number of people around him had increased.
The number of Awakeners passing through the Land of Origin was not small. Michael had never caught anyone directly, but he would be foolish to believe that absolutely no one had already connected Michael Norman of Aurora with the Emperor ruling the Eternal Crown Empire.
Once he accepted that, his attitude changed. Instead of wasting too much energy trying to hide everything, Michael decided to push his advantage as far as possible while he still had it.
If other Awakeners were eventually going to understand the true value of Universal Cornerstones, then he wanted his network, territory, transport system, and energy infrastructure to already be far ahead by the time they did.
That meant being more aggressive. Of course, this didn’t mean he could also be careless.
Michael still placed restrictions on who could pass through the Anchor. Anyone he allowed to enter the Origin Battlefield from the Land of Origin would not be allowed outside.
Until another Universal Cornerstone was publicly claimed, Michael intended to keep that group inside the Battlefield. Even if Michael accepted that these functions would eventually become known, he did not intend to be the one who handed every detail to the rest of the universe early.
The same concern influenced how he organized the people supplying energy to the Anchor. Rank Two mages and other Rank Two mana-focused supernaturals were allowed to travel into the Origin Battlefield and contribute directly from the Eternal Crown side.
Rank Three practitioners were handled differently. They recharged the network from the Land of Origin.
Rank Three individuals were simply too capable. They were far more likely to notice details that weaker practitioners missed.
By restricting Rank Three contributors to the empire-side Anchor, Michael could make use of their enormous mana reserves without exposing the inner structure of the cornerstone to them.
It was an imperfect solution. But Michael had never expected perfect secrecy.
What he wanted was delay. Every extra day before the rest of the universe caught up to him was another day of advantage.
Within a single day, the Anchor’s reserves had risen to a rate Michael had never achieved through crystals. By the end of the third day, the shared network reserve had reached:
[Stored Energy Points: 186,740]
Michael was immensely satisfied with the result. The amount wasn’t infinite.
Once large-scale Rank Three or Rank Four transfers became common, even hundreds of thousands of Energy Points could disappear quickly. But that wasn’t what mattered.
The important thing was that he had found a renewable source. And this was only the beginning.
At the current rate, the amount was already substantial.
An ordinary person or Rank Two existence required only ten Energy Points for a transfer.
With 186,740 Energy Points stored, Michael could transport 18,674 of them before exhausting the reserve completely.
Rank Three existences were far more expensive.
Each required 1,000 Energy Points.
That meant the same reserve could transport 186 Rank Three existences, with 740 Energy Points remaining afterward.
For only three days of accumulation, this was already impressive.
Michael had intended to continue building that advantage on the fourth day. Only a few hours into the new day, however, a notification suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Universal Milestone Update.]
[Congratulations to Aurelius Veyr for successfully claiming the second Universal Cornerstone.]
Michael froze. A wave of surprise ran through him. For a moment, he simply stared at the panel.
Someone else had finally done it. He had expected it eventually, of course. The Origin Battlefield had already exposed the existence of Universal Cornerstones to everyone. With countless civilizations, geniuses, and powerful forces searching for them, it had only been a matter of time.
Still, seeing it actually happen felt different.
Michael quickly opened the Territory Ranking. The familiar panel appeared.
[Origin Battlefield Territory Ranking]
[1. The Eternal Crown: Michael Norman]
[2. Sovereign’s Reach: Aurelius Veyr]
Michael studied the name for a moment.
Aurelius Veyr. Michael felt at once that this person was unlikely to be simple.
He opened the Fourth Layer ranking and searched the name. To his surprise, he found it right away.
[18. Aurelius Veyr]
[Realm: Star Nation]
Rank 18. That was much closer to him than he had expected.
More importantly, the realm name was familiar.
Star Nation. Michael recognized it at once as the home realm of the Star Race. They were especially famous for technology and were one of the top ten civilizations in the universe.