The Witch Hunter System

Chapter 1220: Vaan’s Insight

Although Empyrean Oceanheart was surprised by Vaan’s awareness, she answered his question, nonetheless.

"Yeah, originally, survivor shelters had been quite scarce. However, as we continued to travel in this stellar region, the number of survivor shelters we discovered appeared more frequently."

Shortly after, Empyrean Oceanheart and Seraphina shared their suspicion.

"A central hub of survivors?" Vaan muttered thoughtfully.

Indeed, when he was mapping the Umbral Edge in the Astral Soul Realm, he had come across many remnants and perfectly preserved survivor shelters. One particular region had a high concentration of them.

According to Empyrean Oceanheart’s information, they also seemed to be heading precisely in that direction.

Vaan had no way of knowing if these survivor shelters had been abandoned or not when he was exploring them in the Astral Soul Realm.

However, now that he had heard from Empyrean Oceanheart, he understood that many of these survivor shelters were likely to still be occupied by the survivors trapped in the Umbral Edge.

Surprisingly, such a dangerous realm could still contain so many survivors despite the threatening existence of the Edge Sweeper.

Vaan was curious how so many survivors managed to survive while evading its watchful eye.

These survivors didn’t just survive in the Umbral Edge; they were thriving, having practically formed a Star Kingdom of their own amidst the ruins of stars. There shouldn’t be any other reason why they would gather in one particular region.

Unless...

The particular region where the survivors had decided to settle was a safe haven, possessing a special feature that could elude the Edge Sweeper.

Still, the formation of a Star Kingdom of Survivors and the region’s safe boundary weren’t mutually exclusive of each other. Both possibilities could exist simultaneously. .

"What do you think, Sir Vaan? Should we visit this central hub of survivors and check it out?" Empyrean Oceanheart sought his opinion.

"It’s definitely worth a look," Vaan answered thoughtfully.

"Alright."

Shortly after Empyrean Oceanheart confirmed the group’s opinions, she actively hastened the starship’s traveling speed, allowing them to reach their destination sooner.

Despite the vast region of darkness being filled with shattered star fragments, Empyrean Oceanheart skillfully maneuvered the starship around them, avoiding a disastrous head-on collision.

Ultimately, this shattered star region was no different from a vast and boundless asteroid field. The only difference was that the scale was countless times greater than an average one. Ŕ𝘈ŊОᛒĚS

Thus, a linear journey through it was nearly impossible.

Even a linear travel in hyperspace wouldn’t be possible, as these shattered stars, even when fractured into countless pieces, still possessed immense mass. As such, their gravity wells also still existed.

Perhaps it was also due to these numerous stellar remnants that made the Umbral Edge’s space exceedingly powerful. As such, it felt as if space itself had been locked, rendering most spatial abilities unusable.

As the group traveled toward the suspected central hub of survivors, traces of the crystals gradually disappeared. They had entered a region of shattered stars that had not been affected by the spread of Hyperion Shards.

At the same time, more and more survivor shelters appeared.

"I don’t see any more Hyperion Shards, and the number of survivor shelters appearing in this region has increased quite a bit. However, it still doesn’t explain why this local region is safer than the previous one."

"Could the Edge Sweeper only operate in areas with traces of the Hyperion Shards?"

When Seraphina suddenly raised this suspicion, Vaan and Empyrean Oceanheart found some reason in it. But without any solid proof, it was no different from a guess. There were too many uncertain factors and not enough information.

Thus, they couldn’t fully believe such a possibility.

"There’s not enough information to conclude that. There’s too much that we do not know. Maybe we will only find the answer after we reach the central hub of survivors."

"Mm."

The journey to the gathering point of survivors was rather dull, with travel abilities greatly restricted, and Empyrean Oceanheart conserving her energy sparingly.

As such, Vaan used this chance to return to the Astral Soul Realm to work on his Divine Soul Kingdom and Grand Reversal Spell. Since he had the opportunity to return to reality, the Divine Soul Kingdom’s schematics were easily designed in an instant.

With that, Vaan finally knew where to start and finish for the establishment of his Divine Soul Kingdom.

Although Vaan couldn’t quite understand why entering the Astral Soul Realm would deprive him of his peerles computational ability, he did understand one thing—even if he could use the Heaven-Swallowing Space and its abilities, they weren’t quite his own.

In that case, that was also another area he needed to work on.

Once the abilities were properly integrated with his soul, they would no longer be disabled in the Astral Soul Realm.

When Vaan figured this out, he also realized it might be the ultimate path of the soul—to integrate all his Divine Abilities into his soul. Thus, even if his fleshly body was destroyed, none of his abilities would be lost, and his combat prowess wouldn’t suffer upon reviving.

’Could it be possible to transform my Astral God Divine Body into a Divine Ability and integrate it with my soul, thus, even if my fleshly body died, and I revived with a new body, I won’t need to recultivate it?’ Vaan mused.

Since he could think of it, he felt like it was possible to realize. At the very least, the probability wouldn’t be zero.

’The body is the foundation, the energy is the bridge, and the soul is the sky. People cultivate the body and energy to ultimately reach the sky. Once the sky is reached, it would no longer matter whether the foundation and bridge are lost.’

’Because they can easily be restored.’

Indeed, it seemed the soul was the ultimate pursuit in the cultivation path. That was why Soul Masters were unmatched, and countless beings wished to walk the path of Soul Cultivation.

However, Vaan walked the path of the supreme.

As such, he did not abandon everything and focus solely on Soul Cultivation from the begin or after he realized it. Only by building a firm foundation and a stable bridge could he nurture the most supreme soul.