Chapter 538: Cultivating in the Sky

After some time, Leon and Aria separated. 

"Don't waste any more time and go cultivate. Those thunderclouds won't stick around forever." Leon urged after glancing up at the sky.

Aria glanced up before she nodded, "Mm!"

After giving Leon a peck on the cheek, she flew back into the thunderclouds on her ice-lightning sword to cultivate. 

Meanwhile, Leon pondered for a moment before also leaving the field of carcasses for the soldiers to scavenge and clean up. 

Using the pendant device around his neck, Leon soared into the sky and shot back into the stratosphere layer located above the high clouds.

However, Leon was dissatisfied with the stratosphere layer and continued to soar higher until he reached his limit. 

Above the stratosphere layer was the mesosphere layer, which was also the coolest layer among Gaia's atmospheric layers.

At that moment, the air was still hot from the solar flare, and traces of Wrathful Demonic Energy filled the entire sky.

After Leon entered the mesosphere layer located roughly 150-thousand feet above the surface, he felt the pendant device trembled due to the pressure of the suppressive force in the airspace.

"Seems like this is the limit of the pendant device," Leon muttered. 

He did not dare to climb higher.

The suppressive force in the mesosphere layer would crush him once the pendant device's invisible protective barrier is broken.

"Never mind, this place will do. However, there's too much Wrathful Demonic Energy in the surrounding air. It seems I will have to clear them first." Leon mused with a slight frown. 

In any case, he needed to restock on his reserve of Wrathful Demonic Energy for Life Energy conversion during emergency situations.

After swallowing a Tier 3 Spiritual Replenishment Pill to restore 30% of his Mental Energy over a set period of time, Leon drew the surrounding Wrathful Demonic Energy towards him with Divine Will. 

The Wrathful Demonic Energy was quickly gathered in empty pill bottles before they were safely stored inside the Worldspace. 

At the same time, hidden within the Worldspace, Maya witnessed the empty pill bottles disappear from the Worldspace before they dropped back inside, filled with Wrathful Demonic Energy. 

Looking at the Wrathful Demonic Energy bottles, Maya immediately hissed like a cat with all its fur standing on end.

Nevertheless, she did not take any action. 

After Leon filled all his empty pill bottles with Wrathful Demonic Energy, he frowned at the remnant Wrathful Demonic Energy in his surrounding. 

"It seems I will have to absorb these Wrathful Demonic Energy for myself before I can cultivate with Spatial Energy and Temporal Energy in peace…" Leon mused. 

Whenever he recalled the dreadful gaze, Leon could still feel fear in the depths of his heart. Even so, he must not succumb to fear—he cannot let fear stop him from moving forward. 

After taking in a deep breath, Leon closed his eyes and spread out his divine sense and Divine Will before drawing Wrathful Demonic Energy into his body.

The sliver of wills hidden in the Wrathful Demonic Energy gathered, forming a terrifying eye that glimpsed at Leon, freezing his body once again. 

However, it only last a moment before the Wrathful Demon Energy and slivers of wills was devoured by the Black Vortex Space and refined into tamed Demonic Energy and law fragments.

Even so, a moment was all it took for Leon to break into cold sweats.

"Haiz, I don't think I can get used to this feeling…" Leon sighed before shaking his head shortly after, "Never mind, I just have to suck it up and do what I need to do." 

Once the immediate surroundings were cleared of Wrathful Demonic Energy, Leon shortly entered a state of higher meditative concentration to absorb Spatial Energy and Temporal Energy whilst perceiving the laws within them.

The two types of energy were divided like Yin and Yang; Temporal Energy flowed in Leon's body from the right side, while Spatial Energy flowed into his body from the left side. 

Eventually, the two types of energies converged towards the center of his body before they flowed through the set of circulation routes according to the [Hegemon of Primal Chaos]. 

Once Great Pseudo-Grandmist Energy was refined, they were deposited into the Black Vortex Space's energy ring circulating around his soul core.

Leon gradually shut off his senses from the outer world and focused whole-heartedly on refining Great Pseudo-Grandmist Energy. 

Not only were they needed for Body Cultivation, but they were also required for repairing Duna and Lumi's damaged body. 

But before that, he still needed to review the [Soul Dive] method recorded within the Archive and make all necessary preparations before attempting such a delicate yet risky technique.

Such rigorous attention to detail was a must for anything pertaining to the soul, for a single mistake could lead to irreversible damages.

As Leon continued to cultivate in the mesosphere layer 150-thousand feet above the surface, the sun gradually set on the western horizon of the Wildlands. 

It was not long before the skies finally darkened at the welcoming of nightfall. With the absence of sunlight, the temperature quickly dropped, and the world became cooler. 

At this time, the world seemed more alive than it was during the day as people left their shelters and busied themselves in dealing with the aftermath of the Cataclysm's eruption.

Capital, Royal Palace. 

Seeing the skies have darkened, Elizabeth strapped a few metallic accessories on her body before she swept the few necessities before her into the Interspatial Ring.

"Are you heading out now?" Heinrich asked his wife, who was preparing to depart for the Western Frontier.

Elizabeth nodded.

"The Western Frontier cannot be contacted since our son left in that direction. The situation at the Great Wall is unclear since the last messenger arrived with the request for reinforcements. I have no choice but to head out and see myself." Elizabeth said. 

"I'm sorry for leaving this matter in your hands, my dear." Heinrich apologized. 

However, Elizabeth shook her head. 

"Don't be. I'll just treat this as a trip to see how our son is doing in the west. Also, I'll be taking Darlene with me. On the other hand, I feel sorry for you instead, my king. You'll be stuck here to deal with the mess in the Capital." Elizabeth said. 

Being reminded of the Capital's issues he was burdened with, Heinrich immediately felt a headache before he chuckled bitterly, "Sometimes, I wonder if life will be simpler if we were just commoners."