"Is it just me, or is the moon just specially bright and very close tonight?"
"Mn! The stars are shining brightly too. The different velvet shades of the night sky are visible too. I thought we'd never see them again because of pollution."
"The Origin Energy Storm truly brought us a lot of miracles."
#StarryNight and #FullMoonBeauty occupied the social media rankings tonight. All the news outlets were discussing it, and many pictures of the clear and velvety starry night circulated online, prompting more people to go outside to see it for themselves.
There are a ton of people who were captivated by the gorgeous image of the full moon hung up in the skies. Perhaps the most affected out of all of them was Lissandra, the headmistress of the Starlight Royal Academy.
Typically, during this time, she would be in her office, trying to finish her work before retiring for the night. Tonight, and possibly the following nights after this one, were special. And it's understandable for her to see it for herself because of her history.
As she stared at the gorgeous night sky, she couldn't help but feel emotional. She could now understand what Gabriel felt a few hours ago. The sheer difference was just incomparable.
"Ah, Young Sage. You've truly given us a miracle." She muttered softly underneath her breath.
She wasn't even in her office or the academy right now. She's in a city with a small population—more specifically, on a hill that's far from people.
Lissandra looked like a goddess as she basked under the moonlight. Her fair and smooth features, as well as the curvature of her body, were highlighted by the soft and gentle brilliance of the moon and the stars.
She could feel a strong resonance deep within her. Inside her consciousness, the Aspect of the Stars—one that has been passed down to her by her mentor, the same one she gave to Cedric, which he perfected and returned to her—thrummed in glee. It greedily absorbed moonlight and starlight from her surroundings, releasing profound insights that filled her mind with wondrous images.
A sense of completion, something that she never thought she was missing before, filled her. Others wouldn't understand this feeling; even she couldn't explain it herself. There was a profound sense of joy and excitement within her that she thought was long lost to her.
That said, she also couldn't help but lament briefly.
"If this kind of environment were available during my youth, my mentor wouldn't have died in vain."
And what a sad thought this was! Her mentor, the Star Sage, hoped and prayed for her to inherit her mantle and be the next Star Sage. However, her potential fell short of the requirements. In the end, she could only study the aspects her mentor left behind. So close yet so far...
If this dense moon and starlight were present back then, she could've inherited the sage's mantle earlier, possibly before her mentor died.
"It does." Cedric shrugged. "Prime Earth wouldn't be complete without it. Acala will never truly recover if she lacks them, and if she never recovers completely, any possible growth will be unstable. We can't have that."
"You can create celestial bodies?" Erica raised a brow in question.
"With the right materials and preparations, yes," Cedric replied. "But just to be on the safer side, I'll need to advance my Life Evolution more. Once I reach the Grand Solar Realm, it should be effortless for me."
It's been a week and a half since Cedric returned to Prime Earth, and his life evolution completed its synchronization to reality, making him a 5-star Planetary Grandmaster Life Evolver. He's just shy of a step away from becoming a Planetary Sage.
"After making the clocktower, what's your next move?" Erica asked. "Well, I'm just curious. You don't have to tell me if it's too sensitive, just to be on the safe side."
"Don't worry about it." He chuckled and kissed her head. "I'm strong enough to protect us. As for what's next, I have plans on modifying the Purgatory Realm."
His girlfriends looked at him incredulously.
"It's been a pain in the neck for humans since the demon race's invasion. It's also the reason why most unlucky folks out there, like I was in the past, are treated unfairly and labeled as 'criminals'. I believe it's time to rectify that."
Cedric has never forgotten his roots or his origins. His time in the RMC was a defining factor in his life. It changed him and turned him into the man that he is right now.
His memories there weren't pretty. In fact, it's filled with nightmares and trauma. But that's exactly why he has set his eyes on it.
If he could render the function of the monitoring chips on their napes entirely unnecessary, then he would. Cedric saw these monitoring chips as collars or dog tags. It has always made him uncomfortable. It makes him feel like he's enslaved.
Removing it could mean spiritual freedom for humans. That's another shackle they'll lose, and he believes that it is the key to advancing this era. He doesn't plan on removing the Purgatory Realm—no, not right now, at least.
That buffer plane serves as protection from the invading fleet outside. Humanity isn't ready for them just yet, so for now, the Purgatory Realm has to remain.
But that doesn't mean that he can't tweak it slightly to make it more advantageous to humans instead. Of course, this plan carries risk—a greater risk than what others could imagine since that place is tied to the Soul Network of the Demon Race.
However, Cedric thinks that it's necessary to do this. No one has to remind him to be careful since he himself knows just how risky this was.
But for the sake of freeing humanity from the oppression of the Demon Race, this was something he must do.