CHAPTER 754: BREAKTHROUGH

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The abrupt end of the broadcast caused the audience to groan in dissatisfaction.

It’s obvious that they wanted to see the spectacle of Dawnbringer’s breakthrough, not just out of curiosity, but also because it would truly complete this tournament. They also want to see him come out of the spire with their own eyes and be crowned as the most resplendent genius of the current era.

The organizers tried to fix this and asked the audience for their patience. They’ve worked for an entire week without any rests or pauses, but in the end, they’re unable to re-establish the connection.

The spire wasn’t cooperating. So, it was left to the hosts to explain this to the masses.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting. We appreciate you sticking around in spite of our technical difficulties," Paul greeted.

"Unfortunately, we come bearing the unfortunate news. Our team was unable to re-establish connection with the spire to continue observing Dawnbringer’s state."

Lisa then continued: "Our team worked day and night without any rests or pauses during this week in attempts to re-establish the connection, but the spire wasn’t cooperating. We have exhausted every means we have and could only give up."

"We deeply apologize for this upsetting ending. Believe us when we say that we too would like to witness what’s currently happening inside the spire right now. Alas, this Ascension Spire has a mind of its own, and it operates with its own rules, one that we cannot alter for your viewing pleasure."

"Despite this unfortunate event, we will still be moving on with the awarding ceremony with the other participants. Obviously, we will have to skip Dawnbringer due to these circumstances. But rest assured, he’d get what he deserves for his performance. Whether his coronation becomes public or not will be completely up to him, though."

This made the audience upset even more, but not at the organizers or at the hosts. The audience understood that they’ve done their best. They’re upset at this spire for being inconsiderate, instead.

Alas, their feelings, no matter how strong, wouldn’t move the spire, as it operates completely according to its own set of rules. It wouldn’t even consider anything else.

And so the awarding ceremony got underway.

It’s a bit lackluster since Dawnbringer wasn’t there, but the event still has to show something for the ending, after all.

Those who performed according to the standards got what they deserved. They didn’t just bring glory and rewards to their backgrounds but also for themselves. The council weren’t stingy with their rewards, as that’s the main purpose of this event, after all.

As for those who didn’t perform as well as they thought, they were still rewarded, but not as heavily as the others. They’d be receiving some reprimands too.

While the awarding ceremony was underway, large movements were happening behind the scenes.

Cedric, who was left inside the spire, remained unaware of all of this.

Right now, his focus was on accepting his reward.

**

After defeating his clone, Cedric found himself back on the platform of cubes.

Before he could even adjust after the abrupt transfer, he felt the platform rising once again. This time, he truly had no idea where it’s going.

This rise went on for a while, and then suddenly, it stopped. When Cedric’s vision readjusted, he found himself in a peculiar environment.

His surroundings looked like a blurred mess of shapes, lines, and colors, so much so that he couldn’t even begin to make sense of it. It’s like he was suddenly thrown into the realm of dreams, where anything and everything was possible.

Then, something rose from the depths of the platform. It was a throne centered on an altar.

As soon as it appeared, Cedric felt a strong pull towards it. Like it’s beckoning him to sit down on it. This was when a message flashed before his eyes.

[Sit on the throne to accept your reward.]

Cedric didn’t sense any malice or ill intent from the message. And since he’s eager to finally get something for his troubles, he walked towards the throne, then sat on it.

As soon as his buttocks and his back made contact with the throne, he felt stuck. It’s like his spine was magnetized to it, forcing him to sit upright. Even his arms were glued to the armrest.

But before he could complain, the bestowal had already begun.

Before his eyes, the surroundings swirled into an even more nonsensical sight. A beautiful mirage of aurora flooded his vision, causing him to feel dizzy and hypnotized.

Cedric was inwardly stunned, because with these eyes of his, it shouldn’t have been possible to make him feel this way. He couldn’t even remember the last time he felt these, yet it’s happening now.

At the same time, his inner world churned and his origin energy bubbled. They escaped from his ironclad control, flowing and moving on their own accord.

Normally, Cedric would’ve done everything in his power to get them back under his control. But knowing what was happening, he reined in his instincts and decided to let everything happen on its own.

Light coalesced around him, warping the very fabric of reality itself.

After a short while, Cedric found his consciousness turning blurry. He didn’t fight this either. He didn’t force himself awake as he would’ve normally done. He knows that this was a sign of his breakthrough ongoing, so he allowed it to happen.

The idea of losing control over his body was a bit scary, but Cedric didn’t want his prejudice to be in the way of his progress.

As his consciousness floated around between states of lucidity, his body was undergoing some incredible changes.

His inner world was expanding, ravenously devouring the light around him as fuel for its expansion. His origin energy rapidly crystalized and multiplied, dotting the expanse of his Inner World with stars.

30 billion miles...40...50...75...95 billion miles...

Cedric’s inner world didn’t stop expanding until it reached a frightening size of 100 billion miles.

30 billion miles of an Inner World was the limit of Immortal Emperors, yet despite being only an Immortal Warrior, Cedric achieved this, making him a bit unique compared to the rest. It’s the reason why he’s able to outlast his peers in terms of firepower.

Even if Cedric were to continue cultivating in the usual manner, his inner world wouldn’t be expanding anymore than this. Unless, of course, he gets another opportunity, of course. It won’t be until he reaches the Universe Master realm that it will continue expanding.

As for Universe Masters, their Inner World starts from 50 billion miles to 100 billion miles, with the latter being the absolute limits of this realm. Furthermore, their inner world will begin to form a true universe, which could aid them further into their practice.

Cedric’s breakthrough had been happening for about a month now, and he has jumped from the Immortal Warrior realm to the Universe Master realm that fast.

Furthermore, the size of his Inner World was comparable to those at the peak of the Universe Master Realm despite being only at the initial stage.

The spire did as it promised. It upgraded his life evolution without hurting his foundations. Hell, it even bolstered it. Furthermore, it did it with the consideration of Cedric’s tendencies.

It knew that it was highly possible for Cedric to expand his Inner World to the peak of his current realm despite his cultivation not being there quite yet. The spire did him a favor by expediting this process, which also showed how miraculous it truly was.

And because it bolstered Cedric’s foundations instead of damaging them, Cedric’s potential wasn’t exhausted even the slightest bit; if anything, it’s even enhanced.

Just for this, every trouble he had on the way here was worth it. This was an opportunity that simply must be fought for. It’s hard to imagine any places out there being able to provide the same benefit like this, especially one that’s not yet conquered by humans or other races for that matter.

When Cedric’s consciousness woke up to his body once more, he was stunned. He felt the overwhelming strength thrumming under his skin and had the urge to let out a delightful shout.

But he reigned himself in. Instead, he focused on doing some checks on his body. He made sure to be thorough, just in case. And to his relief, he found nothing weird. He wasn’t enslaved or bugged; the spire didn’t leave any conspiracies in his body.

That said, he’s not yet done here. There’s still one more thing he had to do, and that is to upgrade one of his concept laws into a Heavenly Law.

With this idea in mind, the spire presented him with a choice as if it could read his thoughts.

Orbs floated and revolved around him, each one representing a color and a concept law.

Cedric felt momentarily overwhelmed because he was seeing every possible color combination and shade on those orbs. He had to focus and take his time before choosing because he had his own considerations.

After a while, though, he finally made his choice.