The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 521: Approaching the Central Area

Aldrian bitterly smiled as he could only say a few words to them before they disappeared. He did not even have time to say goodbye or anything like that, which made him feel bad. These people had left their wills here to wait for him for many years, just to see him return one last time before they vanished. They even tried to give him the little power they still had.

At that moment, the light entering his body gave him a warm sensation, and he could sense their power. Unfortunately, it did not raise his cultivation, but it gave him deeper comprehension in many elements.

He could also sense something else, which made his heart feel heavy and deeply touched. It was their hope in him—their hope for his glorious return and their trust that he would not abandon them, even though they were already gone. They were even happy just to see him one last time and to say those words full of hope and faith to him.

He sighed. Why were these people so loyal and faithful to him? What kind of man had he been in the past? What made them so loyal to him—to this extent? This kind of loyalty and faith was something difficult to achieve, and it made him wonder if he had truly been that good as a ruler in those days.

Although he had seen his past in those visions, he found only that he had already been respected and revered by many beings. He still did not know what had earned their loyalty to such an extent. There was no way it was because of his strength—strength alone could not make so many beings remain so faithful to him.

In the real world, the light shining from the obelisk had already dimmed, allowing the others to finally look at it. They saw that Aldrian was still touching it, which made them wonder what had just happened.

Aldrian’s consciousness had already returned to the real world, where he stood with his hand still on the obelisk. He opened his eyes, looked at the obelisk in front of him, then raised his gaze to its tip. His face was calm, but within his heart, his resolve had become even stronger.

"The Monument of Eternal Faith. A monument that shows the faith of those who believed in me and waited all these years. Their faith remains strong, even now," Aldrian thought.

There was a moment of silence before Patriarch Xin spoke.

"Young Aldrian, are you okay? What happened just now?"

Aldrian turned his head toward the patriarch.

"This is truly a monument," he said, then looked up at the obelisk’s tip again. "A monument that shows the faith of many beings from the past."

Patriarch Xin was confused by what Aldrian meant, but Aldrian did not seem intent on explaining further. Seeing that Aldrian appeared to be done inspecting the obelisk, the rest of the group also began examining it. However, none of them could trigger a reaction from the obelisk like Aldrian had.

They wondered how Aldrian had managed that. What did he gain from this monument? With a reaction like that, he must have received something, right? But no one asked him, as he clearly had no intention of explaining more.

After deciding there was nothing else to examine, they continued flying. More than an hour later, they came across another obelisk. This time, the others inspected it first, wanting to understand what made these monuments so special.

Aldrian simply let them try first, inwardly smiling at their efforts. There was no way these monuments would react or show anything for them—these monuments existed for him to trigger.

He let them try first because it was for the well-being of the group and out of his goodwill. He could already imagine that if he was always the first to touch the monument and trigger something from it, there would be unsatisfied hearts among some of these people. They would think he was taking all the benefits they did not understand, and that would cause a crack in the group’s unity.

He did not want that, so he let them check for themselves first. This way, they would not have a problem later when only he could trigger the reaction from the obelisk. They would come to understand that these obelisks only reacted to his golden energy.

After they finished checking, Aldrian did the same thing as with the first obelisk, and it triggered the same reaction. The light shone and then dimmed, and that was it. The rest of the group could only sigh and lament that they did not possess energy like Aldrian.

As for Aldrian, what he experienced with this second obelisk was the same as the first. He met many beings from different races—new faces—who also showed their faith and hope in him. It made his resolve grow stronger.

Not long after that, they continued their journey. For a week, they kept exploring, flying deeper into the central area. Today, after flying through a grassland environment all this time, they finally came upon a new environment ahead.

Over the past week, they had found dozens of obelisks, all of which had been triggered by Aldrian. He encountered the wills of thousands of people, and they all carried the same message and resolve. Each of them tried to give him what little power remained in their will.

After encountering so many monuments, Aldrian began to think that they had been scattered throughout the core area for him to awaken.

He could only imagine what had happened in the past to lead to this—these thousands of people, seemingly long perished, could do nothing but wait for his return. He suspected that the parties mentioned by Long Leiyun were the ones responsible for their deaths.

For the first time, he felt anger toward those unknown parties. What had happened in the past, for so many to die—and even in death, to place their hope in him? His resolve to answer their hopes and expectations continued to grow.

How could it not? With so many placing their faith in him, there was no way he would simply turn away.

He would look into it. He would find out what had happened in the past, and then he would decide what he must do in the future.

The sun was still high when Aldrian’s group finally arrived at the new environment—a dense forest filled with towering trees unlike any they had seen before. The trees had thick trunks, and their leaves were shaped like green diamonds. These trees exuded rich heaven and earth energy, and Aldrian thought that even an emperor-stage cultivator could break through easily in a place like this.

Although the entire core area was a cultivation sanctuary in itself, this forest was truly remarkable. They suspected that the abundance of energy in this place might actually stem from the forest itself.

They carefully flew past the dense forest with their senses heightened and not letting their guard down. This environment was different from the grassland, as the trees below obstructed their view of the ground, and they remained cautious of anything that might be hidden from sight.

However, even after flying for several hours, they did not encounter anything remarkable. They continued for a few more hours before deciding to land and take a rest. Slowly, they descended into the midst of the dense trees. Only after entering the forest fully did they begin to feel the richness of the energy directly.

Sensing that this was not an opportunity to be missed, they chose to cultivate while restoring their energy. After confirming the area was safe, they each picked a spot and began to cultivate. Patriarch Xin and Xin Haotian also took advantage of the opportunity.

Although the patriarch had already reached the peak emperor stage and couldn’t progress beyond it due to the continent’s strange situation, he could still solidify his cultivation foundation. He could also push his peak emperor stage cultivation to its limit, so that when the strange situation eventually disappeared, he might be able to break through to the next stage.

Aldrian did not disturb them. Instead, he walked alone to observe the surrounding area. He strolled leisurely, taking in the scenery of trees and bushes. After a few moments, finding nothing that piqued his interest on the ground, he teleported to the tip of the tallest tree he could find for a wider view.

Once he reached the top of the tallest tree in his vicinity, he looked toward the direction of the central area. The mountain range was growing closer, and the floating land was becoming clearer.

The palace has many towers that pierce the sky. The style of the building is also quite different from those on the continent, as it seems to combine the luxurious architecture of the northern empires with the elegant and cultural design of the eastern-style buildings from the Demon and Buddhist territories.

He appreciated the grandeur scenery for a moment before deciding to create another of his domains here. After he had created his domain, he continued to watch the scenery. But then, he saw something in the distance that he had missed earlier due to his focus on the floating land.

What he saw was a strange golden hue, creating a flat area amidst the forest. It was the only place where trees did not grow, which intrigued him.

Noticing that the others were still cultivating, Aldrian did not hesitate to approach the spot.

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