Joseph Vanderbilt walked into the room, noticing Michael and the Rebornian’s worried looks.

"I take it you’ve noticed what happened," he said.

Michael nodded.

"What you’ve witnessed is the Upper Echelons finally taking the heavy weights off their arms. They’re finally using their true powers on you," Joseph revealed.

This basically verified Michael’s guess. The Zentmeister company and the other Upper Echelons have finally used their Nascent Spirit cultivators to win the Feast once and for all.

It was only when Michael actually had a chance to win a spot in the top 10 did they finally realize that he was a real threat. And to deal with a real threat, they needed to bring out their real power.

"What do you know about Nascent Spirit cultivators?" Joseph asked.

"Not much," Michael replied. That was the truth. There was no book that basically introduced him to the realm he currently was. "I only know that Nascent Spirit cultivators can use their Diva as armors."

Joseph nodded. "Yes, that is true. But that is only one aspect of their powers: the physical one. You haven’t seen the other part. The godly one."

After seeing such drastic effects it had on New Sparta, Michael didn’t doubt Joseph’s words for a single second.

"To put it short, Nascent Spirit cultivators are basically gods in front of mortals," Joseph said seriously. "They can manipulate everything they want at any point in time. If they wanted to, they could make the entirety of New Sparta as their playground in the sand, molding it as they pleased."

Seeing the confused look on Michael’s face, Joseph elaborated.

"You know about the reality-altering properties of Aubility Power. Some can turn fire into ice. Some can mold arrows to become dragons.

But that is only the case in the Body Formation realm. The reality-altering power you have is limited only to your immediate vicinity.

For Nascent Spirit cultivators, that power is multiplied and transcended into the next level."

Joseph stood up and closed his eyes.

Then, Michael felt power suddenly emanating out of Joseph. It was subtle and devoid of any Aubility Power threads. Yet, it still echoed through the core in his chest like the disturbance he felt earlier.

Joseph was a Nascent Spirit cultivator. That was to be expected. After all, one didn’t get to manage a branch of the richest company in the world without the proper power to support it.

He then produced a small apple from his Pocket Dimension ring.

He showed it to Michael and the rest of the Rebornians around him. Then he asked: "What color is this apple?"

Michael subtly shook his head at such an obvious question.

"Red—," he started saying. But the Rebornians around him got ahead of him.

"Blue," they all said simultaneously, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Michael was completely shocked. He looked at everyone around him. The Dragonborns, Castelle, the demi-humans... they all said the wrong thing.

He couldn’t believe it. It was as if they saw a completely different reality than he did. In his eyes, this apple couldn’t be anything other than red.

Yet when he looked around him, they all believed in their heart of hearts that this apple was blue.

"This is the power of a Nascent Spirit cultivator. They have complete control over an aspect of reality. What aspect, well that depends on their power. Mine has something to do with color and the visible light.

And with that power, I was able to convince everyone around you that the red color they were seeing was actually blue. This completely overwrites everything in a person, including their memories.

I made it so that in their reality, all apples have been blue all along. That’s why they weren’t surprised when I showed them this ’blue’ apple."

Michael was completely shellshocked as he learned the truth about Nascent Spirit cultivators.

As it turned out, he’d been completely underestimating their powers, thinking that the only thing they could do was summon Diva armors.

But they could do a whole lot more. They could change the very reality that everyone was experiencing.

What’s even scarier was the fact that the people under this influencing effect were completely blind to the fact that their reality had been changed. They would have gone about their lives thinking red had been blue all along!

It was as if he was blind before, but now, he could see. He could see how powerful and influential Nascent Spirit cultivators truly were.

He now understood the severity in their actions, and why this was only the first time he’d seen this kind of power from a Nascent Spirit cultivator.

It was too destructive. Too powerful. It was like dropping a nuclear bomb back in his previous life. The effects completely changed the landscape of the world, and the repercussions would be immense.

He could only shudder at the thought of tens of Nascent Spirit cultivators duking it out. The reverberations of their fight would either completely shatter everyone’s reality, or warp it so much to the point where it couldn’t be turned back to normal.

"Urgh..." Sheina said, groaning as she massaged her head.

It was at this point that Joseph couldn’t help but be shocked. The demi-human Rebornians around Michael were slowly starting to realize the false reality he put them on under. They were starting to wake up.

"I’m pleasantly surprised," he commented. "Your allies are more talented than I thought. They were able to awaken from my influence in such a short amount of time."

Joseph snapped his fingers, and that strange feeling dissipated. Michael no longer felt that echo from his Nascent core.

"What color is that apple?" he asked Sheina.

The white-scaled Dragonborn narrowed her eyes, before saying: "It’s... red."

Joseph nodded. "The more trivial the change, the easier it is to do. If I changed something more fundamental, like them forgetting every single item, name, or memory related to the color red, then I would face a much harder pushback. I reckon it would only work on 40% of the people here."

Even if it was only 40%, that was still a lot. The fact that Joseph could change the very thing that made a person, a person, was very frightening. If your memories were completely altered, then who were you?

"If Nascent Spirit cultivators could do that..." Michael muttered seriously.

Joseph eased his worries. "Don’t worry. Nascent Influence is very hard to maintain. And if they think that they can do whatever the hell they want in New Sparta, then they have it coming soon."

Michael raised his head. "What... what did the Zentmeister company do?"

This earned him an approving nod from Joseph. "It’s good that you know who your opponent is.

Gourdon is a man with a very solid idea of the Upper Echelons. He believes that they have a tremendous responsibility to keep the balance in the world.

And right now, you’re disrupting that balance."

"What did I do?" Michael asked.

"Well, you’re currently speeding your way through the ranks. That’s completely unheard of. Usually, companies would need decades of experience before they could have the wisdom needed to become an Upper Echelon. Your company is barely even five years old, yet you’re already knocking on the doors of the elites."

Michael did admit that they had a very fast pace. But it was all done through hard work and his own merit. He didn’t use his family’s name to skip the line. He did it the old-fashioned way.

"At the very least, Gourdon is a man of principles. He won’t do anything untoward your company. He’ll play by the rules.

But the problem now is that you are threatening to become an Upper Echelon. And because of that, he’s showing you the true threat and power of the Upper Echelons. He’s trying to show you that your company isn’t ready for such competition."

Basically, it was a lesson. A reminder for him to be put back into his place in the Lower Echelons.

"It seems that they have placed a Nascent Influence in New Sparta, changing reality to be in their favor. They’re making your chocolate ice cream less appetizing," said Joseph.

The Shadow Orcs coincidentally finished their own investigations. And what they found out basically verified Joseph’s words.

About 40% of their customers lost their appetite in eating chocolate ice cream. Their desserts became too cold. Customers reported feeling their brain freeze just from a single scoop. Even the prospect of increasing magic power didn’t help overpower that unpleasant feeling.

"This is one of the ways Upper Echelons and Conglomerates fight each other in the market. It’s just plain, straight, manipulation."

And right now, he was feeling the full brunt of that manipulation. In just a single move, they’ve completely crippled their chances in entering the top 10 of the Feast.

Joseph was right. This power was godlike.

But luckily, he wasn’t as powerless as they thought.

He was a Nascent Spirit cultivator. He could theoretically fight them in their own war.