Chapter 6581 Old Acquaintances After concluding their visit to the Dimension Observatory, Ves and Ketis finally climbed their way up to the Sacred Temple. There, they entered the Courtyard of Envoys and checked on its only occupant. "I am... at your service." A ghostly and floaty version of Venerable Imon Ingvar slowly bowed and conveyed his deepest respect. Enough time had passed since his 'death' and conversion to a Chosen Envoy that he had regained more lucidity. However, he was too far from becoming a good conversation partner. The Chosen Envoy still hadn't recovered much of his humanity. "It will probably take a few more years before he becomes lucid and intelligent enough to deploy him in the field." "What purpose would that serve?" Ketis wondered. "All I see is a ghost. Are you expecting him to haunt people to death?" "Not per se. He used to be an expert pilot. I think it may be possible to have him pilot a mech again, though I will need to design a machine that is specially tailored to him. The latest System upgrade has given me the option to spend AP to create a physical body for him. That will make this much easier. Perhaps this is a way for me to cultivate an absolutely loyal mech pilot for myself. The only question is whether he will retain the extraordinary willpower of an expert pilot and whether he can still break through. If he has lost it all, then I will have to find a different way to use him to my advantage." Ketis frowned. She found it rather distasteful to focus so much on turning Imon into a productive asset. Why not try to make him alive again so that Saint Commander Casella Ingvar could be reunited with the brother she thought she had lost forever? She refrained from speaking up. She could understand Ves' priorities. None of this was cheap. They would have to spend valuable Ascension Points to create a new organic vessel for Imon Ingvar. The least he could do was work to pay off his debt. The pair of mech designers left the Courtyard of Envoys and entered the main temple structure. There, they inspected their Status before heading to the Sacred Hearth. There, they beheld their Divine Cores, each of which had changed and grown to varying degrees since their last visit. Vulcan had become Ves' strongest incarnation. Years of practising a custom high-end cultivation method optimized by his mother had allowed Vulcan to enter the second major cultivation rank ahead of his principal! Ves could not help but feel amazed each time he confirmed Vulcan's rapid progress. His rate of improvement was high. Much of it was because his cultivation method directly allowed him to leech from the energies of the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown. His rapid growth in spirituality in turn accelerated his ability to connect to craftsmen and artisans that worshipped him as the God of Dwarves, Mechs and Craftsmanship. With the help of the totems that the Creation Association commercialized and distributed across human-occupied space in increasingly more sophisticated ways, Vulcan was able to ride along so many master craftsmen that he was able to familiarize himself and gain at least partial proficiency in many different productive activities! From learning how to tan puelmer skins to obtaining the secrets on how to process a Mentalist Crystal into an edible ingredient, Vulcan slowly embodied the concept of human craftsmanship in the Red Ocean. He even began to receive incidental worship of 'alchemists' who had recently learned the previously obscure craft of converting extraordinary plant and animal reagents into useful pills and elixirs! Ves was especially happy with that recent gain because it opened the door to enabling the Larkinson Clan to produce these strategic goods. However, traditional alchemy was a pointless activity without a large and continuous supply of alchemical reagents. The majority of them could not be bought on the open market. The demand for them was far too high, so every major group converted several territories into extraordinary farms and grew the reagents that matched their alchemy formulas. The growth and care of those plants was not an enterprise that could be set up with ease. It took a large number of knowledgeable experts as well as special soils that could grow the sensitive and picky reagents. The Larkinson Clan currently lacked the territories, the expertise and the knowledgeable manpower needed to cultivate all of the essential plant reagents. If the Blinkyverse had begun the process of converting an intangible planet and a star into real physical satellites, then Ves might be able to get away with growing all of those valuable reagents inside a part of himself! That was still a fantasy, though. Ves did not have the faintest clue what he needed to do to kick off the materialization process of the Blinkyverse. Either Blinky needed to become a True God first, or he needed to upgrade the Blinkyverse manually by feeding it with rare and precious materials. Ves inwardly shook his head. There was no need for him to be impatient about this stuff. The Larkinson Clan was not large and established enough to set up a complete supply chain for alchemical products. He and his clan could make do with exchanging the end products from the Red Three by spending war merits. In any case, even if Vulcan would not be able to practice his newly gained skills in refining pills and elixirs, at least not directly, he could still do so more indirectly as long as the worshiping alchemists allowed the spiritual entity to possess their bodies for a time. Even so, it was harder for Vulcan to achieve success through this method. Even refining the simplest pill not only required a lot of understanding of theoretical principles, but accumulate an abundance of experience on the timing and execution of the production steps. Domain Shaper or not, Vulcan needed to be honest and learn alchemy step-by-step if he wanted to be able to produce these products on an independent basis. That was not a high priority at the moment. Ves resolutely set this subject aside and studied the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown in greater detail. The symbol of authority traditionally associated with the lost Metal Scroll still stuck to Vulcan's Divine Core like barnacle. When Ves tried to peel it away, the stubborn crown refused to relinquish its perch and prevented him from having his way. "Ketis." "Uhm, whatever you are about to ask from me, I do not think it is a good idea. These Divine Cores represent our essence. What will happen if we actually damage one of them? I cannot contain the Heavensword if it ever goes wild." "That's a risk that I am willing to accept. Just do what I ask, please. Slowly draw the Heavensword and try to make contact with the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown. Just a light touch will do. I just want to know what happens if the two get into contact." To be honest, Ketis' concerns were justified. What Ves just asked her to do could go wrong in so many ways. If a fight broke out in the Sacred Hearth, then there was a risk that all of their Divine Cores may suffer from collateral damage in the process! However, Ves did not believe that the Heavensword would be stupid enough to start a fight in a space where Ketis' Divine Core would also be at risk of getting harmed. The biggest wildcard was the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown. Ves knew way too little about its history, its motivations and its threat level to himself. This was why he proposed this dangerous experiment. Ves needed to gather more data on the symbol of authority so that he could better account for its presence in his life. "C'mon, Ketis. What are you waiting for? It is better that we try to get a reaction out of it rather than let this potential time bomb detonate on its own terms. If it turns out to he throat then it is hotter to deal with it now than lator" Though Ketis still felt this was a bad idea, she cautiously drew out the Heavensword and slowly brought it closer to Vulcan's Divine Core. Ves wondered what would happen if an ancient grand work came into contact with an ancient relic of a different nature. He still did not have a clear idea of the true nature of the symbols of authority. He had heard that the special crowns were originally derived from the blood shed by the creators of the Sacred Scrolls. This gave Ves a hint on how he could elevate his user status within the Mech Designer System. If his fears became true, then the only way to gain greater authority over the System was to harness the power of an actual symbol of authority! It all fit with each other! Sacred Scrolls were not supposed to be used by themselves. They were incredibly powerful and offered a lot of benefits to those that were able to access them, but only the supposed 'Holy Sons' and 'Holy Daughters' could gain administrator rights over 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 their functions. The ability to control the usage of the Sacred Scrolls and the opportunity to unlock their greater mysteries were incredibly tempting benefits to those favored leaders, but the problem was that the sources of the blessings most definitely had impure motives! This was why Ves never trusted the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown and constantly had to put up his guard against it. Only the fact that it had remained fairly inert aside from allowing itself to get exploited by Vulcan had caused him to feel less acutely threatened by its continued presence. His mother was aware of the problem, but she believed that the Metal God Method that she specifically improved to siphon the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown's strength should be enough to keep it safe. Ves was not entirely convinced. Hence why he insisted on this test. Vulcan most certainly began to feel more and more nervous as one of the most powerful weapons in the Red Ocean came closer and closer to his Divine Core! Even though Vulcan greatly admired the Heavensword, that also made him fear its power even more! If Vulcan had not already cultivated his Heart of Steel to a considerable degree of success, he would not have been able to remain so stoic in the face of a potential disaster! Even the symbol of authority could no longer maintain a dull and lifeless face anymore. It visibly began to show signs of activity by shaking from its current perch and releasing a distinctly metallic glow! Ketis slowed down, but did not stop. As the tip of the Heavensword approached the surface of the crown, the latter most definitely could not remain calm. When the two apparently metallic objects finally made contact with each other to the point where one of them may actually suffer a scratch, both of them briefly flared with power! The crown released a pulse of high-grade metal energy in an attempt to physically push away the sharp edge of the Heavensword! The grand work on the other hand surrounded itself with heavenly energy, enabling it. to withstand the energetic pulse and remain firm! "Stop." Ves commanded. "Stopping now." Ketis did as instructed. The activity between the two powerful relics quickly died down. "Did you sense anything special during the moment of contact?" Ves curiously asked. I was as if they never conflicted with each other. "Hmmm." Ketis thought for a few seconds. "I could feel through the Heavensword that it had tried to assert its dominance over the crown. Neither of them managed to gain the upper hand, but that may be that they are unwilling to initiate hostilities in this time and place. The weapon harbors a familiar sort of disdain towards the crown. The two... may already be familiar with each other, but I can't know for sure. The best way I can characterize it is two old acquaintances meeting with each other after they have lived out most of their lives. Even if they used to be openly hostile towards each other, they no longer care so much about their past disagreements. That is all I can surmise." "That is okay. You have given me more than enough information." This told Ves that the Heavensword may actually have the ability to harm or destroy the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown! He grinned when he made this inference. The balance of power between him and the symbol of authority had finally shifted! Although it had not changed entirely in his favor, he at least proved that he had the means to deter the crown! This was good news!