Chapter 441: Beast summoning Ethan stood on the bridge of the Daemon race’s starship, watching the stars blur into streaks of light as they entered hyperspace. The transition was smooth, a testament to the sophisticated technology of the Daemon clans. Beside him, Rose sat comfortably, looking out at the cosmic display. She had finally agreed to leave the spire, and the relief on her face was worth the effort of convincing her. Puffin, the strange white furball, was curled on her lap, his eyes glowing with a faint, rhythmic pulse that only Ethan seemed to notice. Ethan looked across the seating area at Ryogu and the silent, towering guardian who stood behind him. The guardian was an Absolute Continuum Grade 1 powerhouse, a being whose very presence warped the air around him. "You are from the Divine Realm, correct?" Ethan asked, his voice cutting through the hum of the ship’s engines. "Tell me, Ryogu. How powerful was your clan before the exile? And which of the God Clans currently holds the throne of the ruling lineage?" Ryogu’s eyes widened, and he nearly dropped the glass of nutrient fluid he was holding. He hadn’t mentioned a word about the Divine Realm or the hierarchy of the gods to Ethan. "How do you know this, brother?" Ryogu asked, his voice trembling with a mix of awe and suspicion. "I have my ways," Ethan replied with a faint, knowing smile. "I know that the Divine Plane is ruled by five Ultimate Races. I know that the God Race is split into many sub-clans, and that your people were cast out because you failed to meet their ’standard’ of purity or power. You were deemed defective, were you not?" The guardian stepped forward, his eyes locking onto Ethan’s. The pressure in the room spiked, but Ethan didn’t even blink. "How much do you truly know, anomaly?" the guardian asked. His voice was like grinding stones, heavy with the weight of centuries. "I know enough to see the cage for what it is," Ethan said, leaning back. "I know this entire sector of space is a playground for three thousand low-level gods who use it to harvest faith and resources. But tell me about the local lords." The guardian sat down opposite Ethan, a sign of respect that shocked Ryogu. "The true peak clans... they are so far above us that even knowing their names can burn a mortal’s soul. But the local lord belongs to the Celestial God Clan. Their ancestor is a god who wields a Second-Tier Law. His Law Thread is said to be one hundred trillion kilometers long. Do you even understand the scale of a Law Thread?" Ethan nodded. "I understand. A Law Thread is the manifestation of a god’s authority over reality. The longer the thread, the more power0 they ’own’ and control." "Hahahaha!" The guardian laughed, a dark, booming sound. "Those bastards in the upper realm... they got more than they bargained for. They wanted to run a quiet farm, and instead, a tremendous anomaly like you was born right under their noses. Let’s speak plainly, then." Rose looked between them, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Law threads? Celestial Gods? Ethan, what are you talking about?" Ethan looked at Rose. He saw her innocence and the fragile peace she had found. He thought about Yumiko’s warning. The Fate Race was already plucking at the strings of her memory. If she learned too much about the Divine Realm, the gods might use that knowledge as a beacon to find her, or worse, erase her existence entirely to get to him. "It is a secret your existence isn’t ready to carry yet, Rose," Ethan said gently. "The weight of this truth would crush a soul that hasn’t touched the Law. I’ll tell you everything when you are strong enough to stand beside me in the sun." He waved his hand, manifesting a shimmering, opaque barrier around himself, Ryogu, and the guardian. To Rose, it looked like they were suddenly encased in a bubble of frosted glass. "Let’s continue," Ethan said. While his main body discussed the politics of the heavens, Ethan’s consciousness flickered. Far away, across the dimensional divide, his incarnation in the Beast Master World was standing in the center of a massive limestone plaza. This was the Day of the Great Summoning. Thousands of students stood in pre-drawn ritual circles, their faces pale with anticipation and fear. The air was charged with static. "Students!" the Head Instructor shouted from a raised dais. "You have trained since childhood for this moment. Remember: the Astral Realm is a reflection of your soul. Do not force a bond. If you try to claim a beast that is too powerful, the psychic backlash will turn your brain to ash. Reach for the First Sky. If you are lucky, the Second. Release your aura, and wait for a resonance." Ethan’s incarnation closed his eyes. He wasn’t interested in the First or Second Sky. He wanted the peak. As he entered a meditative state, his consciousness drifted upward, leaving the physical world behind. He saw the Astral Realm, a vast, shimmering ocean of stars and nebula clouds. This was the First Sky. Tens of thousands of common beast souls, spectral wolves, fire birds, and stone turtles, swam through the air. Ethan ignored them. He pushed upward, his soul cutting through the ether like a knife. He breached the barrier to the Second Sky effortlessly. Here, the spirits were larger and more vibrant. He saw Silver-Haired Manticores and Azure Dragons. In the spaceship, Ethan’s main body paused mid-sentence. His eyes glazed over for a split second. "My incarnation is summoning? But wait... this place..." Ethan whispered internally. "Yumiko, where is this Astral Realm? It doesn’t feel like it’s inside the ’Cage’." [Master, your intuition is correct,] Yumiko’s voice echoed in his mind. [The Astral Sky of this world is actually a God Trial created by the Elder Race. It is an extradimensional pocket that exists outside the Cage. The people of this world believe there are only nine layers, but in reality, there are fifteen. If someone reaches the fifteenth layer and contracts a God-Level Beast, they are automatically granted membership into the Elder Race and allowed to ascend directly to the Divine Plane.] Ethan’s heart hammered against his ribs. "If I merge with this incarnation later, will I become an Elder?" [Master, you are the Law of Infinity. You can swallow an Elder, a God, or a Void-Walker, and your nature will remain the same. You will simply gain their privileges and powers without their limitations.] "Fantastic. But my incarnation’s soul is too weak to reach the top layers. Can we bridge the gap?" [Placing a Soul Amplifier on the incarnation now,] Yumiko responded. [I will channel a fraction of your Main Body’s Law of Infinity into the ritual. It will not just amplify his reach; it will make his soul smell like the most exquisite nectar to the beasts of the higher skies.] In the Beast Master World, Ethan’s incarnation felt a sudden, violent surge of power. The pressure of the Second Sky, which had been starting to weigh on him, vanished instantly. He felt light, like a bird caught in a thermal. He shot upward. He bypassed the Third Sky, where the "geniuses" of his world usually stopped. He tore through the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Skies. The spirits here were ancient and terrifying, but they couldn’t keep up with his speed. He broke into the Ninth Sky. The environment changed. The stars were gone, replaced by a void of pure, pulsing energy. There were no "millions" of beasts here. There were only a few thousands, and each one felt like a god. A massive Phoenix made of black sun-fire drifted past him, its gaze alone enough to trigger a primal fear in Ethan’s gut. But then, the Soul Amplifier kicked in. The scent of the Law of Infinity radiated from Ethan’s soul. It was a scent of endless possibility, of a power that could grant these spirits physical forms and eternal growth. The Ninth Sky exploded into activity. The ancient, arrogant beasts, beings that hadn’t accepted a summoner in ten thousand years, suddenly turned toward him. A Space-Warping Serpent coiled around his soul, begging for a bond. A Time-Eater Sphinx bowed its head. "I can only take two," Ethan whispered to the void. His instincts, honed by the Law of Infinity, guided his hands. He reached out to a shimmering, translucent Slime. It didn’t look like much, but it was an Emperor Slime of the Space Element. It could swallow entire dimensions and store them within its body. For his second choice, he saw a Nine-Tailed Fox. Its fur wasn’t white, but a shifting silver that seemed to exist in the past, present, and future simultaneously. A Time Elemental. The Slime hopped into his palm, and the Fox draped its tails around his shoulders. The contract was sealed. Ethan’s consciousness was snapped back to his physical body in the limestone plaza. He opened his eyes. Around him, other students were cheering or crying over their new spectral dogs and cats. The Instructor walked over to Ethan, looking at the empty air around him. "Ethan? Did you fail? I don’t see a resonance."