Chapter 44: Clearing Some of His Doubts
A structure with four rock pillars embedded in the ground at the corners formed a cube-shaped building. There were no walls, so the interior was visible from the outside. The roof was a congregation of leaves and roots connected to the main body of the World Tree. Surrounding flowers added a sweet fragrance, and the water pond had a calming effect on the mind. Aldrian looked at the surroundings and the majesty of the World Tree's center with a serene expression.
"This... I can sense a stronger karma connected to me here," he thought. He then focused his senses and vision until he saw a small string stemming from him. "I can see it. I can see stronger karma connected to me there," he observed, and he saw the little string connected to the structure. He felt an inexplicable closeness, so he waited to see what he might discover.
"This place is the first structure we built before we established the capital and the Ivory Empire as a whole. It holds great importance to us. We dare say that it is because of this place that the Ivory Empire still stands today. This is where the blessing is strongest and spreads across the entire Ivory Empire territory, the place where we can feel the presence of the Heavenly Tree of the World. You can even cultivate faster here because the energy is the thickest in the entire Ivory Empire," Imperial Teacher Elthar explained, to which Aldrian nodded.
"Now, this is where we must leave you. You can stay at the shrine by yourself; we will wait from afar."
Aldrian nodded and walked toward the shrine, following the karma string, curious about what this place meant to him. Elthar and the others watched him walk toward the shrine, then began to walk back the way they came when they could no longer see Aldrian.
Aldrian crossed the root bridge over the water pond and arrived at the shrine's interior. At the end, there was an altar with a picture depicting the World Tree and a small natural fountain in front of it. Aldrian felt the serenity of the place and couldn't resist sitting to meditate. He closed his eyes and immersed himself in the surrounding energy.
As Imperial Teacher Elthar had said, the concentration of energy here was so thick that, if he were an ordinary cultivator, his cultivation speed would have doubled. He savored the calm atmosphere, taking the time for comprehension and self-introspection. This was also an opportunity to test one of his hypotheses about his domain.
He repeated the lines and immersed himself in becoming one with the universe, one with nature. That's when he felt something, something that made him want to burst out laughing, but he held it in. He kept his eyes closed, thoroughly enjoying this feeling of unity with the universe and nature. He didn't know why, but it felt like this should be his ultimate goal: to truly become one with the universe and nature.
Time passed, but Aldrian didn't care. He remained immersed in cultivation. However, since earlier, he had sensed an entity in front of him. He could tell the entity was a woman, sitting in a seiza position without making a sound, just watching him.