[All chapters beyond this point undergoing rewrites!]
"In life I sought treasure, power, wealth, woman. Now I only seek survival"
-Unknown human cultivator ~ Nascent soul stage
Northern Quadrant of the vast tree realm.
Glory year port, one of over 3 million space ports in the north able to house thousands of flying ships allowing them to rest and resupply along their journey.
These ports didn't simply house ships and passerbys the main use of these ports was to allow access into the void river, passages which enabled extremely quick travel across the Vast tree realm, without these passages it could normal flying ships hundreds of thousands to millions of years to travel from one end of the north sector to the other.
These passages spread across the entire Vast tree realm are the quickest way to travel, outside similar of special methods or cultivation techniques.
Not all passages connected with each other and not all passages were safe the few that are were controlled by various factions in order to profit off of their use, of course access to these void rivers was not a matter of simply waltzing in, certain things had to be built in order to force open a path.
Those who choose to build a space port not only have to spend large sums to open a path but they must also clear away any hazards that may be inside the void river and more often then not several thousand years had to be spent as a general estimate before it could be considered 'passable' so it was quite an investment to build.
Void rivers are not always stationary and could shift or fold onto itself causing delays in travel times but luckily it can take several tens of thousands of years for this to happen.
Currently thousands of ships were arriving from all over the realm using this chance to rest or trade for rare materials that are not available in other parts of the realm
One new arrival was a fleet of fifty-two Arks which belonged to a coalition of hundreds of families known as the Five family union.
It was once known as the four family coalition but with the rise of a new powerful family the four major families decided that it was time for a change amongst their ranks which was greatly welcomed by many while the opponents of that particular family were not so happy.
"Ed! Ed! Lets go, hurry up! Lets go!" A child spoke excitedly
"Im going im going" another young voice sounded
These children no older then five or six accompanied a group on a trip towards one of the many markets inside the glory year port which currently had a massive boom to business.
Shops became packed with alien species for across the universe, for many it would be a first interaction with a particular species while for others just another day.
Most beings attempted to buy goods they needed with materials they had no use for but those that were selling wouldn't trade for anything besides what they needed, this formed a hostile environment where even the slightest show of force could spark a fight.
Alien species of all kinds looked at the wares in the markets or traded with others seeking all kinds of ingredients, buying all sorts of pills and materials, even hiring various professional crafters to make something for them in haste.
Some people tried to buy their way into other larger vessels or fleet of vessels in order to increase their chances at survival.
"Eddy, Erica don't run off, we don't want you to cause trouble" one of the older people spoke in a low reprimanding tone.
The children only looked back with a mischievous smile.
A middle aged man wryly smiled and simply hoped these kids didnt make trouble.
The five family union was no stranger to inhumane beings gracing their doorstep but most inhabitants were primarily human.
Their home continent and even the surrounding spirit continents in their local area all had a majority human population, alien species like these in such high numbers was simply unheard of to them.
These children are part of the direct family line of one of the Five family unions families but not one of the major family lines, holding just enough influence to keep themselves afloat but that influence was only applicable within the five family union and not so outside of that area.
As a whole the five family union could not be considered powerful even among the human race, but they could at least ensure the survival of their own.
A singular family like this would truly be better off not causing any trouble otherwise they may not be able to avoid a loss.
The current situation of the port could only be said to be very chaotic, races of all kinds traveling across the realm was nothing new but so many of them at once was truly a spectacle, especially witnessing so many cultivators at or above deity transformation being treated like commoners.
One in three cultivators walking shoulder to shoulder were deity transformation experts, it was as if they entered a holy land of cultivation.
The other two thirds were mostly nascent soul cultivators whom would be considered big shots in most planets, here they were fodder.
Anyone else was irrelevant or so strong that they appeared almost mundane.
For cases where one was unsure as to the power of another, it was often best to act with caution.
In the five family union few could ever claim to have seen such a sight before them and even less could claim to be able to compete with the higher tier cultivators.
At best 1,350 nascent soul cultivators inhabited the Five family union (FFU), with 260 deity transformation stage cultivators and 49 Body reformation stage cultivators spread across the fifty-two arks they owned.
There were also 3 soul integration cultivators on board as well but they could not be counted on.
If any conflict broke out one would think no one would dare mess with them normally, but this time the odds were against them.
Any one of the fleets docked in the port at this particular moment could lead to outright annihilation for either party, none wanted to tempt such a result.
While inside the port, no one was allowed to be over 15 feet tall, this allowed for it to be easier to cater to the wider populace and for no one to become an eyesore or hindrance of sorts.
Flying was an option as long as you keep to designated fly zones but certain speed limits are in order.
Many guards attempted to keep the peace of the port although currently it was far too crowded making it difficult to keep track of everything going on, but non the less they tried to keep the peace.
Moving out towards the docks one could see ships as small as 20 feet to over 400 kms in size making for a truly staggering scene.
Like flying mountains these arks covered the nearby space creating a gravitational force equivalent to several planets, the surroundings started to become a little crushing to those in the center.
Arks larger then 500 kms in size would not be able to take this void river passage in general, the current passage was only considered safe for ships of a little over 200 kms in size but even then large ships would be taking the trip here to enter the passage.
This would normally be a bad idea as parts of the void river had major obstacles that were no smaller then 60 kms in size that would certainly smash into the Arks attempting to cross.
One had to be absolutely confident that they could smash right through those chunks of debris otherwise they could meet their demise and cause even more debris to fill the passage ways.
Luckily this passage already had many ships over 300 kms cross and even one notable 450 kms size 'Ark' had made its way in and out the other side in one piece clearing the way forward for others.
Cultivators able to own something of that size must be extremely powerful just to build it, let alone defend it.
The expansion would generally be a cause for joy for the owner of the void river as this would keep the void river more stable allowing for more traffic to flow but with the collapse of the vast tree realm at hand it would be a short lived joy.
The dock workers tirelessly moved from dock to dock across the nearby void, setting up teleportation platforms for the larger ships to use since they could not anchor at the port itself due to their size, while leading smaller vessels to other parts of the dock.
Many of the larger Arks carried smaller flying ships that could be used for this occasion while they waited for their own turn to use the void river.
The void river which was currently at max capacity with no less then 500 ships entering in at a time when no larger vessel entered or exited but for the moment only people traveling into the north were allowed in while there would be another set time that allowed for others to exit the void river.
It took around 7 hours for a one way trip from one end to the other with no real guarantees should you take any longer then that.
This particular port operated 18 hours straight for sending and receiving vessels with an extra hour in-between each switch as to give any stragglers some extra time to traverse the void river or in case problems arose along the way.
While vessels arrived from far further increasing the waiting time to enter the pass, certain news made its way to the many leaders of each faction that had arrived here.
"Is this news true?" A woman spoke while looking over documents.
"We have yet to confirm this and we are unlikely to be able to do so on time. From what we know the port will only be allowing one way travel and will no longer be receiving vessels, so it is likely to be the truth" a elderly man answered
"Then it's probably true, less then five years left until the vast tree realms destruction... it Seems our plan of arriving early in the north to make connections with other powers was for naught" said the woman.
She was the matriarch of one of the Five family unions major families, the Nordaine house.
Her name was Dara but most call her title as Madam Nordaine for she is the current head of the Nordaine family.
Her husband had been part of the United army conscripts having participated in many campaigns including the final battle, he never came back and no news of him has been heard so it was likely he had perished.
She didn't really feel anything toward his death, it was simply a political marriage.
While she held no love for him, she would rather he be alive rather then not as the current state of the family was at its absolute bottom.
This current generation of Nordaine's only had 8 members, none among the current generation above deity transformation
While at one point the Nordaine family held one of the strongest cultivators of the five family union in their ranks, the Nordaine's direct line of descent had always been in low number never having more then 25 people in the family while all others mere servants, guards or subordinate families.
With the presumed death of her husband who was at the Body reformation stage and her 2 uncles at late deity transformation stage, the Nordaine's were in a difficult situation as of late.
Madam Nordaine was only at early deity transformation stage being the only deity transformation stage among the family - if you don't include the servants.
While the family had seen darker days in the past, times had changed, the five family union had grown beyond the scope where a single deity transformation individual could hold the family together.
Plus adding on the fact that she had reached deity transformation only recently - less than 6 years ago, which spoke of her talent and... inexperience, the family was in a rut.
One had to know that to be considered one of the Leading families of the FFU (five family Union) they either had to have a Body reformation stage or higher cultivator in the family plus 15 deity transformation stage direct family members minimum, this did not include nascent soul experts as they did not matter.
If they can't meet those requirements something else of equivalent power must be in place, be it spiritual weapons capable of killing life on planetary scales or enough backing from other families.
As of current the Nordaine's held both weapons and the support of other families but only because the current situation did not allow for large political swings that would dethrone them.
The closest person to achieving deity transformation stage in the Nordaine family was a Mid Nascent soul elder whose age only brought forth questions.
If not for the fact that the Nordaine house contracted 20+ Deity transformation stage hired servants and guards plus the various lower families backing they would not even be able to protect their lives.
This was without mentioning that the loyalty of such bought guards all relied on being able to continually pay them.
The Nordaine family's line had been unbroken since the founding of the Five family union, which at the time only consisted of three families the Bell family, the Nordaine family and one more no longer in the history books.
If either of these families ever encountered a bad situation that endangered the family legacy as a whole the others would step in regardless of losses, this could not be said about the rest of the families in the FFU which truly spoke to the trust held in one another.
At least until one of them was wiped out.
Many lower families were starting to have thoughts about the Nordaine family's weak position but luckily the Nordaine's were not the only leading family facing this problem in the Five family Union.
All 5 leading families currently lacked high grade cultivators due to the mandatory call to action, slightly alleviating the pressure.
None of the internal turmoil could be shown to outsiders lest they attract the attention of unsavory individuals, that was simply a fact.
For now the Nordaine's were protected by the collective whole.
Among the fleet there were several tens of Body reformation stage cultivators and even 3 Soul integration stage cultivators whom were not part of any of the powers from the FFU.
None of them held any actual power to influence the politics within the FFU since most simply hitched a ride after paying a price to enter the Arks and would be leaving upon reaching the Northern most point, at least in the best case scenario.
This wouldn't stop many families from approaching these individuals with offers for permanent stay given they provide their services.
While madam Nordaine contemplated doing the same, her available finances said otherwise.
Just as madam Nordaine was conversing with the elder about such prospects, she received a message.
The elder sitting in front of her read the message after she tossed over the communication jade "It seems that the other families have received the news, they are calling for a emergency meeting. It seems they are more worried then we are to react so quick"
"Meeting after meeting after meeting, in the end I will just be sitting there waiting to be called upon only to agree to whatever demands they make, have they not taken everything they wanted yet?"
Saying so she stood up and bade farewell to the elder before heading away from the Nordaine family's area of control.
The elder felt her pain, if only he had been more talented early in life maybe then he could have helped.
How own son's and daughters held more talent then he did but they only entered the golden core stage thus far.
"If we must make a deal with a devil to survive, then so be it" the elders eye had conviction beaming out of them.
Just as the elder was experiencing a self high an explosion in the distance caused the ark to shake, a huge ark of over 110 kms in size had been split in two several thousand miles away.
The explosion burned brightly attracting the attention of all the ports inhabitants.
"What happened?"
"Wow now that is a scene you don't see every day"
"Looks like someone got in a fight they couldn't talk themselves out off"
"You'd think people would be more level headed considering our situation"
"Sometimes people forget they may be immortal in name but not reality"
"Hey you never know some heaven breaking lord could have been sleeping inside"
"Hah yeah right, if they were would they let such a thing happen?"
The next moment a spear made of fire launched out of one half of the burning ark, the spear was aimed at a large alien figure standing in the nearby space.
The spear hit its mark repelling the alien figure several miles back.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" The being that launched the spear ran fourth in space attacking the alien figure with the momentum of a dying star going supernova.
"Oh shit, two soul integration seniors are fighting! Whoever gets caught in the crossfire will regret it!"
"Fuck are they crazy!?"
"If they cause more damage it will simply drag everyone into it, someone stop them!"
The guards looked on in dismay, how could they stop such people?
Even the ruler of this port being a soul integration expert wouldn't dare intervene, let alone them who are two entire ranks below at deity transformation.
"Huh isn't something odd?"
"It's a one sided beating!"
"What? How did someone so weak manage to break a ship like that?"
"Weak? Soul integration seniors can destroy entire galaxies let alone a small ark"
This was not an exaggeration, galaxies on mortal scales could not be considered worthy opponents for such beings.
Spirit continents existed exactly to contain such beings.
An attack that would otherwise destroy planets on the mortal scale would only create valleys and mountain ranges in spirit continents.
A cultivator was ranked based on how far they advanced in their spiritual cultivation, the further they delved onto the path of immortality the further ones power would reach.
Qi gathering, foundation establishment, core formation and nascent soul were considered the weakest in order.
The power they can exhibit was still considered in the mortal realm.
Deity transformation was considered a transitional rank, both weak enough to be considered mortal yet strong enough to roam the skies freely.
After that the levels of power reached were beyond human comprehension.
Body reformation experts could spit and a planet will shatter, soul formation elites could scream at the top of their lungs and all life in a galaxy will perish, golden cocoon saints can simply create their own galaxies out of boredom.
After that the heavenly rebirth and void realms were considered so out of the realm of logic that no one truly knew how to accurately define their feats.
"But that ark was protected by another of the same rank, how did it get pierced so easily? Heck even my small ark can take a hit or two"
"You guys overestimate the durability of these arks, they are made for void travel not combat, even a normal flying ship can take a hit or two given it's crafted of good heavenly materials"
"Right, the arks are made for speed and Qi retention not defense they are basically glass houses"
"Not quite, the arks outer shell gets stronger over time, given sufficient time they should be able to take a hit from either of them no problem"
"Sufficient time? It would take a million years to even get to that point"
"Yeah that's why it's recommend that you cover the arks in billions of defense formations, otherwise it will fall apart under it's own weight"
As the onlookers discussed the properties of the arks, the alien creature being beaten down broke away from his attacker escaping into the entrance of the void river.
The enraged being wanted to chase but his ark needed to be repaired urgently.
"Well that's one way to end things"
"This really opened my eyes as to the perilous future we are headed into"
Many had thoughts of upgrading the defense formations of their respective arks, such a scene made them feel exposed.
The kids Eddy and Erica had gone pale, they couldn't stand properly being picked up by their caretakers.
The shockwaves of Qi had spread out crashing into the ports barrier, the barrier had held but the residual Qi lingered in the air affecting anyone below a certain cultivation rank.
The kids had only just started to cultivate the attacks if not blocked by the barrier would have turned them to ash with a simple touch, the lingering fire Qi now caused them to experience Qi deviation.
Quickly their caretakers rushed them back to the families arks for treatment.
Anyone in the surroundings outside the ports barrier had to rely on themselves to resist the shockwave of the attacks, if one was below nascent soul regardless of their world shaking talent they would have died instantly.
Even nascent soul cultivators had taken near lethal damage, while the weakest of them had simply died.
As for those is deity transformation, cracked barriers and broken treasures littered space as they retreated to recover.
Even surrounding arks had slight damage done to their exteriors, such damage would repair itself in most case however several arks had taken greater damage.
"Even if he was avenging his kin, the damage he caused to everyone else will have to be paid back"
"From one problem to the next, truly it makes no sense to fight like this"