After conversing with Priscilla for a bit longer, Damien immediately left for Eien with Ximen Wuhen in tow.
The Dead Star itself was only a temporary base, mostly held together by the magic and skills of those residing on it, so there wasn't a direct teleportation station to Eien nearby, however, there were more than a few in Soul World, a sector whose border was mere days away from Throh.
Overall, the travel time wouldn't be too long. Damien would reach Eien within a week, but a week was enough time for plenty to happen.
Damien mainly used this week to learn more about Ximen Wuhen and Eien.
For the first matter, rather than Ximen Wuhen herself, Damien was naturally more interested in her ability.
As someone immensely familiar with the natural law, he held an immense curiosity towards her ability which seemed to break it.
However, the reality of her power was different from what Damien expected.
The nature of her mana itself was different.
When Damien observed her body, he noticed that the ambient mana she absorbed would go through some sort of change the instant it entered her body, becoming wholly different from its original property.
Of course, a normal practitioner could also change the nature of mana to match their elements, but this was actually a completely different process.
Regardless of their similarities, the fact that one happened consciously while the other happened naturally was a major differentiator.
On top of that, Ximen Wuhen's mana didn't align with any of the Laws Damien knew of. Even when he asked her what Law she practiced, she couldn't answer him.
To her, law comprehension came as naturally as breathing. While she practiced and refined her formation art, her mana continued to mature subconsciously.
'A true genius.'
It was the only way to describe her.
As someone who also held this title, Damien did his best to uncover the secrets behind her mysterious identity, but of course, a week wasn't nearly enough time to solve a mystery that stumped even High Commanders like Priscilla.
Luckily, this week allowed Damien to get acclimated to Eien's power structure.
Eien was also a prime piece of land, and it wasn't a small number of sects trying to capture it. The Nox were a threat to the universe as a whole, which was the only reason these forces didn't fiercely clash for hegemony.
'If they truly decided to clash, though, the destruction they'd cause would be disastrous.'
The most important fact that Damien found out was the power level of Eien, rather than its structure.
The term "extreme peak 4th class" didn't matter at all in Eien.
After all, there were an uncountable number of extreme peak experts present there.
After seeing the absurd numbers in the information Priscilla provided, Damien personally went to ask Ximen Wuhen about its validity.
In that moment, Damien's worldview was unexpectedly widened once again.
'I was too naive.' He thought to himself.
Damien thought he already understood the true vastness of the universe, but his opinion was skewed by what he'd seen.
A majority of the universe's forces were in Eien.
As Priscilla said, Eien was the true battlefield.
When the sparks of war were just barely lighting up the starry sky, a vast portion of the universe's experts were deployed to Eden to act as a first, and hopefully last, line of defense.
If it wasn't for these experts, the universe might've fallen before Damien could even enter the Divine Realm.
The experts that would've been considered at the very peak of the universe…
…were present in Eien in the billions.
'Granted, Eien is, ironically, the largest celestial body in the universe with its length. But still, the fact that they had to define an entirely different power system to classify them because of the sheer number is insane.'
Naturally, not all extreme peak 4th class beings were the same.
The extreme peak of 4th class was merely what every single being who reached level 399 was called. The next step was a step onto the path of Godhood, and depending on how close one was to taking this step, one's power would be drastically different.
The new stages of extreme peak 4th class were titled as "revolutions" because completing each one felt like another revolution through life, an entirely new journey from level 1 to 399.
High Commanders like Priscilla were at the 6th of nine revolutions. Above them were only Executioners at the 7th or 8th revolution and Supremes at the 9th revolution.
Below the High Commanders were normal Commanders with strength ranging from the 3rd to 5th revolution, and below even them were Millennium Generals from the 1st and 2nd revolutions.
Practitioners who'd yet to reach the extreme peak stage were delegated as regular soldiers, and just as the Nox did, Heaven's Army would assign roles based on the situation.
'But most people travel with their sects and organizations. It's hard for the governing body of Heaven's Army to separate these people or even move them without offering benefits.'
This was why the carrot and stick reward system implemented for the war was perfect. Achievements became tangible as rewards accompanied them, and these prideful sect disciples and practitioners became dogs with their tails wagging at the prospect.
'Would it be best to join a sect for ease of information gathering and movement…?'
Just as all of Damien's prior affiliations had done, a new one would provide him a canopy to use in case of emergencies.
However, in Eien, there likely wasn't a situation where he could earn the right to move freely.
'I can move with Ximen Wuhen alone, but I do need a base camp to return to in case anything happens. Even if it isn't a sect, it seems I'll have to become acquainted with some influence.'
Damien sighed. Interacting with people was much harder than slaughtering Nox, but doing it properly made life far easier.
Nevertheless, the week passed rapidly with Damien busying himself with information gathering and training.
Many millions of kilometers of travel and three long-distance teleportation arrays later, the destination was finally in sight.
As Priscilla described it, it truly was the end of existence.
The glimmering specks of light decorating the starry sky were nonexistent on the other side of Eien. The sky was pitch-black, and moving too far into enemy territory meant entering the Abyss.
It was a place with a desolate atmosphere that could be felt from afar, and a bloodthirst with the same effect.
'This is a warzone.'
Damien's eyes hardened. Realization about where he'd taken himself set in.
This was a place where survival and benefits mattered more than all else. In the warzone that protected humanity, the concept of humanity was entirely lacking.
Damien steeled himself.
The days ahead would mirror this atmosphere.
He closed his eyes and calmed his boiling emotions, reopening them with indifference oozing from his pupils.
"Let's go."
He declared it without leaving room for arguments.
He grabbed onto Ximen Wuhen's army and flashed away.
In the next moment, the duo appeared in the sky above the cracked reddish-purple desert that was Eien.
Damien deeply breathed in the blood-soaked air…
And a spark of reddish-black mana flashed across his pupils.
