The formation of a world.
It was a phenomenon Damien had actually seen multiple times in visions, whether it be at the very beginning of his journey or in recent days.
However, each time he was able to view such a scene, it was done through the eyes or memories of someone else, limiting the amount of benefits Damien could actually receive.
This time was different.
This time, a world was being born naturally before Damien.
And more than that, it was being born from his mana.
He was intrinsically linked to this world in the same way he was linked to Calypto. As the mysterious patterns of universal law etched themselves onto the forming World Core's surface, Damien could clearly feel their intents and definitions.
'In the end, I am the universal law of the Sanctuary.'
The Sanctuary was Damien's creation and the sole place where Damien could truly exert the god-like power that the Void Physique had the potential to provide him.
Here, if he said go left, not even the smallest atom would dare go right.
As such, the universal law patterns all mirrored Damien's specifications for the Sanctuary, while also mimicking the true universe's laws to fill in the gaps in Damien's interpretation.
This not only allowed the Sanctuary to maintain a state of perfection, but it also allowed Damien to gain a direct understanding of universal law that was impossible to receive in the Real Plane.
Knowledge entered his mind in droves, knowledge that he was forced to internalize and compartmentalize in his spiritual world while maintaining the mana flow to the World Core.
It was a difficult process, but with everything Damien had been through…
World Creation was surprisingly easy.
Under the eyes of no living being, an entire month passed with Damien remaining unmoving like a Buddhist monk. He became a part of a circuit, completely mending with the universe as his subconscious began operating the simultaneous processes he'd been undertaking for the past 30 days.
And as an hour passed in the Real Plane, Astoria found that she could no longer hold back her curiosity.
The ethereal tug that she originally felt was almost like a forceful pull at this point. Refusing to follow her instinct was starting to cause her physical pain, making her realize that resistance was impossible.
In the first place, she only held out for an hour in fear of her father returning to check on the situation again. Now that it looked like such a thing wasn't going to happen, there was no reason for her to continue suppressing herself.
Sneakily as a rat, she peeked her head out of her room and scanned the area, making sure she was alone.
And in an instant, she rushed across the courtyard and arrived before Damien's room, flinging the door open and quickly making her way in,
By the time the breeze caused by her speed rushes through the courtyard, she had already transferred rooms.
The guards had no idea she'd even moved.
Astoria raised her eyes and looked at the swirling black hole populating the room, approaching it cautiously,
'This is it. This is the thing that's calling to me!'
Something beyond that black hole was beckoning her soul.
If she just walked through it…
'But it could be dangerous…!'
Her inner angel tried to lead her onto a safer path, but by the time it was able to voice its opinion, Astoria was already touching the black hole.
In the next instant, her body disappeared, swept into its suction.
Astoria closed her eyes tightly as she felt the chaotic spatial fluctuations envelop her. From all around, she could only hear roaring winds and hear the whipping of terrifying force against her body.
For a second, she thought she would die within the tunnel.
She thought she would die to her own curiosity.
That was her last conscious thought before she passed out, allowing the fluctuations to carry her.
Luckily for her, the journey wasn't long.
Within a few seconds, Astoria's tattered form was thrown into the Sanctuary.
Directly next to where Damien was currently seated.
He opened his eyes in shock when he felt her presence.
'What?!' He exclaimed inwardly.
Astoria was unconscious, almost naked, and bleeding from every place where her skin was showing. It looked like she'd just been mauled by something horrific.
'No way she…'
Damien could only think of one method for Astoria to enter the Sanctuary, and it was both impossible and incredibly stupid.
After all, was it possible to enter the Sanctuary through the black hole in the outside world?
Absolutely not!
In the first place, the black hole was created by the Breath of Nothingness and supported by the Breath of All Things. These two forces turned the black hole into a space where someone of Astoria's level should've been instantly reduced to nothingness.
Even if a Demigod like the Golden Dragon Emperor tried to take this path, he'd only find himself stranded in the chaotic void, forced to find his way back to the Real Plane through brute force alone.
For Astoria to somehow force her way into the Sanctuary…
'It definitely has something to do with this.' Damien thought as he glanced at the forming world.
Perhaps the universal laws were fragile at the moment, or perhaps the World Seed had some sort of connection with Astoria, which wouldn't be strange considering how it was acquired from the Golden Dragon Treasury.
Regardless…
'It's good that she survived. Even though her wounds look terrible, her draconic physique isn't for show. Her most fatal injuries should heal on their own in a few days.'
The main problem was that Astoria's Mana Veins had been damaged. This wasn't something regular regeneration could take care of.
'I can't divert energy right now, so it'll have to wait until I'm done. As long as she doesn't die, it's fine.'
With that thought, Damien closed his eyes again and returned focus to the process.
Now that his injured disciple was by his side, he couldn't be so leisurely and passive anymore.
He needed to get this done as soon as possible.
As such, he immediately took control of the mana flow and used his connection with the World Core to inject it with the Breath of All Things, heavily hastening the formation process.
Within 3 days of Astoria's entrance, layers of earth began to form around the World Core.
At this time, Astoria's major wounds healed as well.
Her eyes fluttered open weakly.
"M…master…?" She voiced vaguely as she tried to understand her situation.
"Don't speak," Damien responded without turning to look at her, "pay attention to what's going on right now. This is probably something you'll never get to experience again in your lifetime."
Astoria turned her head with great difficulty towards the bright light that was illuminating half of her face.
Immediately, her eyes widened into saucers.
"Master, what's going on?!" She exclaimed.
What she saw was truly incomprehensible to her. Even if she could guess the base concept of what was happening, her mind wasn't able to process and retain that understanding due to her nonexistent understanding of space.
Damien grinned when he saw her fascination.
At the same time, he understood why Astoria had been dragged into the Sanctuary.
"This is a World Creation Event," Damien said slowly, finally turning to look at his disciple. "And this…"
"This is one of your greatest affinities within the Laws of Space."
