Aldrian arrived at one area of the palace complex and landed on it. Most of the palace's buildings had already turned into rubble because of the earthquakes and the strongest devil that had been thrown into it by Emperor Rozwald. It was not surprising that the palace was fragile, since he thought this place had not been properly maintained for a long time.

He did not believe those devils cared to maintain this place at all.

He arrived at the now half-destroyed throne hall. He could still see the throne, and there, the faith energy itself gathered around it. He thought that this throne was where Xarz always sat.

He approached it before finally creating his domain. The moment he did, he felt refreshed. Power coursed through him as he spread his domain sense across the city.

With him making this city his domain, it had already become the safest place in this world for the moment. The environment was no longer suitable for the devils. The negative energy would gradually decrease as time went by, even without them having to build a purification formation.

Just like its name suggests, the purification formation is used to purify something—in this case, excessive negative energy. The places where the devils built their bases must have been filled with dense negative energy, which truly caused headaches for anyone who wanted to attack them.

The thick negative energy that could affect every cultivator's mind and capability made this kind of environment unsuitable for any normal cultivator to stay in. This was also one of the reasons why the places occupied by the devils were too difficult to take back.

However, cultivators in the past eventually developed something that could purify excessive negative energy. In the distant past, they had a purifying formation for poisonous air, but later modified it into one that could purify negative energy instead.

With this formation, they could live within environments filled with thick negative energy, such as the devil territories. This remains one of the most useful formations for anyone who wants to attack the devil territories even to this day.

Aldrian's domain had that function as well, but it was more effective, and the effect could be felt instantly. The moment the domain was created, the troops could sense the change in the negative energy surrounding them. Slowly, they felt the negative energy recede, which made some of them look at each other.

"Is the purification formation already finished?"

"No, not yet."

Confusion appeared on their faces, as both of them knew they sensed the same thing. The negative energy was decreasing rapidly. Although some of them were confused, they continued to create the purification formation that covered many areas of the city.

That way was quicker and simpler than creating a formation that covered the entire city.

Once Aldrian was done creating his domain, he began to sense another detail, the flow of faith energy in this world. He tried to determine the direction where all the faith energy of this world was gathering.

After he focused for a few moments, he narrowed his eyes because what he sensed was that the faith energy actually flowed into the void before disappearing. The flow of energy did not move as he expected. Normally, it would move in one direction, towards somewhere specific.

He pondered for a moment about what made this situation different from other worlds. After thinking for a minute, he raised his eyebrows and sighed.

'Is it because the beings here worship Tarius, so the faith energy does not gather in the hidden place but flows to him?' he thought.

If that was the case, then he had to reconsider how the faith-gathering places built by his past followers worked. He should have realized that faith energy always flowed toward the one they placed their faith in.

If all the faith energy had simply gathered in a hidden place, then Tarius would have known that something was wrong in the First Heaven long ago.

Aldrian knew that if Tarius had known about that place, the first thing the devils would have done once they occupied a world was destroy it. But from his understanding, based on the memories of those devils, they seemed unaware of the existence of such a place.

From what he sensed of the faith energy, the places built by his past followers were meant to gather faith energy from anyone across the world who had not yet chosen to worship a specific god. They simply believed that the heavens were the highest authority in general.

If people wholeheartedly worship a god, then of course their faith energy will flow to the place where that god resides. If that is the case—

'Then how am I supposed to make the entire world like this one my domain?' Aldrian thought. But then, a realization struck him, and he slapped his forehead.

'Wait, why am I even confused about how to make this world my domain? Even though the faith of the beings in this world does not gather in the hidden place, there is still another place where the world itself stores faith energy.'

'The place where the world gathers the faith of all things. The natural place for faith to gather, even before the hidden place built by my followers.'

He suddenly remembered the information from Kim Seungjin, the son of the Heavenly Demon.

After he made the entire Ancient Blue Gate World his domain, he could sense the details of the world's karma and faith. His comprehension of karma and the world deepened, and he remembered what Kim Seungjin had said.

Something had truly intrigued him the first time he sensed it. Deep underground, he could feel the place where faith gathered before the hidden faith-gathering places had been built. However, the strange thing was the faith energy itself. It was very different from the faith that gathered in the hidden places.

The faith energy in that place felt more primordial and natural.

He could not fully describe the sensation, but "primordial and natural" were the closest words he could find. He simply felt that this faith energy differed from all other faith energy. It was more abstract yet intimately connected to the world itself.

At that moment Aldrian thought more deeply about it. He had not dwelt on this matter much in the past. He only thought that the faith energy inside the world was unique.

Now he suddenly felt there was something much deeper about that faith energy, something more profound that might be connected to his domain ability itself, about how his domain was created in greater detail, why heaven and earth reacted to his domain, and why they became submissive to him the moment his domain was formed.

He took a meditative position and pondered deeply. He felt he had touched something that might be connected to another of his secrets. His domain ability still contained mysteries he sought to answer. He thought this strange faith energy might reveal another secret of his domain ability.

He concentrated and focused on the two worlds that had already become his domain—the Ancient Blue Gate World and the Akares Star. He felt the two worlds as though they were part of his own body. Then, he focused on the places where he could sense that strange faith energy.

In both worlds, the places where faith gathered seemed to share the same location, deep underground, almost reaching the world's core. To reach those places by traditional means, drilling through the layers of the world, he estimated it would take nearly a month.

The strange faith energy gathered around what appeared to be a patch of obsidian rock surrounded by lava. The lava itself was so intense that even a peak pseudo immortal cultivator would find it dangerous to approach.

However, Aldrian ignored the lava and focused solely on the faith energy. He directed his domain senses toward it, trying to describe what he felt in his mind.

'This strange faith energy is primordial and natural. It feels as if it does not come from normal living beings. This faith energy seems… it seems more like… it comes from nature itself. Could it be the faith of the world itself? The world itself have faith?'

His consciousness slowly drifted away as he continued to comprehend the mystery of the faith energy. His understanding of his domain deepened as he felt he had touched upon one of its hidden mysteries.

'The faith of the world itself... the faith of the world... the world has its own faith, and that faith is directed toward…' As his comprehension of faith deepened, his consciousness was suddenly drawn elsewhere.

He found himself surrounded by darkness. He floated freely, unable to tell any direction. In this place, he felt nothing.

It was as if he existed within pure nothingness.

He could not help but recall the place he had experienced a few times in the past.

His being's essence.

However, this place lacked the lone star that existed within his being's essence. So where was this place?

Suddenly, he felt a presence. Its appearance was so abrupt it was as if it had simply appeared out of nothing, and then he heard a familiar voice.

"From nothingness to existence."

It was the voice of that mysterious man.

A blinding light enveloped his vision, and when it receded, he found himself already within his being's essence. The lone star was much closer now, yet he did not focus on it.

His heartbeat quickened, for he had just experienced something extraordinary.