The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 930: Helping Them
"I alone am enough," Aldrian said with full confidence.
Patriarch Geodard and his group, upon hearing his words, felt their hearts tremble. The patriarch looked at Aldrian in astonishment, and he could not help but think how arrogant Aldrian sounded.
As long as he had lived, he had never heard someone speak so confidently, claiming that their presence alone was enough to resolve a war on a scale that affected the entire world.
He was truly speechless. He had already heard of how great Aldrian was, yet with every story he heard, it became increasingly absurd, to the point that he no longer knew whether those stories were merely made up or straight out of a fairytale.
However, with so many people saying the same thing, and with countless witnesses, many of whom were powerhouses of this world, he had no choice but to accept it as a fact.
Still, because he had never seen Aldrian in action himself, there remained a small doubt in his heart. Could a mortal really accomplish all of that? From his perspective, such feats were something an immortal might be able to do, or a god.
’Is that why so many people regard him as their god?’ Patriarch Geodard thought.
Aldrian, looking at the speechless figures before him, felt amused. He knew that they still harbored doubts in their hearts regarding his abilities, but he did not blame them. His strength and abilities were indeed absurd, to the point that no cultivator, even in the past, could compare to him.
After a few seconds of silence, Patriarch Geodard cleared his throat.
"My apologies, Your Majesty, for showing such a reaction, but are you sure? You alone are enough?" he asked.
Aldrian nodded with a smile. "I am sure. I do not need to trouble my troops for this war. They only returned from a major war not long ago, and the scale of a single world is enough for me alone."
Patriarch Geodard gulped as he looked at Aldrian. He could clearly see how serious and confident Aldrian was. Looking at him like this, he could not help but feel confident as well. Although he still harbored a small doubt in his heart, he felt optimistic knowing that Aldrian would help them directly.
"I see, but is Your Majesty certain you can afford such a long journey with all the matters you must handle here? Traveling back and forth to our world alone would take at least a year when accounting for the time flow of this world. This does not even include how long Your Majesty might stay in our world," the patriarch said.
"Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. I can use this so I do not spend time on the journey," Aldrian said, when suddenly a figure appeared beside him.
Patriarch Geodard and the others were stunned, their eyebrows rising in shock. The figure was Aldrian’s avatar, but to them, it looked as though Aldrian had a twin.
"This is my avatar, or my clone if you prefer to call it that. I will let him accompany you back to your world, and once you arrive, you can strategize your counterattack against the devils with him. You do not have to worry about his cognitive or communication skills. Just consider him a normal living being."
The others widened their eyes in shock and looked at the avatar once more. All of them were pseudo-immortal stage cultivators, and they already knew many kinds of clone techniques and how to differentiate them. The senses of pseudo-immortal stage cultivators were sharp, after all.
Yet the avatar beside Aldrian was something they did not expect to be merely a clone. That was because the first thing that came to their minds was that this avatar was a normal living being. They did not sense any irregularities in the avatar’s body, which made them think that he was simply a normal, individual entity.
After a few seconds of shock, Patriarch Geodard took a deep breath before releasing it. "Your Majesty, I know this may sound presumptuous, but may I examine your avatar? I am truly speechless and would like to learn more about it."
"Of course you may," Aldrian said, then gave a signal to his avatar with a tilt of his head. The avatar moved forward, approaching Patriarch Geodard, and stopped right in front of him. The patriarch then began to observe it. The others did the same, and after a few moments of observation, the patriarch grew bolder.
"Please excuse me, Your Majesty," he said as he grabbed the avatar’s body and began to examine it.
After a few moments, he finally finished, and it made his and the others’ hearts tremble.
’This avatar almost has no weaknesses. Overall, he is truly like a normal living being. How is that possible?’ the patriarch thought.
The only weakness he could sense from the avatar was revealed only when he touched and examined its body in its entirety. He could sense the energy that constituted the avatar’s body, but even that was only possible after he focused his senses entirely on it. Besides that, he did not find any sign that indicated this avatar was merely a clone.
Patriarch Geodard then looked at Aldrian, who was smiling at him. He truly felt amazed at this moment, for he had just witnessed one of Aldrian’s techniques. A technique that should have been simple, yet it had already astonished him.
He sighed. "Truly amazing, Your Majesty. At this moment, my mind has truly been opened to new knowledge, as expected of your great self." He glanced at the avatar for a moment before looking back at Aldrian.
"I represent all my people and the people of my world. I convey our gratitude to Your Majesty, Aldrian the Great." He bowed slightly to Aldrian, followed by the others.
Aldrian waved his hand. "No problem, but I think you are too quick to say something like that right now. We still have to win the war in your world first."
Patriarch Geodard nodded with a smile. Although he still had a little doubt about whether an avatar could truly make a difference compared to the real body, he decided to believe in Aldrian’s plan. He did not know the true depth of Aldrian’s abilities and strength, so he did not want to underestimate even his clone.
Not long after that, they conversed for a while before Patriarch Geodard and his group excused themselves, as they decided to quickly return to their world. They had departed from their world silently so the devils would not take advantage of their absence, which meant they needed to return as soon as possible to support their forces once more.
After the group from the Alfemin family left, Aldrian received some other guests again as he continued his normal activities as emperor for the rest of the day.
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Time passed by quickly, and another five months went by. The Aster Empire was still experiencing an influx of visitors from outside the Central Star Cluster, which made the continent increasingly boisterous. In every city and settlement, millions, or even billions, of people from various races and places across space mixed together.
Because some of the cities became extremely crowded, Aldrian decided to build several new cities to accommodate the many newcomers. With Aldrian’s approval, many chose to migrate and settle within the empire, making it their new home.
This kept the empire’s officials busy over the past few months, as they worked to construct infrastructure and manage the continuous influx of people.
Thanks to Aldrian’s reputation, there were almost no individuals who dared to create trouble. Almost...
That was because some people clearly did not take Aldrian’s rules seriously. They caused trouble for others and acted arrogantly, despite Aldrian having given them a place to stay.
Aldrian did not tolerate such behavior. His punishment was swift and truly harsh. Death or expulsion marked their end in the Aster empire.
Aldrian did not hesitate, and it gave many newcomers a clear warning. If they wanted to live in his empire, then they had better behave. No matter their identity, he would administer the same punishment.
It was a warning that would be engraved into the minds of all newcomers.
However, such matters were only minor events in the eyes of the original citizens of the Aster Empire. They trusted their emperor to enforce the rules firmly, so they did not worry about powerful outsiders looking for trouble.
To them, it was no more than their emperor killing a few flies that disturbed the harmony and order of the empire, and that was all.
There were many things far more important than talking about dead troublemakers or the expulsion of groups of cultivators.
For example, at this moment, the atmosphere across the Aster Empire was more joyous than usual. Many people eagerly anticipated the next day, because—
That was the day Aldrian married Sylphia.
