Lex also entertained, for a brief moment, that Vox might be lying about his power and origin. It was not only possible, it was also plausible. Considering that he wanted to establish a working relationship with Lex, the more he built himself up, the more he would entice Lex to work with him.

Moreover, by explaining how desperate his situation was, in the future when things wouldn't go his way, Lex would have no reason to doubt his identity, because the trouble existed despite having such an identity. It would lull Lex into accepting his identity.

But after some thought, he felt like it was unlikely. He couldn't be absolutely certain, but it still felt like Vox did not need to lie. After all, at 35% power, he was not a weakling, and his position granted him actual power, as Lex had already seen.

"The ferry is an innate feature of Arch-Heaven, Vox said as they walked through the town. "It can transport one from any white marble structure to another with relative safety. The danger comes in the form of other ferries who try to target you. We call them pirate ferries. Basically, the danger is from other residents of Arch-Heaven, but I think you should be fine with your guardian." "Of course," said Mango, who had been staring off into the distance and hadn't been listening at all. The moment the guardian was mentioned, his attention snapped back and he started acting as if he knew exactly what was going on. For some odd reason, he kept feeling like things were oddly different from what he was used to, even though he had been pretty much traveling for as long as he could remember.

"How exactly do you use the ferry?" Lex asked.

"You don't use the ferry. You ride it. The ferries themselves are basically indestructible, and always return to where they were originally docked after each trip. As for the cost of using a ferry... it is far greater than simple Blessing Stones. A single trip in a ferry will need a sacrifice of 0.5% power by someone." Lex was taken aback, not expecting that. So the percentage power could not only rise, it could fall as well. Furthermore, not only was it a source of power and authority, but it was a form of currency as well.

That made accumulating percentage power even harder. In fact, Lex could imagine that countless people were nurtured using Blessing Stones by stronger powers simply so that their percentage power could be used to pay for stuff like the ferry without affecting their strongest representatives.

The complexity of Arch-Heaven continued to rise, as expected.

"I will, of course, have someone else make the payment when you're ready to leave, Vox said, bringing them to an oval building with stairs that descended underground. "If you wish to consume your Blessing Stones first, I can arrange for a private home right opposite to the ferry. Once you're ready, you can depart as you please - no need to inform me. I'll make sure everyone in the town cooperates with you so you won't encounter any issues."

He brought them all the way to the lowest level of the building, where they entered a large, rectangular room with a river of some thick, brown liquid flowing through it. Atop the liquid was floating a white, marble ship that was actually quite large, and could have easily supported hundreds of people abroad.

A number of workers rushed to greet Vox, ready to listen to his orders. Vox made sure to introduce Lex and the others, and told them to hold the ferry departures for Lex until he was ready to go, and informed them of the destination.

He also showed Lex the house he reserved for them, which was empty to begin with since the population of the town was nowhere near large enough to house all the buildings.

Then, as if to grant Lex the privacy to make his own decisions, Vox rushed to return to his buildings. Yet the more cooperative he was being, the more Lex felt like Vox was facing a great danger.

In fact, everything about Arch-Heaven was beginning to repulse Lex, so much so that he was beginning to feel a rush to leave himself.

Speaking of which, Lex had not asked Vox anything about how to leave - not yet anyway. That was a topic he did not want to touch until he got his hands on that Heavens puppet.

"What do you say, guys?" Lex asked, once Vox was truly gone. "Do you want to try the Blessing Stone and see if it has any effect on us?"

"A mere stone, what could it do for me?" Mango asked, looking down on the stone. "If you wish, I will bless the stones for you. That will probably help you a lot more."

Lex chuckled.

"Well, I am a little curious," he said. "How about I try the stone, and you guys can decide whether you want to try after seeing how it affects me." Mango couldn't be bothered, and Fenrir would never disagree with Lex anyway, so the group quickly entered their private house and set up a few isolation and protection formations before all sitting down.

Lex mentally prepared himself, and then stared at the Blessing Stone. Using it was easy - he merely needed to hold it and cultivate. After mentally preparing himself for anything, Lex began to cultivate.

Then... he began to receive the blessing. A Blessing Stone could only be used once a century, so the purer and bigger the stone, the better, so that the user could receive the most benefit. Of course, the user's own absorption rate also affected how effective the stone was.

With Lex getting a decent stone from Vox, and his unique cultivation technique, there was only ever going to be one outcome.

As Lex absorbed the blessing from the Blessing Stone, the light from the stone began to fade, and instead Lex began to glow like the sun instead.

His meager 1.1% power began to rise rapidly, while his limiter became weaker and weaker. Under the dumbstruck vision of the fish and the pup, Lex's power

began to grow rapidly.

Mango had few memories, but even he could tell that this is not how things were supposed to go.