Not just support. Not just encouragement. But genuine, tangible investment in his success. Resources that would be considered treasures by entire civilizations, provided casually because his uncle believed in his potential.
"I..." Vaelor began, then paused, trying to find adequate words. "Uncle, this is... I don't have sufficient words to express—"
"Don't," Nyxon interrupted, his tone becoming softer. "You're family. This is what family does—we invest in each other's success. Besides..."
His golden eyes gleamed.
"I'm expecting significant returns on this investment. When you reach Galaxion Tier and help me find your mother, these resources will seem like a small price."
He gestured, and all the items began flowing toward Vaelor. The galaxy cores arranged themselves in orbit around him. The black hole positioned itself at a safe distance, its containment formations pulsing. The Law stones settled into dimensional pockets for easy access.
"I've keyed everything to your spiritual signature," Nyxon explained. "Only you can access or utilize these resources. If someone tries to steal them... well, the defensive formations will handle that lethally."
He raised one hand, and complex patterns of energy began weaving through space around Earth's position.
"Now, about your family's protection..."
Nyxon's consciousness expanded outward, reaching across the hundreds of thousands of kilometers toward the distant planet. His awareness touched the mansion in Thornhaven's upper district where Vaelor's family had just moved.
"I'm establishing a Supreme Barrier Array around their location," Nyxon said, his voice taking on a more formal cadence as he worked. "Five-layered defense system. The outer layer will deter casual observation—anyone looking at the mansion will unconsciously lose interest and look elsewhere. Second layer blocks divination and temporal viewing—no one can use fate-sight or timeline manipulation to discover them."
More patterns wove themselves into existence, invisible to normal perception but blazing brightly to Vaelor's enhanced vision.
"Third layer is spatial anchor—prevents teleportation into or out of the protected zone without your explicit permission. Fourth layer is kinetic barrier—blocks physical attacks up to Constellatus Tier level. Anything stronger than that and you have bigger problems than I can solve remotely."
"Fifth and final layer," Nyxon concluded, "is conceptual protection. It defends against soul attacks, curse techniques, karmic targeting, fate manipulation, and various esoteric methods that enemies might use to harm your family indirectly."
He lowered his hand, the formation work complete.
"Nothing below Galaxion Tier will be able to harm them. Most Galaxion-level entities won't even detect their existence. And if something Supercluster-Tier or higher shows up..."
His expression became colder.
"They'll have to deal with me. And trust me, no one in the universe is stupid enough to provoke the Celestion Clan over one mortal family. Not after what we did to the last factions that threatened our interests."
Vaelor felt tremendous relief wash through him. His family—Father, Aunt Mira, Uncle Torven, Cousin Lyanna—would be safe. Protected by formations that made them essentially invisible to any threat he could currently face.
That's one critical concern handled, he thought. Now I can focus entirely on cultivation without worrying about someone targeting my family to get to me.
"I'm also leaving this," Nyxon said, producing a small crystal communicator. "If you need to contact me urgently—genuine emergency, not casual questions—channel your spiritual energy into this. I'll receive the signal regardless of where I am in the universe."
"Don't abuse it," he added with slight warning. "I'm going to be busy handling the political fallout from your existence and searching for your mother. Only contact me if the situation is truly critical."
Vaelor accepted the communicator, storing it carefully in his own dimensional pocket.
"I understand. Thank you, Uncle. For everything."
Nyxon studied his nephew for a long moment, his ancient golden eyes seeing beyond surface appearance to the potential within.
"You have three years to prepare for the apocalypse," he said quietly. "Three years to grow from Foundation Establishment to power sufficient to face Solarion Cluster entities. An impossible task for anyone else."
"But you..."
He smiled—genuine, encouraging.
"You've already achieved multiple impossibilities. What's one more?"
Nyxon began to fade, his form becoming translucent as he prepared to depart through spatial manipulation.
"Cultivate well, nephew. Push yourself beyond every limit. When next we meet, I expect to see someone worthy of the Celestion name."
His final words echoed through the void:
"Make the cosmos remember why our bloodline is feared and respected across all realms. Show them that even a half-blood hybrid can shake the universe."
Then he vanished completely, leaving only faint spatial ripples to mark his departure.
Vaelor floated alone in space, surrounded by cosmic-scale resources that represented more wealth than most civilizations would accumulate in millennia.
Fifty galaxy-energy cores pulsed with condensed power. The contained black hole warped space around it with gravitational supremacy. Law Comprehension Stones glowed with fundamental truths. The jade token promised access to combat training against universal legends.
And beneath it all, Earth continued its slow rotation, unaware that one of its inhabitants was about to undergo transformation that would elevate him beyond anything the lower realms had ever produced.
Three years, Vaelor thought with cold determination. Three years to become unstoppable.
He closed his eyes, focusing on the consciousness link with his shadow clone on Earth.
The main body will enter intensive cultivation. Time dilation means years will pass subjectively while only days pass externally. You handle everything on Earth—family, academy, social connections, local matters.
When the main body emerges, I'll have transcended lower-realm limitations entirely.
The clone's acknowledgment came immediately. Understood. I'll maintain your cover. No one will suspect the real you has left the planet.
Vaelor opened his eyes and looked at the black hole floating before him—his training ground, his forge, his crucible.
Let's begin.
He flew toward the black hole, passing through its outer containment formations. The gravitational pull increased immediately, space-time itself bending in ways that made normal physics obsolete.
As he approached the event horizon, reality began distorting visibly. Light curved in impossible directions. Time stretched and compressed. His perception of causality started fragmenting as he neared the boundary where escape velocity exceeded light speed.
The galaxy-energy cores followed him, orbiting his position in complex patterns. The Law stones settled into dimensional pockets within arm's reach. The Sanctum jade token pulsed against his consciousness, ready to provide combat training whenever he needed a break from pure cultivation.
Vaelor crossed the event horizon.
Time dilation activated immediately. From his perspective, time flowed normally. From Earth's perspective, his personal timeline had just accelerated exponentially—days passing for him while mere hours passed in normal space.
He continued descending toward the singularity, the gravitational pressure increasing with every meter. His energy-based body began adapting immediately, his physique responding to the crushing force by compacting, strengthening, evolving.
Perfect, he thought with satisfaction. This environment is ideal for my needs.
He stopped his descent approximately one thousand kilometers from the singularity—close enough for intense gravitational effects, far enough to avoid genuine danger of being torn apart.
Then he reached out with his consciousness and grabbed the first galaxy-energy core.
The crystalline sphere pulsed in his grasp, containing power that would dwarf stars. He activated his ???? grade cultivation technique, the Energy-Multiversal Physique responding instantly.
Energy absorption began.
And Vaelor's cultivation ascended.
Earth - Thornhaven City - Draeth Mansion
The shadow clone stood on the mansion's rooftop balcony, looking up at the night sky toward the stars where his main body had departed.
Through their shared consciousness, he could feel the main body's cultivation beginning. The first galaxy-core's energy flooding into cellular universes. The advancement accelerating immediately.
51st stage... 52nd... 53rd...
The levels were climbing faster than they had any right to, powered by cosmic-scale resources and time dilation that warped causality itself.
This is going to be a long wait, the clone thought. Subjectively, the main body will experience years. For me, only days or weeks will pass.
But those days need to be productive. I have a cover to maintain, relationships to build, and a family to protect.
He turned away from the stars and headed back inside, where Aunt Mira was still exploring the mansion's countless rooms with childlike wonder, where Lyanna was planning her bedroom's decoration with meticulous detail, where Father sat quietly in the study, processing the life changes.
The main body handles cosmic cultivation.
I handle the human connections that make it all worthwhile.
The clone smiled slightly and descended the stairs, ready to embrace his role in this strange double life.
Above, the stars continued their eternal dance, unaware that one of humanity's representatives was about to attempt the impossible.
And in the crushing gravity near a black hole's heart, Vaelor's journey toward cosmic supremacy truly began.
TO BE CONTINUED...