SEC Chapter 318 318: Xipe Casts Their Gaze
Chapter 318 318: Xipe Casts Their Gaze
Around several major civilized star systems, identical structures suddenly appeared overnight.These massive "stargates" quickly drew suspicion from various factions.
But before long, one faction stepped forward and acknowledged their existence—
The Family.
As soon as the stargates appeared within certain star systems, members of the Family began informing local inhabitants of their function.
By paying a fee, one could freely travel between connected stargates.
This drastically reduced travel time.
More importantly, compared to warp travel, it was far cheaper.
Warp technology was no longer cutting-edge, but the cost of using it was still significant.
Not everyone could afford frequent warp jumps.
After understanding the stargates' function, the Family quickly received guidance from Harmony.
If these gates connected the entire universe, the Path of Harmony would expand significantly.
After all, easier communication between civilizations meant better alignment and unity.
This directly benefited the spread of Harmony.
Thus, wherever the Family held influence, they immediately accepted the sudden appearance of stargates.
The fact that the first to respond was the Family surprised Su Ran.
But before he could think further—
Xipe's gaze descended.
Unfortunately, after noticing that Su Ran had already received the blessing of Nous, the Aeon of Erudition—
Xipe seemed disappointed and left.
That faint look of disappointment on Their face almost stirred sympathy.
"…Do Aeons even show expressions like that?"
Seeing Xipe's reaction so clearly, Su Ran found it novel.
He had always thought that, aside from Aha, most Aeons had extremely faint emotions.
Meanwhile, the IPC had originally been evaluating the stargates—their utility, profitability, and potential control.
But the Family's sudden endorsement caught them off guard.
This was an entirely new mode of transportation.
They hadn't even fully analyzed it yet—
And, crucially, they didn't own it.
That meant negotiations, planning… perhaps even acquisition.
But the Family's stance disrupted those plans.
Before the IPC could regroup—
The Garden of Recollection also acknowledged the stargates.
Now the IPC was even more confused.
Why was the Garden getting involved?
Did they even need something like this?
And it didn't stop there.
The Xianzhou Alliance publicly expressed gratitude to Su Ran for creating the stargates—
Even urging him to accelerate deployment.
After all, this made hunting Abominations of Abundance far more efficient.
Travel costs would drop significantly.
For a faction dedicated to hunting, the stargates were like someone loading their weapons for them.
Even the Masked Fools tried to join the conversation—
Though no one took them seriously.
With multiple major factions acknowledging the stargates, the IPC's decision became much simpler.
After all, this was similar to Synesthesia Beacons—
The wider the network, the greater the benefit to all factions.
Even if the IPC didn't own it—
They would still save costs.
Maybe they wouldn't profit directly, but their expenses would decrease.
Overall, it was still a net gain.
More importantly—
The creator was Su Ran.
A rising genius in the universe.
Not someone the IPC wanted to offend.
Rather than weakening their interest, the stargates only made them value him even more.
—
"Why do you smell like the Family?"
Herta found Su Ran and immediately noticed the strong aura of Harmony around him.
It was practically soaked into him.
"Xipe looked at me just now."
Seeing it was Herta, Su Ran didn't bother hiding it.
"…Looked at you? Trying to recruit you into the Family?"
Herta's curiosity was instantly piqued.
She had always wondered—
What would happen if someone became an Emanator of two Paths?
"Probably. But after seeing I'm already an Emanator of Erudition, They seemed disappointed. I still got a blessing… but it's not enough to make me an Emanator of Harmony."
Xipe's blessing was generous.
On someone else, it might've been enough to create an Emanator.
But Su Ran already carried Nous's blessing.
No matter how generous Xipe was, it couldn't achieve a simple "1 + 1 = 2."
This led Su Ran to a conclusion—
Perhaps one person couldn't truly walk two Paths to the level of becoming an Emanator in both.
After all, many Paths had conflicting philosophies.
The further one went, the greater the conflict.
Even Harmony couldn't override that—
Unless Xipe devoured Erudition itself.
Xipe's blessing granted him power comparable to an Emanator—
But it didn't allow him to continuously draw energy from the Path like a true Emanator.
Fortunately, he was already an Emanator of Erudition.
He could still draw endless power from that Path.
Overall—
He had grown stronger.
Not double, but enough.
At this point, he was already among the top-tier Emanators.
"…Oh."
Herta, meanwhile, was already thinking about dissecting this phenomenon.
Could someone truly achieve dual-Path Emanator status?
"Impressive. You're the first person I've seen wield such power across two Paths."
Previously, Herta thought she wasn't far behind Su Ran in combat ability.
Now—
The gap had only widened.
Not just in intellect, but in raw power.
She even began to wonder—
Would Su Ran eventually replace Nous as an Aeon?
After all, his creations were becoming more absurd by the day.
What if he one day created something like a stellar computer?
His future was becoming increasingly fascinating.
"Can the stargate here connect to your place?"
"Sure. What are you planning?"
Opening the stargates meant Teyvat could theoretically connect to interstellar civilization.
Though compared to the wider universe, it was still underdeveloped.
For now, Su Ran planned to use his own space station as a transit hub.
Besides, Herta already had a puppet stationed there.
Why would he need a stargate?
"I'm planning to drive Asta's battleship over there."
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