Inside the dimensional tunnel and more urately inside Lilia''s ck spaceship, everyone gathered in the living area of the ship.


    "Since you made the reservation for this dimensional tunnel, can you set the best route for us?", asked Aster to Agnes who happily nodded in response.


    "Sure, but… I need to know the destination first", mumbled the Fey princess, between yesterday''s party, the excitement of going to a new adventure with Aster and the worries in her mind, she actually forgot to check the information about the mission.


    Luckily, seeing a chance to shine, the receptionist girl Ang, who was the one who registered all the present core disciples, had read the information a dozen of times.


    "The coordinates registered in the information of the mission lead to the 95th ranked Ster System", she said, the took the liberty to verify the exact location to which those coordinates led.


    In case you wonder why she did so, it''s because they led to one of thes ten Ster Systems of the Dragon Legacy Heavenly Quadrant, in other words their destination was one of the unpredictable wastnds that surrounded this Heavenly Quadrant, in such a ce it was better to not leave anything up to fate.


    "I see, that might be why we haven''t received any new information since yesterday''s announcement, those ces have harsh atmospheres, but with this spaceship we can take the fastest route without worrying about anything", said Agnes to then add.


    "That being said, we''ll have toe out of the dimensional tunnel at thest third part of the route, because the portal there isn''t managed by the sect, no one ims it because not only leads to the wastnds but it is too chaotic for most spaceships to move through it, in exchange we''ll be there by the end of the day, in around eight to ten hours at most, is that okay?".


    Aster nodded at her, turbulence and a small stop were nothing to worry about, after all the other spaceships of the sect should only arrive until tomorrow''s midday the earliest.


    While Agnes and Ang went to the captain''s cabin to trace the route, Aster couldn''t help but think.


    ''Correct me if I am wrong, but isn''t that Ster System the one that acts as the border between this and the Sun Sprite Heavenly Quadrant?'', he asked to Lilia in a voice that only the Star Maidens could hear.


    ''Yes, are you worried that you still haven''t progressed with Cam and now you''ll have to deal with that little Fey girl~'', jokingly said Lilia, referring to Agnes.


    Aster bitterly smiled, as he dismissed everyone, not without noticing Cam who has been stealing nces at him since earlier.


    "Feel free to explore the facilities of the spaceship, but no training, it''s better for everyone to be at their prime just in case, if you have any doubt, or simply want to hang out with us, the door of our room will be open", said Aster as he proposed to go to his room apanied by Lilia and the other Star Maidens, as well as Kana and the little wyrm, just to feel a soft tug on the right side of his shirt.


    Aster turned around expecting to see the little girl, but was instead met with the shily blushed pretty face of Cam as well as the smirking Eris and Mylene who were watching from the sides.


    "C-Can I tag along?", she asked in a really low voice, Aster who was genuinely surprised, nodded in response and so the group went to Aster''s room, which used to be Lilia''s room when she travelled back then.


    Contrary to what Cam imagined in that innocent mind of hers, spending time with Aster and her new "sisters" wasn''t as intense as she thought it would be, the situation developed like this, Aster wasying down on the bed, the back of his head was resting on top of Lilia''sp, while Alice and Aria hugged each of his arms.


    To top it off, Sarina was resting on top of Aster, her faceying on his chest while Aster gently caressed her silky blond hair they were cuddling and chatting about random things.


    As for the pair of little girl and little snake, Kana and Espi were ying around in the room, flying here and there andnding on the top of Sarina''s back, on the bed or even on the couch where Cam was sitting, the previous might sound annoying but it wasn''t.


    Those two were as light as feathers and when theynded on Sarina''s back it was to hug her, Alice even took the initiative to use her tail as a tform for those two to sit from time to time, as long as the little girl didn''tpete with her for a spot in Aster''s embrace, everything else was negotiable and the little girl was aware of it.


    ''Hehehe in any case, big brother will spoil uster~'', said Kana to Espi who cunningly hissed in response.


    ''Hisss~''.


    While those two cunning little girls were fluttering around the room, Aster who was enjoying the smooth sensation of Sarina''s hair in between his fingers, turned to see Cam who was obviously surprised to see that they spent their free time in such a seemingly normal way and smirked at her.


    "What, were you perhaps expecting something else to happen if you came to my room?" jokingly said, making Cam''s pretty face redden on the spot.


    "N-No", she mumbled only for Aster to shake his head to then use his special telekinesis to gently caress her face.


    "Don''t worry, besides getting a bit too cuddly, our routine is quite normal… most of the time, so you can get used to it at your own pace", said Aster as he stole a gaze at the pair of dragon mother and daughter who giggled at him.


    If it depended on those two lewd dragon girls, then things would get naughty at the first chance, luckily Aria and Sarina were here to act as counterweight, not like they didn''t love to be embraced by their lover, in fact they were sometimes dragged into the mess by Lilia and Alice like yesterday, but it was thanks to them that Lilia and Alice learned to enjoy these normal conversation momentsbined with some kisses and caresses.


    "Mm~", Cam''s previously agitated state, dissipated, though Aster found cute to see her nervous and all, since she has been avoiding contact with Lilia and the others, ever since she kissed him, which was understandable, she never dated anyone and the first time it was with someone that had such pretty girls around him all the time, the poor treasure girl had it rough.


    But now seeing the knowing gazes of Lilia and the others who knew how it felt to join the family, she finally found peace in her little maiden''s heart, at least for a second until Lilia gazed at her to then say.


    "Come on, don''t be shy and join us, if you don''t take the chance to cuddle with Aster, now, you might have to fight for a spotter~".


    Lilia''s words were like the whisper of the devil for Cam, yesterday during Erin and Mylene''s sleepover, the subject of Aster befriending new girls each time he ventured out, was brought by Mylene who wanted to tease the ligress girl, Mira, since she was a rare guest of their usual night meetings.


    That made her think about the Luan girls who were rather direct at the moment of expressing their wishes and so a little seed of anxiousness was born in her mind, "What if other girls steal my spot in his heart", which led to the previously undecisive Cam to take that little jump she needed to openly show the change in the nature of her rtionship with Aster.


    And then to strike while the iron was hot, the dragon princess added.


    "Besides, didn''t you purposedly showed off yourself at every given chance before, what''s some cuddlingpared to that~".


    "I didn''t do it on purpose!", eximed Cam, feeling the urge to dig a hole to hide, as the memories of her showing her barely covered self to Aster a couple of times, flowed through her mind.


    Luckily for the treasure girl, the motherly Sarina understood better than no one what being new in the family and having to deal with the pair of mischievous dragon mother and daughter felt, so she offered Cam a helping hand.


    "Now, don''t take their words to heart or you''ll be in for a lot of headaches, here I''ll make scape for you", said Sarina as she moved a bit aside, opening a spot for Cam to cuddle with Aster alongside her.


    "Mm"


    With a face as red as an apple but feeling weed, Cam approached them and then rested facing upwards on top of Aster''s chest.


    ''Heh, how cunning of you Sarina, now you have two allies, that''s not fair darling, how about you invite that little poison girl over to "even" things~'', said Lilia through the mind connection, making Aster bitterly smile in response.


    ''I have enough "unrestrained" girls to deal with, just with sis and you for the time being mom'', limited to say Aster, Vivian was not only quite daring but she didn''t have defined limits in terms of intimacy as friends, so it was Aster the one who stopped her from going too far, speaking of which that clueless girl has been dangerously influenced by Alicetely, but that''s beside the point.


    Cam who was enjoying the cuddly sensation of resting on top of Aster, finally realized that unlike what she has observed, Aster was focusing most of his attention on Sarina, instead of Lilia, the curiosity won her and she couldn''t help but ask.


    "Are you celebrating something special with miss Sarina?", the blond motherly woman giggled in response before taking the liberty to exin how things worked when it came to missions in the family.


    "Just call me Sarina, it''s not a celebration, I am the one being spoiled the most because this mission is for me, though that doesn''t stop certain jealous dragon girls from fighting with me for attention~".


    "Humph, who are you trying to trick with that proper fa?ade, when ites me turn, you''ll do the same anyway", retorted Lilia as she exchanged gazes with Sarina, sparks could be seen flying between those two, making Aster sigh.


    "Be good you two, we have a new member in our family so be good sisters and "teach" her about our dynamics".


    "Yes darling~".


    "Okay husband~".


    Those two stopped fighting and instead tightly hugged Aster, returning to a peaceful atmosphere, all this under the curious eyes of Cam who was just starting to learn about the sisters with whom she''ll be sharing her loved one.


    …


    And so, after a few hours in which Cam learned a couple of important things, a clear knock could be hearding from the entrance to Aster''s room.


    "Come in", with Aster''s greenlight, Agnes and surprisingly Ang entered the room and approached the bedroom, only to find Aster in that same position from earlier, with the difference that now Cam had given her spot to Kana and Espi and she was instead chatting with Aria while sitting on the bed next to Aster.


    After the initial shock, a strange glow shed through Agnes''s eyes while Ang blushed to then clear her throat.


    "Ahem, we are about to reach the transition point where we will leave this dimensional tunnel and change to the one that leads to the wastnds, there is a space port built nearby, there haven''t been any new announcements from the sect nor miss Valetina''s side, so we want to go gather information while we wait", said the receptionist girl.


    "Let''s go big brother I want to stretch my legs a bit", said Kana as she gave Aster puppy eyes.


    Aster shrugged in response to then say.


    "Sure, how long do we have to wait for the entrance to the dimensional tunnel to open for us?".


    "Not too much, half an hour, just enough for us to visit an informant and then leave, the area where we will appear isn''t exactly peaceful after all", said Ang.


    "Okay, since we have no idea of the current situation, make sure to cover your faces, just in case", said Aster and with that, those two left the room, while he got up the bed.


    "Sounds boring, I''ll stay", said thezy dragon princess, Lilia, Aria, Sarina and also Cam agreed, the only ones that wanted to leave the spaceship even if it was for a short period of time where the pair of little girl and little snake who were used to be out in the wild all the day, the spaceship had a forest zone in the training area but it wasn''t the same.


    "Okay, we''ll be back in a moment, don''t bully Cam too much", said Aster as he left apanied by Kana and Espi.


    …


    Aster walked towards the living area of the spaceship where the girls that also wanted to take a quick stroll had already gathered, besides Agnes and of course Ang, the top three of the sect, whom Aster hadn''t seen much since yesterday, where here, in other words, Nerissa, Iris and Lieze.


    "They can''t train without exhausting themselves, so they are bored as well", casually said Agnes, making those three shoot res at her.


    Aster chuckled, he activated the stealth mode of the spaceship just in time for them to reach the exit of the dimensional tunnel, to then appear at an asteroid field near a port built on aoid.


    The spaceshipnded on a rtivelyrge asteroid and then the gate opened for a group of masked people to leave through it, naturally those were Aster and the girls, Agnes created a barrier with her spirit energy around them and then flew towards the space port,nding at the entrance a minuteter.


    Since this asteroid field was right at the border of the wastnds, it wasn''t under anyone''s jurisdiction, so there was no force officially regting this port, however that didn''t mean it was awless ce, but it was chaotic.


    Had it not been for the fact that Agnes clearly allowed others to feel the aura of a peak Genesis Manifestation cultivator,ing from her, they would have been required to pay multiple "entrance fees" by the guys that were guarding the entrance and worked for the ones with the bigger fists in this port.


    "Follow me", said Ang as she guided the group through the streets, reaching arge building with a familiar symbol on it, it was a ck emblem with a purple eye engraved on it.


    "Shadow eye?", asked Aster to Ang who nodded in response.


    "Mm, out of all the information brokers, they are most respectable ones, while they set limitations in the information they sell, they will never scam their clients and they always remain neutral", said Ang as the took out a ck token with a purple eye on it, apparently this branch of Shadow Eye was different than the one Aster had visited before.


    This one was exclusive for recurrent clients of Shadow Eye and required an identification to enter, luckily Ang had one, the door opened a few secondster and a couple of guards weed them.


    Ang took the initiative to show them her token, nearly making the guards suffer a heart attack on the spot.


    "P-Please give us a moment, esteemed VIP, the manager will be here in a moment", said one of the guards as he rushed upstairs, while the other one guided them to the waiting area, along the way Aster couldn''t help but notice that let alone clients, there were any staff besides the guard who was guiding them.


    Feeling the questioning gazes of Aster and the others, Ang coughed a couple of times to then say.


    "Before joining the sect I worked as an independent mediator, people came to ask me the type of information they wanted and I referred them to the broker that best suited their needs, so I have a few connections here and there", she mumbled.


    Of course, it wasn''t as simple as she mentioned, she apparently earned the recognition of some of the big information gathering organizations but she didn''t want to brag about it… too much.


    Anyway, the manager came to her rescue not even a minute after the guard went upstairs, a middle-aged man with a thin moustache and a clearly tired expression, courteously greeted them.


    "Wee esteemed guests, my name is Terrence and I am the manager of this branch, please follow me to the VIP room", said the man as he bowed towards Ang.


    "Mm", Ang nodded and the group went upstairs, entering through the first gate that they saw, inside there was arge table with multiple chairs and a bar with different kinds of snacks which made Kana''s eyes sparkle.


    "Big brother, can I?", asked the little girl making Aster chuckle, he used his dragon eyes to inspect the things on the table and only then he nodded, Espi also wanted some but Aster had told the little wyrm to not reveal herself unless he said so, so she remained coiled around his shoulder below his shirt, not without transmitting her thoughts to Kana asking her to grab a few snacks for her.


    "So, what brings an esteemed VIP such as yourself, to such a remote branch?", asked Terrence to Ang who ced her token on the table to then say.


    "I want to know what''s the current status of the four Heavenly Quadrants?", directly asked Ang taking the manager by surprise.


    "Ahem, that is privileged information currently withheld by the upper echelon of Shadow Eye, are you sure you want to use your annual quota for this?", asked the manager to which Ang nodded, making the manager sigh to then say.


    "As expected of a VIP who was personally referred by our leader, you got a bargain… besides us only a few people from forces backed by high grade Ster Systems know about this".


    "Why is it that serious?", asked Ang only for the manager to shake his head.


    "Not exactly, it''s more of a situational thing, long distancemunications stopped working overnight, we were among the first ones to notice because information stopped reaching our branches, so we sent scouts to find out what was happening and after receiving no response we thought they were killed, but then one of them returned in a really worn-out state".


    "Apparently there are some subtle distortions affecting the space at random locations everywhere, that''s what affectingmunications at long distance, besides that we got news from a secret source that said distortions are rted to the recent movements of important forces such as the Myriad upation sect", said the manager.


    "Oh, are those distortions entrances to a secret realm or perhaps caused by the appearance of new portals to unexplored dimensional tunnels?", asked Aster.


    "No, our scouts scanned a few of those distortions and didn''t reach a conclusion, whatever they are, they don''t resemble anything we have seen before, unfortunately that isn''t our area of specialty so there is a high chance there is more to discover in this aspect, but at the very least they shouldn''t be entrances to secret realms, since there are too many of them", said the manager.


    Agnes slightly frowned to then ask what was in her mind.


    "If long distancemunication doesn''t work as you say, then howe you know so much about the current situation?".


    The manager scratched the back of his head for a couple of seconds but ultimately, he answered.


    "I guess this can be counted as part of the current situation for which you used your quota, the moment the interruption in long distancemunication was confirmed, our leader ordered all the staff to be deployed, stationing them all over the gxy, until she reached other branches, creating a chain with multiple short distance talismans, it took hours but we are probably the only ones that can send and receive information at long distances, it takes some time though but it''s better than beingpletely cut off".


    Aster couldn''t help but admire the leader of Shadow Eye, for thinking of such a creative way to solve the problem, while others must be trying to reinforce theirmunication talismans to work despite the interference, they prioritized continuity at the short term at least.


    "I see, so that''s why this ce is empty", said Aster, making the manager bitterly smile, he worked all the night coordinating his subordinates hence why he looked quite worn out.


    Having gotten the information she wanted, Ang and the others got up and prepared to leave only for them to hear the manager saying.


    "Onest thing, we have received reports that due to the interference inmunications, bandits, evil cultivators and crazy bastards in general are causing troubles all over the ce, ambushing disciples of rightful sects that went to explore those distortions, some deaths and kidnaps have been confirmed, so if you are nning to try luck then be careful".


    "Thanks for the advice, send my regards to your leader", said Ang as they left, since they had what they needed and the portal should be opening any time now.


    This small episode in Shadow Eye made Aster wonder why he had a not so pleasant experience with them back then, considering the good impression Ang had of them, then it didn''t make sense that he had to kill that guy who was following them in secret with ill intentions.


    ''Perhaps it was just an unfortunate coincidence, an independent worker who disobeyed the manager of that branch or something'', concluded Aster before he put the subject at the back of his mind, this time no one was spying on them nor following them, at least no one from Shadow Eye.


    That''s right, as Ang guided the group towards the gate of the space port, Aster noticed quite a few pairs of eyes following them and he wasn''t the only one, all the girls also noticed it.


    But they didn''t enter into conflict and instead returned to the spaceship, once inside Aster turned to see the pair of little girl and little wyrm and patted their heads to then say.


    "Pay attention you two, it''s time for another lesson".


    "I''ll listen to big brother~".


    "Hisss~".


    While those two nodded and paid all their attention to what Aster was going to say, the camouge of the spaceship was deactivated and with Agnes piloting, they advanced towards an especiallyrge asteroid, entering on a cave that led towards the core of the thing.


    The portal to the dimensional tunnel that they will be using to arrive in a short period of time to the wastnds, was at the end of this cave, however as they proposed to leave, a few figures passed next to them, blocking their way, they were a dozen of individual sized space ships.


    And they weren''t alone, the retreat was blocked by another dozens of individual spaceships and a couple ofrge ones, judging by theck of emblems on those spaceships, those guys were bandits and as if to confirm that, a group Genesis Manifestation cultivators approached Lilia''s spaceship, the leader, a bearded man in his fifties then shouted.


    "To the esteemed guests inside that spaceship, even if you invaded our hideout, this doesn''t have to be a bloodbath, give us all your possessions and you''ll be free to leave".


    ''Heh, so bandits stablished here since to rob travelers, I guess it makes sense since no one particrly strong is in a rush to go to the wastnds'', thought Aster to then say.


    "Every time you listen to someone saying anything along the lines of "pay me and you''ll live", you can be sure that they are lying".


    Kana nodded but then she turned to see Aster to ask.


    "But then if big brother knew that they were bad people why did you allow them to follow us, instead of getting rid of them on the spot, I don''t think they are stronger than sister Agnes?", the little girl''s question was valid, after all Aster has always told her that the only good enemy is the dead enemy and to never hesitate to eliminate an enemy if you have the chance and with Agnes escorting them, they had the chance of eliminating the ones that were following them.


    "Well, sometimes you have to wait for the right time to attack, for example if we got rid of the ones that were following us, theirrades would have hidden themselves to look for a chance to get back at us, so we waited for them to gather ande at us, in order to get rid of all of them at the same time", said Aster to then add.


    "Of course, this is something you should only think on doing if you are a 100% sure that your team is stronger than the enemy and their group, otherwise the rule of eliminating with utmost secrecy at the first given chance, still stands".


    Seeing Kana and Espi nodding in response, Agnes couldn''t help but softly snort.


    "Says the one who killed a prospect of the Stall family in front of their representative, without caring about repercussions", she mumbled, only to see Aster smirking at her.


    "That''s because I counted on some pretty "guardian angels" to have my back", he said with a yful voice making Agnes blush, thinking that he was referring to Valentina and herself.


    The others had different opinions though, or example Tamara who knew about Aster''s real identity thanks to Thomas, as well as Eris, Mylene and Mira who could tell how much of a monster the dragon mother is, immediately thought of Lilia.


    Speaking of Lilia, she appeared out of thin air, hugging Aster from behind to then say.


    "Leave them to me darling, it''s been a while since I stretched my body~", Aster nodded and then Lilia opened a portal disappearing from the living area where everyone had gathered.


    Now, this drew the attention of some of the new additions to the group who had never seen Lilia in action, like Ang.


    Outside of the spaceship, the leader of the bandits saw Lilia appearing and he snorted.


    "Don''t try to trick us with a in woman, there were at least four girls in the group that visited the port earlier, leave them behind as well…", the bandit didn''t even get to finish his sentence before he his head exploded due to Lilia flicking her finger on his direction.


    There wasn''t any spirit energy involved in that, she used only the shockwave caused by her sheer physical strength to kill a peak Genesis Manifestation cultivator!


    And the surprises didn''t end there, the other bandits took a second to react and their second inmand immediately took over.


    "Use everything you have, kill her… aghhhh!", the originally fierce shout turned into a horrified scream as one of therge spaceships with around five hundred meters of length, waspressed into a pile of scrap, killing all the bandits inside of it on the spot.


    "R-Run it''s a trap!", the ones inside the otherrge sized spaceship gave the order to retreat but the spaceships didn''t move an inch, they couldn''t, imagine the despair those bandits felt when they saw a giant ck metal gate blocking the exit of the cave, isting this ce from the outside.


    Inside Lilia''s spaceship, Alexandra, Nerissa, Iris, her cousin La, the three maid sisters and Lieze''s jaws nearly dropped, they could recognize the special trait of a Gate Transcending realm body cultivator.


    And they weren''t the only ones, Mika and Ang who has especially sharp senses among the new ones were even more surprised.


    "What the hell is up with that Transcending Gate", mumbled Mika, even from this distance she felt suffocated just by trying to look in the direction of that ck metal gate, as for Ang she was surprised as she couldn''t discern Lilia''s cultivation even now when she was actively fighting.


    ''Don''t tell me her other path is on an even higher realm but then… she would need to be on the Heavenly Realms while her secondary one is already at the peak of the transcending realms and no one has achieved that'', she thought.


    The fight ended before the bandits even had the chance to beg for mercy, Lilia directly used her little fists to punch holes through their spaceships, making them explode in chain, until all which was left was floating scrap.


    Lilia nodded satisfied with the result, she didn''t even use her transcending gate for anything and only summoned it to act as a blockade, well Aster knew that she wanted to show off too.


    She shed and appeared next to Aster with a happy smile on her pretty face.


    "It''s done darling, we can leave now~", she said, ignoring the shock on the faces of the other girls.


    ''It''s rare to see mom getting this lively for such a simple thing, is it because she is about to reunite with her sisters from back then?'', wondered Aster, Lilia had this youthful charm around them and she seemed to be returning to her time when she roamed the four Heavenly Quadrants stirring up trouble with her sisters, it could also be a change brought by her dragon side finally taking aplete form with the separation of her secondary pair of wings.


    And with that, Agnes piloted the spaceship to dive into the dimensional entering, disappearing from this ce, she really meant it when she said that they would arrive quite fast to their destination.


    The first half of the travel took them around six hours, plus the half hour they spent in the space port they were six and half hours into the travel, as for the second part of the travel they only needed one hour.


    In exchange they did pass through a lot of turbulence, that would have destroyed their spaceship had it not been Lilia''s one, even the one used by Julian would have suffered some damage ording to Vivian.


    But they safely reached their destination, the spaceship went through the exit of the dimensional tunnel, but just when Agnes was going to give the announcement for everyone in the spaceship to gather at the living area, she put on an expression of disgust as she saw many spaceships ofrge size, blocking their way, some of which had some emblems she recognized.


    "Ocean Aquamarine and Mountain Amber… what are those guys doing here", she mumbled.


    Outside, an authoritative voice could be hearding from one of thergest spaceships blocking the way, alongside the spirit pressure of a half step Heavenly Realm cultivator.


    "Stop, identify yourselves!", demanded the voice.


    Agnes turned backwards just to see Aster arriving to the captain''s cabin alongside Lilia and the others, luckily for those guys, just before Lilia started to get irritated a second voice echoed through the whole area.


    "How dare you losers block the way of the members of the Myriad upation sect in front of me!", that second voice was apanied by a monstrouslyrge heavy armored spaceship with a sole figure "riding" on top of it.


    The spaceship was imposing, in size it actually reached a whole two kilometers of length, the only other one what Aster has seen to be able to reach that size is Lilia''s one, of course if it changed to its maximum size, it would need more energy to move, which is why Aster kept it at its minimum size, that and to take others by surprise, like those bandits, after all a three hundred meter sized spaceship was "average" in middle grade Ster Systems.


    Inparison the one riding on top of it didn''t go along with such an amazing spaceship, a shirtless guy in the middle of his twenties with unkept hair and sandals, we are of course talking about William.


    With a snap of his fingers, countless spirit cannons aimed at the small float of spaceships blocking Aster''s way, before William casually said.


    "Get lost".