767 World Core (Part 3)

"What's this strange feeling?" Evan frowned when he felt his heart beating abnormally fast after seeing the outline of the structure.

'Could it be...' Suddenly, he thought about something and opened his status window.

---) Heart Of Origin: Because of the Heart of Origin, the path to Origin is now open for you.

When Evan became a Rank One Core Evolver, he had acquired something called the Heart of Origin. Even now, he didn't know anything about the Heart of Origin, as its description was quite strange.

'Could it be that the feeling I am getting is somehow related to this so-called Path to Origin?' Evan thought inwardly and narrowed his eyes.

He looked at Cedar, who was flying beside him, and after a moment, decided to ask him. "Hey Cedar, have you ever heard about the Heart of Origin?"

"Heart of Origin?" Cedar looked at Evan in confusion and shook his head.

'As expected, he doesn't know anything,' Evan wasn't surprised when he saw Cedar shake his head, as he was already expecting that he would not know anything about the Heart of Origin.

The Heart of Origin is something that he received because of the Rune of Origin, and the Rune of Origin is related to his Growth Link skill. Unless people are aware of the Growth Link skill, it is simply impossible for them to know anything about the Heart of Origin.

After a few minutes of flying, Evan and Cedar were just a few kilometres away from the structure. At this point, Evan suddenly sensed a surging spiritual power and felt someone was looking at them using their spiritual senses.

Feeling the surging spiritual power, Evan's body stiffened, and the Primordial Shadow Energy inside his body started to flow throughout his body, bringing his body to optimal condition for a fight.

"Don't worry, this spiritual power belongs to the guardian of this place," Cedar said in a calm voice when he saw Evan's battle-ready face.

Hearing Cedar, Evan was taken aback, and the surging energy within his body calmed down.

"A guardian... Is there a high-rank artefact or something in this place?" Evan asked, thinking there might be an artefact or treasure in this barren land that the person who was looking at them using the spiritual senses was guarding.

"There is something even more precious than an artefact in this place," Cedar said, and suddenly Evan felt as if he passed through a barrier. The moment he felt he passed through the barrier, the surroundings around him changed, and the strange power that was obstructing his vision completely disappeared.

"This..." As the strange power obstructing his vision disappeared, Evan finally saw the complete form of the structure.

"Is this an ant nest?" He asked in a baffled voice as he looked at the pyramid structure in front of him, resembling an ant nest and filled with hundreds of human-sized holes.

"It's not an ant nest..." Cedar said with a twitching mouth when he heard Evan, and both of them landed some distance away from the structure.

The spiritual power that Evan felt earlier was still locked down on them, and the pressure it exerted on them increased as they inched closer to the ant nest-like structure.

After landing on the ground, Cedar didn't move forward and took out a palm-sized token from his storage ring. From the token, Evan felt Sylvan's aura emanating.

The spiritual power that was locked down on them scanned the token that Cedar took out, and after scanning the token, it completely disappeared.

'The spiritual power that I just felt was weaker than Ashley's but more powerful than Arden and Solara, so this guardian should be a mid-level or peak Rank Four evolver...' Evan thought to himself once the spiritual power locked on them disappeared.

"Let's go," Cedar put away the token he had taken out once the spiritual power disappeared and walked towards one of the caves located in the ant nest-like structure.

Evan followed behind Cedar, and the closer he got to the structure, the more his heart beat in excitement. The surroundings around them were still devoid of World Essence, but Evan could feel rich World Essence filling every cave located in the structure.

"Since you are still a Beginner Level Rank One Core Evolver, I think a low-level Essence Stone mine should be enough for you," Cedar said and stopped in front of one of the caves located in the structure.

"Low-level mine..." Evan raised an eyebrow upon hearing Cedar and looked at the cave in front of him with a surprised expression.

"Yes, all of these caves are Essence Stone mines and are the best places you can find to cultivate," Cedar said, pointing at the cave in front of him. "It is a low-level Essence Stone mine, but don't underestimate the density and the amount of World Essence inside it just because it is a low-level mine. Even normal peak Rank Two Core Evolvers find it difficult to handle the overflowing amount of World Essence inside the low-level mines."

"Since it is a low-level mine, does it mean there are mid and peak-level mines as well?" Evan asked, looking at the other caves in the structure.

"Yes," Cedar nodded and pointed to different areas of the structure. "All the caves located in the middle area of the structure are the mid-level Essence Stone Mines, and the caves located above them are the peak-level mines."

Cedar looked at Evan after explaining about the caves and said calmly, "You can take a look at those high-level caves, but you can stay there for just a few minutes at best, as your body won't be able to handle the high amount of World Essence inside them."

Evan nodded upon hearing Cedar's advice. As he surveyed the caves, his gaze landed on the cave located at the topmost area. This cave appeared smaller than the others, and surprisingly, its entrance was closed, unlike the other open caves.

When he looked at that cave, Evan felt his heart racing like a bullet train. It was as if something inside that cave was calling out to him.

"Hey Cedar, what about that cave? Is it also an Essence Stone mine?" He asked, pointing towards the closed cave.

Cedar glanced at the cave Evan was pointing at and shook his head.

"It is not an Essence Stone mine. That place is the centre of this closed world. It is the place from where the World Tree channels the World Essence throughout the closed world to maintain its stability," He said and added after a moment, "I have never been there because according to Grandpa Sylvan, even a peak Rank Four Core Evolver can't handle the density of the World Essence in that place."

"Center of the closed world..." Evan muttered, looking at the closed entrance with narrowed eyes.

'Is there something inside that cave related to the Heart of Origin?' He thought, feeling the strange excitement emanating from his heart.

Suddenly, Cedar seemed to remember something, and he said in an uncertain voice, "Although I'm not sure, I once heard that the World Core of this closed world is also located inside that cave."

The moment Evan heard the words "world core," the beating of his heart increased even more.