Chapter 1529 — 1529: Who are they?

Vera stared at her father, waiting for him to crack a joke, but the punchline never came. He remained serious, looking at her, waiting for her response.

"How is that possible?" she asked finally, when he realized that he was being serious. "I've seen my future multiple times. Never have I ever been hunted down by a Dao Lord in any single one of my futures."

"Well, yes, naturally, because there is an order to these things. The amount of Essence wormhole energy in your body is actually the least of any of my creations, for I honestly never actually meant to drag you into this. It was more of an accident.

"Regardless, the principle is quite simple. Just as ordinary oracles suffer tribulations for trying to overreach and look into secrets too grand for their level, we, as in those attuned to the Essence wormholes energy, also have limitations. Primarily, the future we see is always fundamentally flawed.

"You probably saw your own future multiple times, but there may have also been countless times the future you saw was false, and didn't come true. That's because the future you see is limited by two factors, the first factor being your own cultivation level, and the second being the amount of Essence wormhole energy you have.

"Limited by these two factors, the future you see can never account for the actions of those stronger than yourself by too large a margin. For example, when you were a Foundation realm cultivator, the future you saw for yourself seemed reasonable, but that future did not properly account for the actions and intentions of those in the Nascent realm. Those who have strong divination protection treasures also cannot be judged based on those two factors.

"Up until recently, that was true for all of us. So as our cultivation levels rose, so did the scope of our abilities. But once you few fused with the energy of the Essence wormhole properly, a change occurred.

"The stronger ones amongst you began siphoning off energy from the wormhole, increasing the limits of your power, and thereby also becoming more noticeable to the greater forces of the universe.

"You think the reason your abilities have stopped working is because I did something, whereas in truth, it's mostly because the others among us are siphoning off more energy from the wormhole than you. Since you did not even know about this, and could not assist the process in any way, the wormhole energy within you is completely concentrated on trying to absorb more Essence wormhole energy, leaving none for you to actually utilize.

"Once I teach you how to actively accelerate your own absorption of that energy, all your powers will naturally return. By then, you will find that your ability to look into the future has improved drastically. Unfortunately, that also makes you a lot more noticeable."

Vera squinted her eyes, trying to decide if she could trust Robert's words. She was not as blinded by his words as her mother was, so she remained skeptical. Robert, to his great dismay, could also see that Vera didn't necessarily believe him.

"How about this? I'll teach you the method to actively pull the energy from the Essence wormhole, which should allow you to regain your abilities. You can then use them to see if your future has since changed. But the problem is, you won't nearly have enough energy to see a future affected by Dao Lords. You can merely search for hints to the fact that the future you see remains unaffected by those of a much higher realm."

In truth, much of what Robert said made sense to Vera. She didn't need to look far for an example - just the actions of the Innkeeper were entirely unpredictable to her, and almost every time a major event occurred within the Inn she found herself surprised to some extent. Of course, she had no intentions of admitting as much to Robert.

"Alright, let's assume I try out your method, and find your story convincing. Then what? Should we just huddle up in a hole and live there until we die?"

"The first, most important task is to gather all those who are actively absorbing the wormholes' energy. I have expended a great deal of effort, combing through countless futures to narrow down the list so that we know who to look for. We all need to gather together and remain out of sight. Even if that is not possible, they need to be warned not to use their abilities so easily, lest they get discovered. If even one is discovered, we'll all suffer the consequences."

"Alright, so then who are these people, and how do we go about finding them?" Vera asked.

"I do not know their current identities," Robert confessed with exasperation. "I only know some of the identities they hold in their futures. One is the commander of the Henali armies, Legionnaire Rafael, Hero of the Champions tourney. I don't think the commander himself is absorbing the wormhole's energies, but he definitely has some kind of treasure that is benefiting from it.

"In the future he is one of the most formidable and terrifying strategists, laying waste to entire races so long as they stood in his way. I managed to gather some rumors that his personality changed because he lost some family or friends or something like that during the very Champions tourney that earned him his fame. Whatever the case, he is not an easy man to talk to - at least in the future.

"The second person I managed to narrow down was even more mysterious, and no matter what I did, I was unable to discover his name. He was only known as the Herald of the Warbringer, prophesying war and devastating wherever he went, though he always laid blame to an even more mysterious Warbringer that no one could identify.

"He is especially dangerous, for I heard rumors in one of the futures that I saw that he accurately predicted the actual destruction of an entire Major realm."