"Yes, it is exactly what you think it is." Ford smiled as he looked at this book again, "There is no doubt about it. This is the cultivation technique of the Cosmic God! You can feel it don't you? This is Divine Energy!"
"How did you get this book in the first place?" That was the number one question in Vastocean's mind.
Ford started recounting what had just happened, "It happened roughly an hour ago. When you finished all the preparations for the Garden Ford Tavern and the Vast Ocean Courtyard..."
===
One hour ago...
Ford was busy writing down a lot of plans by hand. These were his business plans for developing his company, labeled from the Business Plan for the first month, after three months, six months, one year, two years and five years.
It ranged from the logistics, recruitment, organization and scaling the company. There was already a thick stack of paper beside him. The scent of fresh ink mixed with the quiet stillness of the room, punctuated only by the aggressive scratching of his quill.
"Hm?" Ford looked up the screen and he saw that Vastocean had finally finished all the tasks that he assigned him to do. Despite being very busy, he always made time to look at the screen to see Vastocean's progress every now and then.
"Great job, Mister Vastocean. He did everything faster than I anticipated. That's great! With this, everything is going smoothly." Ford was quite satisfied with the completion of all the preparation necessary for the restaurant.
*RUMBLE*
In that moment, the entire space shook! The ground beneath Ford groaned under a sudden, terrifying pressure as if the very fabric of reality was twisting.
"What the hell is happening?" Ford did not understand the sudden shaking of the Cosmic God Space. This had never happened before.
*Shing*
A sound coming from the mansion of a highly pitched noise that seemed to be indicating something shining. It started from the doors of the mansion. This was when Cosmic God Mansion suddenly illuminated brightly!
"What?!" Ford was blinded due to the bright light that was coming from the mansion. But he heard the sound of doors opening.
*Rumble*
"Did the Mansion just open?!" Ford was perplexed as he wanted to see the insides of the mansion but the light was too bright for him to see.
*Swish*
He heard another noise of something flying towards him. It felt like everything was getting brighter and brighter. An overwhelming aura surged forward, heavy enough to make the air itself feel dense.
"Is the source of the light coming straight at me?!" Ford panicked as he did not know what was happening. He could not even see what was coming his way.
He started walking backwards, afraid that he will get hit by something but he tripped. At the same time, he also could hear the doors closing.
*Thud*
The moment the doors shut, the source of the light had stopped in front of him. Gradually, the light settled down or to be more accurate, it was as though it had absorbed everything.
Upon opening his eyes, the book laid suspended in space as miniature celestial bodies revolved around it as though it was the center of the universe!
The words [Cosmic God Manual] was inscribed in front of the book.
"Could this be...?!" Ford was dumbfounded by the chain of events that have just happened.
"Did the completion of the restaurant trigger this?" He thought to himself. It was the only triggering factor that would make sense.
"Why would establishing a business be correlated to the appearance of the cultivation manual?" Ford had numerous questions he wished to be answered.
But even more than that, he wanted to see what the contents of the book was. When he opened the book, he was kind of disappointed to see that there was only one page.
On the first page, the introduction of the manual was written. It was more of a message to the successors of the manual as each word from the text contained divine intent. The ancient script pulsed with a faint rhythm, almost like a primordial heartbeat demanding absolute obedience.
"I am the Cosmic God, known to be the Conqueror of Galaxies, crowned strongest among my peers. I aimed to roam the vast expanse unfettered and endeavored to reach the absolute peak. In that quest, I have developed my cultivation technique. It allowed me to use the rivers of divine energy as my water, the vast space as my foothold, grasped heaven and earth with nothing but my hands. I even used galaxies as mere commodities for barter and trade. All others bowed down before me for I am supreme, endless, and invincible."
"Beckoning the stars and the heavens to obey my every command, the earth will crumble with a single stomp of my feet, the vast space will bend to my whim and the rivers of time will halt with my thought, that is my ambition. In my presence, the laws of reality will kneel. Nothing will be able to stop my ambition as I reach the zenith of the universe. I, alone, will become truly eternal!"
The words written in the introduction was extremely overbearing and exuded such overwhelming will from one of the sovereigns of the universe. He used divine energy as his drinking water, used space as his stepping grounds, and used galaxies as commodities?! What was overbearing? This was overbearing, arrogance and absolute belief in oneself!
"This manual is the culmination of my life. It details my journey and experiences on the path of cultivation. A path field with continuous suffering yet begets unfathomable strength! Should you be worthy to receive my book, be warned that treading the same path as thine requires the strongest of wills. Lest, death would be inevitable. Have the will to push forward when others cannot, the arrogance to command the stars themselves, and the vision to see beyond the boundaries of reality; such is the burden and the birthright of the one who dares to master the Cosmic God Manual."
"Cosmic God, I find myself admiring you more and more. I resonate deeply with your words!" Ford was a man who possessed both immense ambition and the unwavering grit to see it through. The ambition to reach the peak of this cultivation world regardless if he could cultivate or not, he had the drive to make it happen.
By the time Dylan finished reading the first page, he felt like there was an internal change within. He could feel the unrefined energy in his body so clearly! He could even guide the energy somewhere now!
"So this is what feels like to cultivate..." Feeling the flow of energy as he guided it to his hands.
"I can control energy even without a cultivation base but I cannot cultivate without a Spirit Core..." he thought, though a shadow of frustration remained. The primary obstacle persisted, he still lacked the Spirit Core required to gather this raw power and refine it into true Innate Energy. It was like holding a flame in his bare palms without a lantern to contain it.
"To think that just reading his words would allow you to control and circulate energy... What more could his cultivation technique possibly do." It was due to this discovery that Ford kept reading the words in the introduction part so he could familiarize himself with this feeling.
...
"And that was the reason why I was so dazed earlier." Ford finished recounting everything, connecting it to the current timeline.
"Gasp..." Vastocean sucked in a sharp breath from what he just heard. His mind was practically reeling from the weight of every single word.
Galaxies as commodities?! Turning divine energy into mere drinking water?!
Vastocean stared at the single page hovering in the air as if it were a sleeping divine beast that could awaken at any second. His voice trembled uncontrollably as he spoke, "S-Sir Ford... this... this is beyond anything I could have ever imagined! A cultivation manual left behind by a sovereign who ruled over the entire cosmos! Even without the actual method itself, it allows you to feel and control energy clearly?!"
"HAHAHA, it seems I was right! We were the chosen ones after all!" He looked at Ford with a mixture of profound awe and complete disbelief. "To think that we would actually receive the cultivation manual of the Cosmic God...! This absolutely huge!"
"Indeed, you were right on the money when you said that. It seemed like we just did not know what were the requirements needed to activate a reaction out of the Cosmic God Mansion." Ford let out a soft exhale, his eyes sparkling with an intense, enthusiastic glow as he looked toward the grand, mysterious gates of the Cosmic God Mansion. The initial shock had already faded, replaced by pure excitement and passion. "I was just as stunned as you are, Mister Vastocean. But more than the manual itself, what excites me the most is how it appeared."
Vastocean blinked, still trying to catch his breath. "How it appeared?"
"Think about it," Ford turned to Vastocean, his smile widening with deep ambition. "The mansion didn't react to anything else. It only reacted the exact moment you completed all the preparations for the Garden Ford Tavern and the Vast Ocean Courtyard! That cannot be a mere coincidence. The more we discover the connection between our business and the mansion, the more benefits we can obtain from it!"
"So the business was the main cause for us receiving this manual..." Vastocean was stunned by this.
Ford lightly stroked his chin, gazing intently at the orbiting celestial bodies around the page. "If simply completing the setup of our first establishment unlocked the foundational technique of the Cosmic God... then what happens when we officially open tomorrow? What happens when our business scales across cities, kingdoms, or even the whole continent?"
"The possibilities are truly endless..." Vastocean muttered, his fear slowly giving way to excitement as he realized the grand picture Ford was painting.
But then, looking back at the glowing single page, a sudden practical thought struck him. "However, Sir Ford... what do we do with it right now? The manual only has a single page. We currently just have the introduction. We don't even have the actual cultivation steps yet."
Ford chuckled lightly as he gently took hold of the [Cosmic God Manual]. The miniature stars and comets slowly dispersed into sparks of light as the book settled into his grip.
"We wait, Mister Vastocean," Ford said calmly, his gaze firm and determined. "For now, this serves as proof that our path is correct. We focus entirely on making tomorrow's grand opening a resounding success. Once our business takes off, the mansion will surely reveal its next secret to us! The next pages will show itself eventually!"
Vastocean added, "And when it does, we will be ready to claim it."
"Precisely, partner! We have already planned for a future where we can't cultivate and still have the ambition to reach the top. Now, we have simply moved in the best possible scenario where we are actually blessed by Cosmic God Mansion and can utilize it! The only thing left to do is to maximize this opportunity!" Ford's eyes shone with ambition.
This response from the Cosmic God Mansion just opened up a door of infinite possibilities for them!