Immortal Supreme: Sovereign of the Grand Dao-Chapter 288: The Struggle for Resources is Eternal

The space opened around him gradually. Ancient architecture stretched in all directions as far as the eye could see.

Massive buildings rose toward the sky. Courtyards and gardens spread out in organized patterns.

But much of it still showed clear signs of damage and destruction. Cracks ran through walls.

Some buildings had collapsed sections. Gardens were overgrown or dead.

A figure appeared before him almost immediately upon his arrival. Aizen materialized from thin air in a shimmer of light.

The artifact spirit took the physical form of a wise, clean, and elegant old man. His robes were pristine white without a single wrinkle.

His beard was long and well-maintained. It flowed down past his chest. His eyes carried ancient wisdom accumulated over countless eons.

"Master," Aizen greeted with a respectful bow. His voice was clear and strong. "You’ve returned."

Arthur nodded in acknowledgment. "Take me to the core. I want to check on the restoration progress."

"Of course, Master." Aizen turned and began walking down a wide pathway. Arthur followed several steps behind.

They moved through multiple corridors and chambers. Each one was massive in scale.

The architecture was grand and imposing. Eventually they reached the deepest part of the palace after several minutes of walking.

The core chamber opened before them like a vast cathedral.

In the center of the chamber floated the Time Gem.

It hovered in midair without any visible support. Its surface swirled with countless colors that shifted constantly.

Time itself seemed to bend and flow around the artifact in visible waves. The air near it distorted slightly.

Arthur approached the gem carefully and examined it with experienced eyes. His divine sense spread out in all directions to inspect the palace’s condition thoroughly.

He could feel every wall, every formation, every structure. After several long minutes of silent observation and analysis, he frowned slightly.

His expression showed displeasure.

"The palace structure is restored," Arthur noted aloud. His voice echoed in the large chamber.

"The buildings, the formations, the foundations. All back to their original state exactly as they were."

"Yes, Master," Aizen confirmed. But his tone carried clear disappointment. "However, there is a significant problem." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Arthur’s frown deepened into something more serious. "The resources didn’t return," he stated. It wasn’t a question. He’d already sensed the issue.

"Exactly correct," Aizen said. He gestured around them toward the empty chambers.

"The treasures that were destroyed, the accumulated materials, the stored artifacts. None of them came back at all. Only the physical structure of the palace itself was restored by the Time Gem."

Arthur was silent for a long moment. His mind worked through the implications and possibilities.

His expression was thoughtful.

"You have a theory," he said finally. It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact.

Aizen nodded slowly. His ancient eyes showed understanding. "I believe that the issue lies with the fundamental nature of reality, which means..."

"Reality was rewritten," Arthur finished the sentence smoothly.

His voice was calm but serious. "And it has somehow messed up with the space-time continuum."

He began explaining further in detail. His words carried the weight of deep understanding accumulated across multiple lifetimes.

"When the Time Gem reverses time on an object, it restores that object’s physical state to a previous point in its timeline."

"This works because time is a dimension that can be manipulated like space. The gem essentially rewinds the timeline of the palace itself to a moment when it was whole and undamaged."

Aizen listened intently. He didn’t interrupt.

"However," Arthur continued, "the resources that were stored here existed as separate entities with independent existence."

"They had their own individual timelines that were distinct from the palace structure. When reality was rewritten during the cataclysm that destroyed my power, those timelines were severed completely. Erased from existence entirely at a fundamental level."

He gestured broadly to the empty treasury chambers visible through archways in the distance.

"The palace remembers they existed. The structure has designated spaces for them. The formations have slots where artifacts should rest."

"But the items themselves were removed from causality itself. Time manipulation can’t restore something that was erased from reality at such a fundamental level. It can only affect what still exists within the current timeline framework."

"So the Time Gem’s power is limited by the scope of reality’s framework," Aizen concluded. His voice showed understanding.

"Precisely correct," Arthur said with a nod. He sighed deeply. The sound carried frustration. "Which means I’ll have to acquire all those resources again from scratch. Every single item."

He looked around slowly at the restored but completely empty palace. His gaze moved across the vast spaces.

Countless chambers that once held treasures beyond imagination now sat vacant and hollow.

The work required to refill them all would be enormous. It would take hundreds to thousands of years at minimum.

And that is impossibly fast considering he is the one doing it.

If it were any other person, even if they were favored by the Grand Dao of the heavens they might not even succeed in a million years.

"I still have to scrape for resources in this life too," Arthur said with a dry laugh.

There was irony heavy in his tone. "Even after living multiple lifetimes and reaching the peak, some things never change. The struggle for resources is eternal."

Aizen couldn’t help but chuckle at that observation.

A smile crossed his ancient face. "Indeed, Master. Life is unpredictable in all things. Even for someone of your unmatched caliber. Sometimes you simply have to go with the flow of circumstances."

Arthur clicked his tongue playfully at the familiar words. "Using my old words on me now, are you?"

Aizen laughed more openly this time. The sound was warm and genuine.

He scratched his head with a slightly embarrassed gesture. "Forgive me, Master. But you did teach me well over the eons. Your wisdom stuck with me. Even though I had lived longer."

Arthur shook his head with clear amusement. Despite the significant setback with the resources, he wasn’t truly discouraged.

He’d rebuilt his power from nothing before. He would simply do it again. He’d climbed from weakness to supreme strength multiple times.

This was just another challenge.

"We’ll manage," Arthur said confidently. "We always do."

....