Meanwhile, the Heart Clone had already completed his journey and arrived at his true destination: the flying fortress known as the Abode of the Sky, hovering high above the Yutsa valley in serene isolation.
Ankit had no intention of filling Dark Haven Fortress with beasts and future human subordinates, knowing it would disturb the peace his family enjoyed there, so he had specifically ordered the Heart Clone to bring everyone—beasts first, then any humans who accepted the invitations—to this vast aerial stronghold instead.
Upon arrival, the Heart Clone found the Ether Clone already waiting for him on the main platform, the stable spatial passage between Dark Haven and the Abode of the Sky now fully completed and humming with quiet power.
The Ether Clone had been about to return to Dark Haven to escort Ankit's family for their first visit to the new fortress, but he received a direct message from Ankit instructing him to focus entirely on comprehending higher universal elements instead, so he had shifted his attention back to cultivation.
But sensing the Heart Clone's approach, he set his work aside and came to welcome him with a calm nod.
The two clones exchanged a few quiet words about the day's progress, the captured beasts, and the ongoing alliance with the Indian government, before the Heart Clone got to the point.
"Help me create a suitable space for these beasts."
The Ether Clone agreed without hesitation.
Together, they began the work of carving out a dedicated habitat inside the Abode of the Sky.
The flying fortress was enormous—palaces, gardens, training fields—but it had been designed primarily for human use, not for the needs of powerful, instinct-driven beasts who required vast natural territories.
With their combined power and greatly enhanced control over basic and higher elements, creating a stable, lifelike habitat was not difficult at all.
They started by shaping a massive ground expanse, then wove powerful vyuhas to summon an artificial sun and moon cycle, complete with stars that twinkled realistically overhead.
Using life elements, they accelerated the growth of lush forests, rolling plains, and vibrant meadows.
They formed clear lakes with flowing rivers, planted towering trees heavy with fruit, and scattered seeds from their storage rings to create diverse ecosystems—everything needed for the beasts to thrive without artificial feeding or confinement.
Mountains rose next, jagged and grand, providing high perches, hidden caves, and territorial boundaries.
When the work was finished, they had created an entire small continent—five thousand kilometers across—complete with every natural feature a powerful beast could desire.
Finally, the two clones combined their space powers to compress the already compressed vast landmass, folding it down layer by layer until it fit perfectly inside a single dedicated chamber deep within the fortress, sealed by spatial arrays that made the interior feel boundless while remaining contained and secure.
The Heart Clone reached into his robes and opened the beast storage pouch, releasing the thirty-two captured beasts one by one into the vast, newly created continent inside the Abode of the Sky.
The moment they emerged into open air and felt the rich essence flowing freely around them, the beasts erupted in a chorus of roars—deep, thunderous bellows that shook the artificial mountains and sent ripples across the lakes.
The most powerful among them, the purple-level talent snow wolf, let out the loudest roar of all, a sound so commanding and primal that every other beast immediately fell silent, tails tucked, eyes wide with instinctive fear, some even involuntarily crouching low as though submitting to an alpha.
These creatures varied wildly in size and form: some stretched thirty meters long with armored scales glinting under the artificial sun, others reached fifty meters with massive wings folded against their sides, while a few were deceptively small—barely a meter long but radiating deadly auras that made the air around them shimmer with poison or shadow.
Most were aquatic beasts—leviathans pulled from ocean depths, serpents with glowing fins, and colossal crabs whose claws could crush steel—while land beasts were fewer, though no less imposing.
The snow wolf stood apart, its white fur shimmering with frost, eyes sharp with early intelligence awakening, having already begun to use magical attacks like condensed snowballs back at its origin point in the Astruo continent's mountain range, where essence overload had pushed it to Stage 2.
But even this king among beasts could only roar uselessly now, because the Heart Clone had locked their bodies in place high in the sky, preventing any movement or escape.