The Rich Cultivator-Chapter 358. Borrowing the Celestial Armour

The war had stopped.

The battlefield was silent, its chaos replaced by the eerie calm of aftermath. The air still carried the faint scent of scorched qi and disturbed earth.

At the heart of the ceasefire stood the Giant—a towering figure of strength and authority. With one gesture, he ordered the remaining forces to stand down. No more fighting. No more bloodshed.

Apollo, the former threat, was now unconscious and restrained, carried back by Adam like a defeated trophy.

Now, in a luxurious mansion nestled atop a floating mountain hovering above the Abyss Floor, Tyler and his companions were finally catching their breath. The mansion, a relic from another era, was massive, with towering pillars, floating lanterns, and walls laced with mana threads humming softly.

The Giant had made a surprising decision: he would not recapture the slaves who had been released during the battle.

First, he didn’t have the proper collars or seals needed to enslave them again. Second—and more importantly—because those very people had helped Tyler and his crew during the chaos. Tyler had refused to let them be enslaved again, and the Giant, perhaps out of respect or sheer laziness, agreed.

Besides, as he had grumbled, "I can buy more slaves in some other world."

---

In one of the mansion’s quiet rooms, Tyler sat at a desk covered with scattered notes and diagrams. The window next to him offered a stunning view of the swirling Abyss clouds below.

Mana peeked inside.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked, leaning casually against the doorframe.

Tyler, hunched over a sketch of armor runes, didn’t even glance up. "That Celestial Armour... I want it."

Mana raised an eyebrow. "Ah... Are we gonna rob them?" Her tone was teasing, but there was a flicker of concern in her eyes. "You do realize that Adam, Dusk, and Dawn aren’t exactly weaklings."

"Nope," Tyler replied with a smirk. "Nothing like that. I just want to borrow Apollo for a little while."

---

Later that evening, both groups—Tyler’s and Apollo’s—sat around a massive dining table in one of the mansion’s open halls. Floating lanterns cast a warm glow, and enchanted dishes refilled themselves as conversations buzzed.

Apollo, however, wasn’t partaking in the feast. He sat at the far end, bound tightly in a dark-colored straitjacket etched with glowing sigils. The material looked like leather, but the runes made it clear it was far more than that—crafted to suppress power and keep even someone like Apollo unconscious.

Tyler took a sip of his drink and leaned toward Adam. "Did you guys find a way to remove the armor yet?"

Adam nodded, setting down his roasted meat skewer. "Yup. The armor’s connection runs through an anchor point in another world. We’re heading there soon. Once we reach the source, we should be able to rip it off him."

Tyler glanced at the unconscious Apollo, then asked, "What happens if you just... kill him?"

Adam grimaced. "Risky. We don’t know if the armor would vanish with him. Some artifacts are soul-bound and disintegrate when the user dies. Others explode. And knowing our luck..." he trailed off with a shrug.

Tyler tapped his fingers against the table thoughtfully. "I’m actually really interested in that armor. Any chance I can take a closer look at it tonight? I’ll give it back tomorrow, promise."

The room fell quiet.

Tension crept in like a slow fog. Even the plates on the table seemed to hum a little louder.

Dusk was the first to break the silence. "Huh... That’s not a problem," he said cheerfully, as if discussing loaning out a book rather than a powerful divine relic.

Dawn immediately whipped her head toward him. "Stupid brother! What if he runs away with it?"

Dusk turned to Tyler. "Will you steal it?" he asked plainly.

Tyler blinked. The directness caught him off guard. "Huh? No. I just want to study it a bit."

"See?" Dusk beamed, completely unfazed.

Dawn couldn’t help but touch her forehead, looking helpless, sighing. "Why are you sooo."

"What are you? Straw hat Captain?" Adam muttered. He also has no problem with temporarily lending it to Tyler since Dusk already agreed.

---

After the meal, Tyler entered a quiet room where Apollo had been placed, still bound and unconscious.

Then Tyler simply stored Apollo inside his replica of storage Bead that can store living things, which he acquired in the mines with Lily Gomes.

He placed Apollo inside the bead then placed the Bead inside his copper pot. Then he took out a Copy.

He then took out Apollo’s copy. Without soul he looked like a peaceful dead man.

He knelt beside the man, and tore the bounded strait jacket , his eyes drawn to the armor.

It was a masterpiece of divine craftsmanship. Smooth plates of Gold and midnight black interlocked with arcane lines running between them. A faint glow pulsed from beneath the armor’s seams, like it breathed with a life of its own.

Tyler gently touched the surface, feeling the magic pulse beneath his fingertips. The armor responded to Apollo’s aura, tightly clinging to him like a second skin. It wasn’t just worn. It was fused.

"Interesting..." Tyler murmured.

"Seems like killing him won’t make the Armour disappear. Well I don’t have to tell them." Tyler muttered.

Then he stored the body into the real storage bead.

Then Tyler took out the Real Apollo, after thinking for a moment he placed Apollo in the copied bead and left.

┉┈ ◈ ◉ ◈ ┈┉

Tyler walked through the wide hallway of luxury mansion.

As he entered a spacious chamber overlooking the vast, swirling clouds of the Abyss Floor below, he saw Dusk standing by the edge, watching the ever-shifting mist.

"Dusk." Tyler called out.

Tyler approached and held out the bead.

"What’s this?" Dusk asked, tilting his head.

"It’s a storage device," Tyler replied with a small grin, placing the bead carefully in Dusk’s hand. "It can store living beings. There’s a mini world inside"

Dusk’s eyes widened slightly. "A world inside a bead?" he echoed, his voice filled with genuine wonder. He rolled it between his fingers, examining it closely. "This... feels like it’s incredibly valuable."

"Yub.. That’s for you." Tyler said.

Dusk blinked and immediately moved to return it. "I can’t accept this. It’s too valuable."

But Tyler simply placed his hand over Dusk’s, closing the Dusk’s fingers around the bead. "Come on now. Aren’t we friends?"

Tyler wholeheartedly gave this to Dusk. Because Dusk trusted him and let him analyze the armour without any hesitation.

"Friends huh? " Dusk smiled and said , "Then I will take it."

"Also I am Rich. So don’t worry." Tyler replied. "Apollo’s inside. You can carry him with you easily now without dragging around a whole unconscious guy in chains."

"That’s... actually very helpful," Dusk said, holding the bead up to eye level. "And kind of cool."

He tapped it lightly, and the runes along its surface shimmered faintly.

"How does it work?" He asked.

"Divine Sense. You know the one we use for Sound Transmission. What do you call that in your world?" Tyler asked.

"Sound Transmission? You mean telepathy. We also call it Sense. Mana Sense." Dusk said and used Mana Sense on the Bead. He quickly disappeared.

A few minutes later he appeared again.

"Haha... That’s so cool," Dusk laughed, his voice carrying a genuine sense of amusement and wonder.

The two of them stood side by side at the balcony, leaning against the sleek stone railing of the mansion. The swirling Abyss clouds above moved in mesmerizing patterns, and for a moment.

They had just finished a long talk— about random things. Life, food, strange Creatures, about Girls and about Each other worlds.

"I don’t think this Prana is actually a Magic System," Dusk said thoughtfully, glancing at Tyler. "From what I’ve observed, it resembles a Cultivation System more. The way it refines the body, aligns with energies... It’s fundamentally different."

"I don’t know about Magic System. But those who practice Prana are called Mages." Tyler said, "They even use staffs and wands.

"Hmm.. Maybe it’s a mix? Looks like there are more mysteries waiting for you to solve," Dusk said with a faint smile.

Tyler stretched. "Always is."

He turned to leave, his tone becoming more casual. "Alright. I’ve got other things to do. Need to check on the others."

Dusk chuckled. "Go ahead. And Tyler..." He paused, then gave a grateful nod. "Thanks. For everything."

Tyler waved a hand without looking back, a small smile on his face. "Take care, magician."

As Tyler’s footsteps faded down the corridor, Dusk remained at the balcony, the silence once again wrapping around him like a familiar cloak.

He sighed softly, then reached into his coat and pulled out the small storage bead Tyler had given him earlier. With a flick of his wrist, he activated it.

Apollo appeared before him, still unconscious, bound in the magical straitjacket.

Without hesitation, Dusk retrieved a glowing card from his inner sleeve. He placed it gently above Apollo, and golden runes lit up across its surface. A soft hum resonated in the air as Apollo’s figure shimmered, then was absorbed into the card like mist being drawn into a bottle.

Dusk looked at the now-glowing card in his hand.

Apollo figure is inside.

He then took another card, this one silver and adorned with tiny geometric runes. He placed the bead atop it. In a flash of light, the bead vanished, captured safely into the card as well.

"Much more convenient," he whispered, tucking both cards safely into his coat. The Abyss wind gently tousled his hair as he turned back to gaze into the fog-covered distance.