The news coverage was relentless. Every major network ran stories about the mysterious portals, interviewing bewildered witnesses who emerged with impossible knowledge flooding their minds. CNN had a panel of physicists arguing about dimensional theory. Fox News brought in military experts discussing national security implications. Social media exploded with videos of people demonstrating their newfound understanding of spiritual energy, even though none had progressed beyond basic theory.
'Cultivation isn't fantasy anymore,' I thought, watching a BBC reporter interview a woman who'd spent three days in the Eastern Region. She described the spiritual energy in the air, the impossible landscape that defied every law of physics. Her eyes held the same wonder I'd seen in every new arrival.
The time had come to establish my divine persona. My current cultivation level was still relatively low, but the Bone Molding Divine Art gave me the perfect disguise. Combined with the world bead's power, I could project an aura that would convince anyone I was a being far beyond mortal comprehension.
I activated the bone molding technique, feeling my skeletal structure shift and reshape. My jaw became more angular, my cheekbones more pronounced. I grew several inches taller, my frame broadening with an imposing presence that commanded attention. My facial features transformed into something both beautiful and intimidating, with eyes that seemed to hold ancient wisdom.
The transformation was complete. Ben Mason no longer existed in this form. I was now the Eastern Region God, a title that deliberately implied the existence of other divine beings governing different territories. This would prevent anyone from expecting me to have authority over the entire world while maintaining the mystique of higher powers at work.
Through my connection to the world bead, I sensed the two thousand cultivators scattered across the protected zone. Most had formed small camps near the central monument, while others explored the safer areas where low-level spiritual beasts provided training opportunities.
'Time for the grand entrance,' I decided.
The Heavenly Dao responded to my intent, completely masking my true cultivation level and replacing it with an overwhelming divine presence. My feet left the ground as the world bead's power lifted me into the sky above the Eastern Region. The sensation of flight without wings or visible propulsion would add to the supernatural effect.
At maximum altitude, I activated the full force of my manufactured aura. Every cultivator below would feel the pressure of what they believed was divine authority, an overwhelming presence that spoke of power beyond their comprehension. The world bead ensured that my image appeared clearly to everyone regardless of distance, as if each person had a perfect view despite being miles apart.
My voice carried across the entire protected zone, reaching every ear with crystal clarity.
"Mortals of Earth who have passed through the sacred portals, I am the Eastern Region God, guardian and overseer of the cultivation region you are now in."
The effect was immediate. Across the twenty-mile area, every person stopped what they were doing and looked skyward. Some fell to their knees instinctively. Others stood transfixed, their newly awakened spiritual senses overwhelmed by the divine presence radiating from my form.
"You have been chosen to transcend your mortal limitations in this sacred space. The knowledge you received upon entry is my gift to your species. Use it wisely, grow strong, and remember that merit determines your path forward."
The declaration hung in the air like a divine commandment. Below, I could sense the mixture of awe, fear, and excitement rippling through the crowd of new cultivators. This moment would become legend, the first direct contact between humanity and what they believed were the gods responsible for their transformation.
The Eastern Region God persona was born.
I reached into my spatial storage, withdrawing over two thousand refined identity tokens. Each one gleamed with a subtle inner light, crafted from materials found within the world bead and infused with the Heavenly Dao's tracking abilities. With a sweeping gesture, I released them into the air.
The tokens moved with impossible precision, each one guided by the world bead's power to find its intended recipient. They arced through the sky like falling stars, landing perfectly in the outstretched hands of every cultivator below. The sight of over two thousand objects moving independently through the air reinforced my divine image.
"These are your identity tokens," I announced, my voice carrying the weight of absolute authority. "Place a drop of your blood upon the surface to bind it to your essence. Once recognized, the token will track your cultivation progress and merit accumulation automatically."
Below, I watched as people pricked their fingers with knives, thorns, or anything sharp they could find. The tokens absorbed their blood instantly, each one flashing briefly as it established the spiritual connection. Several cultivators gasped as they felt the bond form, a subtle awareness that this small object was now part of their spiritual signature.
"Merit points will be automatically awarded as you cultivate and perform deeds that benefit the community. Helping fellow cultivators, sharing knowledge, protecting others from spiritual beasts, contributing to the collective good. All of these actions will be recognized and rewarded."
I paused, letting the implications sink in before continuing.
"These merit points serve as currency among your people. Trade them freely, pool resources for group endeavors, establish your own economic systems."
The crowd's attention was absolute. Every face turned skyward, absorbing each word as divine law. The identity tokens in their hands pulsed gently, already beginning to record their current cultivation levels and establishing baseline merit scores.
I descended slowly, positioning myself directly above the American monument where the obsidian pillars twisted around their central platform. The white sphere continued its eternal rotation, energy currents flowing in complex patterns that spoke of power beyond mortal understanding.
Raising both hands toward the sky, I called upon the world bead's full construction capabilities. The ground trembled as my will reshaped the landscape on a massive scale.
Obsidian erupted from the earth in perfectly planned formations, rising to create streets, foundations, and building frameworks. The construction spread outward from the monument in concentric circles, each ring containing different types of structures. Residential areas formed closest to the center, followed by larger buildings suitable for organizations and guilds. Commercial districts took shape in the outer rings, with wide boulevards connecting everything in an efficient grid pattern.
The entire city materialized in minutes, covering nearly one hundred miles in diameter. Every building bore the same obsidian construction, polished to a mirror finish that reflected the dual moons above. On the door of each structure, I included an artifact door lock I had refined earlier, spiritual mechanisms that would recognize authorized users and grant access accordingly.
"Behold the American City," I declared as the construction completed, "located around all the entrance portals to your American cities. Every building within these walls requires merit points to rent, with costs determined by size and location. Modest quarters for individuals, larger spaces for families, grand halls for organizations and guilds that will inevitably form among you."
The cultivators below stood in stunned silence, watching their new home rise from nothing through divine will. The scale was overwhelming, a metropolis that could house millions appearing in the span of minutes.
"This is merely the beginning. As your community grows and prospers, additional amenities will become available for merit point purchase. Advanced cultivation techniques tailored to specific elemental affinities, combat arts that will help you face stronger spiritual beasts, tools and weapons crafted from materials found only in this realm."
The Eastern Region God had provided everything needed for humanity's first cultivation city.
During my entire divine presentation, I noticed dozens of phones and cameras pointed skyward, recording every moment. The cultivators below captured the token distribution, the city construction, even my floating form against the dual moons. Several people were already making their way toward the portal exits, clutching their devices with obvious urgency.
The world bead's dimensional barriers blocked all satellite and cellular signals from crossing between realms. Anyone wanting to share their footage with Earth would need to physically return through the portals first. I watched groups of excited cultivators hurrying toward the monument's base where the portal entrance waited, their phones filled with evidence that would shake the world.
'Perfect,' I thought. 'Let them spread the word. The more people who see this, the faster humanity will embrace cultivation.'
After the crowd began to disperse, I ascended back to the Core Region and allowed my divine transformation to fade. The Bone Molding Divine Art reversed its effects, returning my height, facial structure, and overall presence to normal. Ben Mason stood in the palace once again, just another software engineer who'd stumbled into something extraordinary.
But I needed an alibi. When people inevitably investigated the early cultivators, I couldn't simply appear as someone who'd never entered the Eastern Region. My cultivation level was already too advanced to explain away as natural talent alone. The solution was simple: become one of the crowd.
I opened a portal directly to my San Jose apartment and stepped through. The transition from the world bead's pure spiritual energy to Earth's polluted atmosphere hit me immediately, but my Body Tempering cultivation handled the discomfort easily. After grabbing a light jacket and my wallet, I headed back outside.
The portal had moved again, now positioned several blocks from Jeffrey Fontana Park. I could see the pillar of light cutting through the evening sky, drawing crowds of curious onlookers. Police barriers kept most people at a distance, but the area immediately around the portal entrance buzzed with activity.
Groups of cultivators emerged constantly, their faces flushed with excitement as they pulled out phones to call friends and family. Others immediately began uploading videos to social media, their hands shaking as they tried to explain what they'd just witnessed.
"You won't believe what just happened in there," one woman said into her phone. "A god literally built an entire city in minutes. I have it all on video."
"The spiritual energy is real," a man told his camera. "I can feel it in my body now. This proves cultivation and Gods are real!"
I walked past them without drawing attention, just another person approaching the mysterious portal. The entrance itself remained pitch black, impossible to see through despite the brilliant light column above it. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside.
The familiar sensation of dimensional transition washed over me as I emerged in the Eastern Region. To any observer, I appeared like any other new arrival.
I made my way through the crowd toward the newly constructed American City. The obsidian buildings gleamed under the dual moons, their mirror surfaces reflecting the excited faces of humanity's first cultivators. Most people were still gathered around the central monument, discussing the divine visitation and examining their identity tokens.
Finding one of the smaller residential buildings, I approached its artifact door lock. The spiritual mechanism recognized my identity token immediately, displaying rental options that appeared directly in my mind. A modest single room costs 20 merit points per day, well within the starting allocation I'd programmed into every token.
I pressed my token against the lock and confirmed the transaction. The obsidian door swung open silently, revealing a simple but comfortable living space. The room contained basic furnishings crafted from the same dark stone, with a small window overlooking one of the city's main boulevards.
After stepping inside and securing the door behind me, I waited several minutes to ensure no one was watching. Then I activated my connection to the world bead and teleported directly back to the Core Region.
The Core Palace materialized around me, its vast halls filled with concentrated spiritual energy. My alibi was complete. Ben Mason was now officially one of the Eastern Region's cultivators, with rental records and witness testimony to prove it.
Time to continue my real cultivation in private.
Over the next three days, I systematically deployed portal anchors across every major American city on the West Coast. Los Angeles, Pasadena, Phoenix—each metropolis received its own gateway to the Eastern Region. The pillars of light erupted across the continent like beacons, drawing massive crowds and overwhelming local authorities who had no framework for handling divine phenomena.
The world bead's Heavenly Dao helped me design an elegant solution to prevent portal abuse. Each gateway remembered the spiritual signature of every person who entered, creating an invisible tether between cultivator and origin point. When someone attempted to exit through any portal in the Eastern Region, the system automatically redirected them back to their entry city. A businessman from New York couldn't use the portals to hop over to Los Angeles for a quick meeting. The divine gateways served cultivation, not convenience.
News networks went into overdrive as reports flooded in from dozens of cities simultaneously. The government's attempts to control access proved futile when the portals simply relocated themselves whenever military cordons grew too restrictive. I watched CNN anchors struggle to explain how the same phenomenon was occurring coast to coast, their experts offering increasingly desperate theories about mass hallucination and coordinated hoaxes.
The influx of new cultivators overwhelmed my ability to personally distribute identity tokens. Standing in the palace's main hall, I realized I needed human assistance. The Eastern Region God required mortal representatives to handle administrative duties.
I transformed back into my divine persona and descended to American City's commercial district. The obsidian buildings housed dozens of small businesses that had already sprung up - restaurants serving food purchased with merit points, information brokers selling cultivation advice, even entertainment venues where people gathered to share stories from Earth.
I materialized in the sky above the bustling commercial district, my divine aura radiating outward with overwhelming presence. Every conversation stopped as cultivators looked up, their spiritual senses overwhelmed by the power emanating from my transformed form.
"Citizens of the Eastern Region," my voice carried across the entire city with perfect clarity. "The rapid growth of our community requires mortal assistance. I seek a dedicated volunteer to distribute identity tokens to new arrivals over the coming months. This position will provide a daily stipend of merit points in exchange for faithful service."
Below, dozens of hands shot skyward. People called out their qualifications, their willingness to serve, their desperation for steady income in this new world. But one voice cut through the chaos with calm professionalism.
"I volunteer for the position."
The voice belonged to a woman in a tailored business suit, her posture radiating confidence despite the divine presence above. She stood apart from the crowd's desperate scrambling, her hand raised with measured authority rather than frantic waving.
"I have over a decade of experience in organizational management and client relations. My background includes strategic planning, process optimization, and handling high-volume operations under pressure."
Her presentation was flawless, delivered like a boardroom pitch despite addressing a floating god. While others shouted credentials, she spoke with the calm professionalism of someone accustomed to high-stakes negotiations.
I nodded toward the confident woman, recognizing the competence in her bearing. With a casual gesture, I withdrew a low quality storage ring from my spatial storage and tossed it downward. The ring floated through the air with divine precision, landing perfectly in her outstretched palm.
"This storage ring contains thousands of unbound identity tokens for distribution to new arrivals. The ring itself and all merit points earned through your service belong to you permanently. Perform your duties faithfully, and you will prosper in this realm."
The storage ring settled into the woman's palm, and I watched the crowd's demeanor shift instantly. Faces that had been filled with hope moments before now twisted with envy and regret. However, nobody dared cause any trouble, especially with the deity floating right there in front of them.