The World Devouring System

A few hours later, Caelum was seated with his family for lunch. Well, not his entire family - it was just him, his parents and two younger siblings who were also twins.

The Goldheart family, to which Caelum belonged, was quite large. Many lineages had branched out from his grandfather and great-grandfather, the founder of the family. Caelum's father, Valerius Goldheart, was the current Patriarch of the Goldheart family and also the Duke of the Goldheart Duchy in the Novastead Empire.

Caelum had already met his parents in his room after the maid, Saya, had called for them.

After a slightly touching reunion, Caelum was once again made to lie down on the bed. Several doctors checked his condition, all of them confirming that his body was in perfect health, aside from being slightly lean due to the lack of exercise and solid food during his coma.

By the time the entire process was over, morning had already given way to afternoon. His two younger siblings, Elias and Lyra had returned early from their pre-Cultivation school to see him. His three older siblings however, were nowhere to be found.

At the table, Caelum's father broke the ice.

"Caelum, it's good to have you dining with us like this again. Your absence was felt very deeply over the last four years."

Valerius Goldheart was a handsome man with silver hair and blue eyes. Caelum's eye color was clearly inherited from his father. Unlike Caelum though, Valerius had a large frame. He was the kind of person who effortlessly commanded attention in any room, exuding a regal presence that made others instinctively take notice of him.

Following Valerius' words, Caelum's mother, Elara nodded.

"We were so worried about you all these years. At one point, we even thought you might never wake up. Your condition was slowly deteriorating, after all. But now, the doctors say you're completely fine! Thank the Heavens for that! I can't even describe how happy I'm feeling right now.

Elara had already shed a few tears when she saw and hugged Caelum back in his room. Her eyes were still reddened after all these hours. It seemed like she had shed some more tears of joy while Caelum was busy undergoing his checkups.

"Father, Mother, I'm sorry for having worried you. It feels good to be back in the waking world."

Caelum responded to his parents' words somewhat stiffly. In his previous life, familial warmth was something he had never experienced as he had lost both his parents to an accident early on. His current situation made him feel complicated emotions. On one hand, he now had parents who genuinely worried for him. And on the other hand, he knew all too well that they were not his real family – a fact that prevented him from fully accepting their affection with a clear conscience.

Although he could not really accept this family as his own in such a short span of time, he tried his best to fit in. He relaxed a little and composed himself, deciding to act more natural going forward. In any case, waking up from a coma usually caused some changes in the patient's personality. Caelum decided to take full benefit of this fact until he found his groove.

"Welcome back, big bro."

"Thank you, Elias!"

Caelum replied to his younger brother with a smile. Although Elias' words were curt, they didn't come across as cold. The rest of the family members didn't find anything unusual about it; it seemed Elias had developed a more reserved personality over the last four years.

"Brother Caelum! I missed you too, okay? In fact, I'm pretty sure I missed you the most!"

Lyra's words brightened the mood in the dining hall. Lyra was Caelum's younger sister. Elias and Lyra were twins who were now fourteen years old. They were both two years younger than Caelum.

"Haha! Considering how much time I spent playing together with you, I'd be very disappointed if you didn't miss me the most, Lyra."

Caelum's words elicited a round of laughter from everyone at the table. His parents looked at this interaction between their children with warmth in their eyes.

Elara then went on to support Lyra's claims of her missing Caelum the most. It seemed like she had expressed her worry and sadness over Caelum's condition multiple times to her.

This revelation made Lyra embarrassed and she couldn't help but cry out.

"Mother! Forget all of those things I said to you!"

Valerius chimed in with a cheeky remark of his own, rescuing his daughter from her peril, "Bah! You're teasing Lyra right now but you should've looked at yourself during Caelum's sixteenth birthday two months ago. You were practically bawling like a baby."

"Good one, father!" Lyra expressed her support.

Elara glared cutely at Valerius' words and seemed to have kicked his shin under the table. A harmonious atmosphere blanketed the dining hall. Caelum couldn't help but feel something stir inside of him. With some difficulty, he prevented his eyes from becoming misty. He was normally cool headed and in perfect control of his emotions, but right now, that was proving to be a challenging task. Still, Caelum managed to regain his cool.

'Me masquerading as their child is already bad enough. In the future, I should find an appropriate opportunity to distance myself from them, lest they get dragged into my mess. But not right now. Right now, being a scion of the Goldheart family brings me benefits that I cannot easily forgo.'

Caelum would do anything and everything in his power to survive. He would never prioritize his feelings, his emotions over his survival.

Once they stopped teasing each other, Caelum asked his family a question of his own.

"By the way, where are my older siblings right now? Do they not miss their younger brother?" Apart from his two younger siblings, Caelum also had three older siblings - one elder sister and two elder brothers.

"Oh Caelum dear, you know that's not true. All three of your elder siblings are currently inside the Wandering Giant's Trial Realm. They only departed a week ago! I'm afraid you won't have the chance to see them for at least six more months."

'The Wandering Giant's Trial Realm – I seem to have some recollection of this name.'

Before Caelum could delve into his memories to retrieve the related pieces of information, Lyra spoke out.

"Big brother! If only you woke up a week ago, you could've seen the Wandering Giant in all its glory. It was soooo tall and big! And countless cultivators were entering it to take its trial, it was…"

Lyra's words were barely making any sense, but she kept going on and on about how awesome the experience was while everyone silently listened to her excitement.

The lunch would go on for quite a while.

At some point, Valerius did ask Caelum if he remembered what happened moments before his coma. He wanted to make sure it was a natural medical condition and not the result of some foul play. The last thing that Caelum remembered before going into coma was going to bed and sleeping. The information naturally did not help. For now, all they could do was assume that it happened due to natural causes.

Caelum also learnt about the current state of affairs from Valerius. The Goldheart Duchy was a direct vassal of the Imperial Family – one of the strongest vassals. Yet, they were not without their problems. To the West of the Goldheart Duchy was The Ocean. Everyone in the Novastead Empire just called it 'The Ocean' because it was the only ocean they knew of - it surrounded the Empire's territory on the West, South and East.

The Goldhearts were in a state of 'war' so to speak, with the Seafolk of the Western Ocean. Several decades ago, before Caelum was born, the Goldhearts attempted to expand into the ocean by building the Empire's first ever underwater city. It was a grand project, one that even the Emperor had been quite excited about. Alas, the project failed. Caelum did not know the exact details, but the Seafolk mounted a fierce counterattack and were currently on the offensive, trying to occupy some land that belonged to the Goldheart Duchy. This war has been going on for decades now, putting a severe strain on their family's finances.

And to the North of the Goldheart Duchy was the majestic Eternal Sky Mountain Range, the same tall mountains Caelum had seen from the window of his room. The base of the mountain range was a resource rich region, but the Goldheart family had to invest a significant portion of their manpower to extract just a fraction of those resources. Wyverns up above and subterranean creatures down below prevented the Goldhearts from easily obtaining the land's bounty.

"But these are not new problems. These were problems before you went into a coma, and they still are. No need to fret about them. The most important thing right now is that you're awake and well. It is a joyous occasion", Valerius happily said.

"Speaking of which, you're two months past sixteen right now. As you know, sixteen is when people start cultivating. It is almost as if you woke up just to cultivate. Haha! A good omen, a most auspicious of omens indeed!"

"Tsk!" Valerius' joy was cut short by Elara. "He just woke up! You will not pester him about cultivation until he himself says that he is ready to start."

"Caelum dear, take your time to regain your bearings first, okay? Cultivation can wait."

Valerius shook his head slightly but did not say anything. Caelum was about to respond. He wanted to let his mother know that he was actually quite eager to get started. He had not forgotten what fate awaited him should he fail to reach the Qi Gathering Realm within a month. Based on his memories of how long it took for an average cultivator to reach Qi Gathering, it wasn't going to be an easy task!

However, before Caelum could say his piece, a change occurred!