179 - A Much Needed Rest

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Qin Yun merely watched as the former dark orb dissolved into dust. He felt a slight heartache at the sight, feeling it was a waste for such a device to disappear so easily, especially without being able to uncover its mysteries, but otherwise, Qin Yun didn’t feel much when it came to the existence of the old man’s neural matrix vanishing.

As the man had stated, he had already lived for long enough, and Qin Yun saw no reason to prolong it, especially since he couldn’t decide whether its existence would be a detriment to his future actions. It may have been seen as cruel for some, deciding life and death, but life was already full of decisions.

The world already made it so that only those who dared to choose were able to thrive, making Qin Yun easily able to make such decisions. He had no need for the acceptance of others, much less of those he had wronged. He followed only his own moral compass, never giving credence to anything else.

After all, he was only a flawed and selfish human being, not some god to be adulated for his virtues.

Qin Yun bent down, using his right palm to scoop up some of that lingering dust. Somehow, it was heavy and grating as the metallic particles flowed through his fingers. However, instead of falling back to the floor, forming another mound, those miniature particles—almost microscopic—split even smaller from the mere air resistance of their fall until they vanished entirely, leaving nothing behind but a slight metallic scent.

With this over, Qin Yun walked back towards the jailed black storage. As expected, his own black box showed no signs of resonance between them, almost as if they existed in two different dimensions, severed from space and time.

Qin Yun knew that with his current strength and means, he could do nothing to free it. Worse yet, even if he could, he didn't know if doing so would be a good idea, for the black storage was powering this whole installation and the barrier surrounding the manor. Without it, everything would collapse, and the structure would be razed to the ground.

Where is all that energy streaming from?

Such was one of Qin Yun's foremost questions. The only thing he could think of—in this world—able to supply it with the required amount of energy was the earth veins, but even that seemed doubtful. Maybe only a dragon vein could sustain that barrier, depending on its efficiency, but all those underground connections to the Well of Souls had been broken and corrupted a long time ago. There was no more qi flowing underground to fuel this device.

From somewhere else, then?

Qin Yun felt the method the storage used to acquire the required energy was starkly similar to his own newly formed crystal heart. Both seemed very attuned to the laws of space, and while the crystal heart stemmed from a living species and the black storage was made of inorganic matter, the spatial waves emanating from both were strangely similar.

What else within the universe has that amount of energy—something that can compete with Heavenly Qi? The fusion reactor of a star? The gravitational waves of a black hole? A supernova? Either way, the energy requirements are astronomical. No wonder this is worth studying.

Qin Yun felt it was a shame they couldn't talk more about his research, but he doubted the man would have been very forthcoming, especially since he was but a copy. If he had been in the place of his creator, Qin Yun would have undoubtedly put restrictions on such a construct, even if it was a faithful recreation of his own psyche.

He would have never put his entire trust into a machine, even if it possessed his own personality—actually, even less so.

With nothing more to do underground, Qin Yun let this matter lie and returned to the surface.

He glanced at the corpse of the Alteran Hound and sought to store it in his storage, for this was a valuable specimen that could prove useful in the future, only to remember the restrictions put upon his storage while in this underground chamber.

This didn’t stem from some concealed, inscrutable device preventing whatever mechanism the black storage used, but simply through the proximity and superposition of two similar entities interfering with each other. Their simultaneous existences created a paradox through which their shared internal space resisted the influence of either of them if only to prevent a rupture in the space-time continuum.

Qin Yun was all too aware of what would happen if both of those devices were used simultaneously to retrieve the same object. He didn't know the exact repercussions, but he could hazard a guess and knew it would be nothing good.

Qin Yun briefly considered dragging the metal body of the Alteran Hound up to the ground floor, but upon looking up at the spiral staircase rising up within the darkness, he quickly shelved the idea. Merely dragging his battered body up those countless steps would be arduous enough.

The tribulation he had unleashed, followed by the corruption, had wreaked havoc upon his flesh, especially the arm he had used to punch the jail within. There were many lacerations through which the uncontrolled energy escaped, but these were only superficial. By momentarily activating the countless nanomachines he had stored around his lotus, he swiftly healed them until not even a single scar remained.

No, what truly bothered him was the lingering corruption still seeking to mutate his beings. Unsurprisingly—at least to himself—his veins remained grey, looking strikingly similar to the markings one could find all over the desert people when they leapt into battle, but that was far from the end. Even his flesh began to lose colours, and Qin Yun could feel something bubbling below the surface—something intangible but very much real.

As he climbed each step one by one, Qin Yun dedicated a large portion of his mind to keeping his flesh stable. While by no means easy, the process wasn’t something Qin Yun was unfamiliar with. This was but another extension of what intent could do.

Everything stemmed from the mind, and by visualizing his body in the way that it should be—just as he visualized the sharpness of a sword when he meant to cut—Qin Yun was able to keep his arm from mutating into something grotesque, long enough for the tribulation qi still streaming out of his crystal heart to flood his body once again, repelling the corruption back to his core.

This came easy to him, for he was intimately familiar with the precepts of intent and what a human body should be. While slight differences existed, this had also been how he managed to change his appearance so easily, even if he had to rely on qi to fix it in place. Otherwise, it would revert to its base form whenever he slept or so much as lose concentration.

It was much easier for something's intrinsic nature to remain as it were than for it to change. In this aspect, corruption was unnatural. It was no wonder the world would fight so hard against it. Corruption was everything this world stood against.

Back at the surface, Qin Yun looked around and couldn't help but feel a slight relief at finally regaining the use of his storage. To be safe, he retrieved his black sword and slid it onto his belt. Not having a scabbard felt awkward, but fortunately, its edge was dull, unable to even scratch his robes.

And frankly, Qin Yun didn't feel he needed one. This blade relied more on its weight and durability to inflict damage than its shape as a sword. If anything, this weapon was more of a slightly more elegant club than anything, yet this suited Qin Yun just fine. If he needed to cut something, he only had to rely on his sword intent, and it was hard to find a weapon that could withstand his unnatural strength, especially without having to fork over a literal fortune for an Earth Rank Artifact.

The library he now stood in was immense, filled with countless bookcases divided into three levels with a grand staircase leading up to the top. Each level was circular, following the outside wall, while a mid-height wooden railing lined the inside edge of the pathway, offering a fascinating view of the ground level from the third story.

This library was in the centre of the manor with no windows on either side, only a broken mosaic angled on the roof, letting a small amount of light peer through. From the remnants still attached to the ceiling, Qin Yun felt the mosaic had once been highly intricate, but as for what it depicted, he didn't know, for this was where he had made his first entrance, tumbling down from the sky.

On the ground level, in the middle of the open space, was a single wooden desk with a few vintage padded seats around it. It was most likely used to enjoy the wonder of the many books in this library.

Qin Yun hadn't paid much attention to it before, but now he chose to sit in one, reflecting on what he should do. Looking back on it, he had been much too impulsive, whether exploring this place, leaving the confines of the barrier, or even delving into the depths.

It seemed he hadn't even realized his own anxiety at being thrust into this foreign world, cut off from what he had ever known. He believed that by now, he would have grown used to it, yet he was wrong. He needed to take a step back and objectively assess his current situation.

If what he said was true, I have two choices in front of me. Either reach the edge and jump, or seek whatever vessel was left in the continent's core and ride the Well of Souls upwards... both are just as preposterous.

Obviously, seeking the vessel was the better proposition, but that was basically choosing between the lesser of two evils. Neither of them was a really great option.

He also had the choice to seek a third one, but that would mean wasting even more time. How long would the world above be able to contend against corruption? Ten years? A hundred? Perhaps more, but there was no way to tell. It may have been arrogant on his part, but he didn't believe the world could carry on without him. After all, people had left it get this bad.

He had to try, if only for his wife’s sake. He couldn’t let her succumb to this invasive force without a fight.

No matter what I choose, the journey will take a long time. Judging by the picture on that door, this lower leaf is many times larger than the Western Domain and is filled with corruption. Reaching the core, even if I do all in my power to make haste, will take at least a few years...

Qin Yun couldn’t help but feel a wave of exhaustion wash over him. It wasn’t physical exhaustion, for it was easy to keep the body in peak condition merely through cultivation. No, it was his mind that screamed for rest.

Ever since he reached this place and ventured outside, he had contended against the corruption, expanding his cultivation until, in just a few days, he reached the threshold of the third level of the Foundation Building realm. Cultivating that fast was an unheard-of achievement, but it took a toll on his psyche.

He knew he couldn't continue like this with his mental faculties impaired. A lack of judgment had already manifested itself in the way he had been acting. As such, he closed his eyes, leaned back upon the soft backrest, and, unsurprisingly, swiftly drifted off to sleep.

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