IdleYoungMaster

Chapter 134: The First Mover's Sovereignty

Being an immortal cultivator has its perks.

If I was the same person as nineteen months ago, I would have looked like a wet dog on the streets. Now, I still look damn good.

…

Enough with these narcissistic punchlines.

I am slowly inheriting Madam Herta’s knack for it.

My eyes scanned the people around.

{Overall Strength: Mortal}

{Overall Strength: Mortal}

{Overall Strength: Mortal}

…

Information is processed instantly. My “appraisal” skill granted by [Encompassing Eyes] became a beast of its own.

Aside from this normal state, I can enter the causal state at any time. I can isolate others’ causal lines and focus on the “complete” causal lines of a single person. The greater their strength and influence, the more spiritual qi and mental power I had to exert.

Nevertheless, everything’s fine with the normal state.

I took the time to seek shelter. The cold wind and my wet clothes did not pose a threat to my health.

After sitting on a bus stop shed, I continued exploring with my upgraded [Xinhai Sutra].

Overall, there are two new things.

First is the appearance of the “Deduction Power”. It allows me to instantly deduce information. As long as my knowledge base suffices, its information will instantly come up in full detail. The only downside is mental power consumption.

I can reduce its performance from “instant” to “a few seconds” to resolve this issue. It’s still leagues ahead of my previous performance.

Due to the “Deduction Power”, my [Encompassing Eyes] gained a strengthened passive state and a monstrous active state.

Second is the appearance of the “Encompassing Sea” within my dantian. It is a mysterious space similar to the other two techniques.

As long as I place a ‘thought’ inside, it will automatically operate according to my ideas. It is similar to making a mental clone, but only with learning capabilities. This is best used in studying techniques, spells, and recipes. 

This does not affect my daily life. This passive improvement can be stacked with my own active learning to create a better effect.

With my current strength, placing five ‘thoughts’ is the limit. That means five techniques can be learned automatically—or a single technique being focused on by five thoughts.

This is why [Great Accomplishment] of main cultivation techniques is a game-changer. Every technique given by the golden orb is the "highest level" there is. It is nothing short of a golden finger for other transmigrators. 

True Immortal techniques work this way.

Just then, a brand new ‘thought’, or rather, notification came to my mind.

{Two Phase Art: Entry > Small Accomplishment}

No shit.

The long awaited upgrade arrived.

*****

“...ine?”

“Ah, yes, I am fine…”

Kiana snapped out of her daze. They are currently inside the subspace within the imaginary space. The low fifth grade spirit vein made it extremely comfortable for her to stay around.

Though, it’s not the only comfortable place for Kiana. Being around Shi Tian is a hundred times better than this.

“...lips.”

“..?”

“No, nothing!”

She felt panicked inwardly. Her inner thoughts spilled out from her mouth.

‘That stinky old man..!’

Ever since the parent-meeting two days ago, Kiana’s mind could not be at peace. The word “kiss” kept on appearing in her mind the most.

She wondered how it felt. 

This also made her more determined to keep Shi Tian by her side. The sight of him carrying Raiden Mei made her feel very threatened.

It wasn’t just Mei. Seele is also very beautiful. The spawn rate of “beautiful girls” around him is at an all time high!

“Look carefully. This is my first time trying it out. I have a feeling you can pull it off using your Herrscher Power.”

“Yeah…”

Shi Tian noticed her noncommittal answer.

‘I still couldn’t read the Tuna’s thoughts…’

Despite this, he carried on his actions. 

After going back to the orphanage, he asked Kiana to bring him to the imaginary space. The upgraded [Encompassing Eyes] allowed him to delve into another cultivation side art: Qi Gazing.

It is the act of extracting various energies hidden within special high-dimensional layers. The Purple Qi, for example, is one such resource. It can cleanse the body of impurities and pill residues, heal birth defects, remove deep injuries, and so on.

There are a lot of special resources like the Purple Qi. It is a landmine for this world that lacks resources.

The only requirement for Qi Gazing is the [Qi-Observing Eyes]. It is needed to ‘locate’ the said special dimensions. It can be gained by using a set of spiritual materials… which Shi Tian doesn’t have.

The [Great Accomplishment] of [Xinhai Sutra] circumvents that requirement.

Hum-!

Crack-!

A slit in space appeared. It has a black color and looks like an open zipper. Countless colorful lights could be seen from within.

Shi Tian’s golden eyes flashed. He placed his right hand inside the space slit and “grabbed” something

Buzz-!

When he retracted his hand, a string of purple air was present between his index finger and thumb. His entire hand is coated with spiritual consciousness to hold this ‘air’ in place.
{Purple Qi}

Grade: Peak Third Grade

Traits: Healing effect effective for non-cultivators; limb-restoration; hidden injuries; comprehension boost for fire-related spells…

“Let’s try heading outside your subspace.”

“Um.”

The duo went out to the normal imaginary space. Shi Tian tried to pull it off again, but this time, he found nothing.

‘It only exists within the spirit vein…’

Shi Tian began teaching Kiana how to do Qi Gazing.

“The space where these resources lie is like a specific radio frequency. The [Qi-Observing Eyes] is a radio that catches that special frequency. It’s not enough to create a slit in space. You have to find the specific “place”... the “layer” that houses those resources…”

True to Kiana’s Herrscher Authority, she was able to manipulate the void and find the special dimension where the special types of Qi lie.

Due to the special qi’s nature, the two did not take much. Storing it required special containers they did not have. If it was left unattended, it would dissipate to nothingness.

“Give it to your father. He can regain his lost arm with it.”

“Really?!”

Kiana’s heart skipped a beat. She was naturally happy to be able to help her father. She is the one who caused him trouble, after all.

Inevitably, she recalled her father’s words once again.

‘Is kissing a big deal..?’

Her mind started to become a chaotic mess. The thoughts about “kissing” emerged for the nth time. In Siegfried’s eyes, the two are a bonafide couple. The only step remaining is to become one for real.

‘Ah, whatever! I like him! There’s nothing wrong with it..!’

After a round of convincing herself, Kiana made her choice.

She used her Herrscher Power to appear right in front of him. The distance between their faces are closed in an instant.

Shi Tian looked at her blankly. Kiana chose to wear her Flamescion outfit whenever the two of them are alone. Her beautiful face was reflected in his eyes.

Time soon stopped.

A soft sensation appeared on his lips. Kiana’s eyes were closed during the ordeal, but not Shi Tian’s.

It is without a doubt, a kiss.

Today, the Tuna marked her sovereignty.

Chapter 133: Urban Cultivator's Mundane Realizations

It’s been a year since I went out.

Ever since I arrived at the orphanage, I did not take much time going outside. I hid myself in the skies during the last weekly investigation. Meaning, I did not interact with the people outside.

Countless gazes landed upon me as I strolled the streets. I did not pay much attention to them until some students gathered their courage to ask for my number.

Their looks are above average. They would have been famous in my previous life. On this Earth, however, they are only at the upper 30% percentile.

“Sorry. I already have a girlfriend.” I spoke in proficient Japanese.

I am not interested in becoming a full urban cultivator. I can’t even sort out my feelings with the two.

“T-that’s fine!”

My jaw dropped.

In the end, I had to use a mental suggestion spell to make her give up.

Girls these days…

I found peace inside a coffee shop. I came across ten different instances of girls and women alike asking for my number. Although it is not mentally exhausting, it is a new experience.

Cultivators have a perk when it comes to looking majestic as hell.

While sipping my cold coffee blended with a lot of milk, I entered the [Xiutian Art]’s mysterious space.

It’s been some time since I last visited.

Unlike before, there are six clouds present, both in silver and in gold. The psycho stalker, fellow Daoist Jingwei and Mei are added to the original three—Kiana, Selee, Bronya.

Six high grade Spirit Roots cultivators.

I am dumbfounded by these chances. All of them fitted the technique’s criteria. I tried it with the others, but to no avail.

I am baffled by it. 

But…

I might have an idea as to how it chooses “qualified partners”. I dare not think of it again unless it is confirmed.

My attention shifted back to the clouds. Their sizes varied, though they are all extremely big.

I haven’t sent out my progress during the past year. These are the experience potions of my Purple Mansion Realm cultivation: late stage body, Middle stage Qi, and Late stage mind.

Kiana, Seele, and Bronya will receive its full benefits. The three latecomers, on the other hand, would only receive the last week’s progress.

In contrast, the sizes of the golden clouds are smaller. These represented the girls’ progress—my experience potions. Kiana’s portion is the highest, followed by Seele and Bronya.

Altogether, they will be able to push my qi realm to the pinnacle of the middle stage. This saved up a few years’ worth of honest work—no pills and cheats.

It is also the result of piling up all three cultivation routes together. 

As for the girls, the conversion rate is higher. The chasm between Foundation Establishment and Purple Mansion Realm is huge enough. 

An entire day of a Purple Mansion Realm’s cultivation can be converted to a week or so of Qi Refining Realm.

[Xiutian Art]’s [Small Accomplishment] does not sync the “Gift of Tao” fully. A part of it is lost. Once it is in [Great Accomplishment], everything will be fully transmitted. A lot of new effects will be opened up, too.

The [Cloud Seeking Step]’s [Great Accomplishment] gave me the ability to traverse long distances at once. I can cross high-dimensions with enough conditions. 

I look forward to the other techniques’ [Great Accomplishment] masteries, and as such, focus on studying them for the time being.

After some deliberation, I distributed the silver clouds belonging to Fu Hua, Sin Mal, and Mei. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to advance their practice for a while.

Soon, I left the mysterious space.

Slurp.

I sipped nothing but thin air. I looked at the tall plastic cup and saw it was empty. I placed it down and stood up, leaving the cup and the receipt with a number behind.

Looking at this city full of life, I decided to stick around for a while.

No major events happened. I declined more number requests, helped some of the elderly, bought a few snacks, fed some stray cats…

The dark skies heralded changes.

Drizzle-!

Rain started to fall. Everyone hurried to take shelter. Some people took out their umbrellas to shield themselves from the rain.

I stood still… just like how the world stood still in my eyes.

My sight turned pale gray. Everyone lost their colors. All that is left are pure white strings. It does not flow in a straight line. 

Some strings intersected with others;

Some strings dictated the end of others;

Some strings brought misfortune to their friends…

A sentence rang clearly in my mind.

The Tao is profound and invisible; existing everywhere and anywhere.

The world is governed by countless Taos.

Karma…

Causality is one of them. It is the so-called “fate” every immortal cultivator seeks to control within their palms. Everyone has a causal line filled with cause and effects.

It exists everywhere, yet not all are qualified to see it.

Buzz-!

I ignored the ringing sound on my ears. My [Encompassing Eyes] began to change. 

Single lines split apart into two lines, then three, four, five…

Only now did I realize how superficial my understanding of “causality” was. I choose to perceive it as single lines in an attempt to simplify; everything has countless lines. In turn, I lose sight of its true essence.

The white strings filled my entire sight. No matter where I looked, only white strings remained.

I felt my insignificance compared to this simple yet vast world.

Does my own existence matter in the face of such vastness?

Yes. 

I answered with zero hesitation.

The [World] is worthy of respect. It is exactly so that it is a worthy goal to chase after.

Respect those who must be respected, but they mustn't lose respect for themselves. Only with both could an immortal cultivator succeed in grasping their own fate.

Shatter-!

The world of pure light shattered. 

My sight reverted to normal. A cool sensation entered my mind. The sword within me buzzed. 

Several thoughts flashed in my mind.

{Xinhai Sutra: Small Accomplishment > Great Accomplishment}

{Mental Cultivation: Late Stage > Peak Stage}

{Sword Cultivation: Sword Light Refraction (+)}

{Supernatural Seed - Dao of Causality (Criterion Met)}

Understanding Causality leads to a greater understanding of oneself. The prototype of my appraisal skill became fully mature after this realization.

Looking at the bleak skies, I realized one more thing:

I forgot to shield myself from the rain.

Chapter 132: Shishou's First Lesson

A/N: Minor changes in chapters 127 and 128.

Shi Tian said "I like them both" to Bronya. That was supposed to be a "liking as a friend" type of thing. This was implied in the paragraphs that followed that. It also makes sense for his character since he did not consider romantic developments until now (for good reasons).

But, I read it again and realized it wouldn't make sense. Shi Tian is smart enough to avoid misunderstandings so he wouldn't use those vague words. He will be more direct in these cases.

It is now changed to "I care for them both."

As for the romance part, y'all would see a surprise in the next two chapters ;)

That's all. Happy Reading~!

*****

High Grade Spirit Roots are not cabbages.

That was my previous belief. Each one of them is guaranteed to reach the Void Refinement Realm given proper training. 

Void Refinement Realms are isolated within the worlds’ cause and effect. They will survive everywhere they are placed into as they could convert anything to spiritual qi. Their powers affect multiple galaxies, scaling as far as a huge fraction of the universe at once!

Even in higher dimensions, they are absolute units. Their “isolated” karma makes it possible for them to jump out of “time”, revive the deceased, and affect the past and present.

Simply put, their powers are unimaginable. Yet, seven of them appeared on Earth. 

I have a strong feeling. This world has way more talented people than the ones on other cultivation worlds. Only, their potentials are buried due to the fact they couldn’t come in contact with immortal cultivation. 

These people are forced to do a warrior build when their godly talents are suited to the mage build.

“You can’t do it yourself.”

I did not forget to reply to Mei’s alter ego.

{“What do you mean I can’t?!”}

“Practicing is up to Mei. As long as she becomes stronger, you can withstand more honkai energy.”

{“This is frustrating!”}

She crashed out.

“The separation of a natural stigma from its user is still in study. You have to trust Miss Mei’s abilities and perseverance.”

{“...”}

Mei’s alter ego stopped responding. It was then that Mei looked relieved. Her eyes glanced at me.

“...To be honest, my mind is in a mess. But, I know what I should do. Please teach me.”

She bowed to my direction.

“Catch this.”

“Oh?!”

I threw over a specially made eastern blade to her. Its length is a typical katana. 

“Use your swordsmanship on me.”

“..?”

Her eyes contained hints of puzzlement.

“Unsheathe it. Strike me.”

“..!”

“Don’t worry about my well-being.”

Knowing her concerns, I took out a similar katana.

Shiing-!

I unsheathed it and grabbed its sharp end with my bare hands.

Then…

Crack-!

Shatter-!

The entire katana—from its grip to its blade—broke into countless small particles. Mei’s shocked look is a sight to behold.

“This is the first lesson. Supernatural things exist. Don’t try to reason out with your previous common sense. It will cause harm to yourself.”

Shi Tian’s specialized teaching session began.

*****

“Shishou. May I address you as such?”

“...That’s fine.”

Mei could not remove her eyes from Shi Tian. 

Thirty minutes of punching cotton.

That sums up her experience of hitting him. Not once did she succeed. His reaction and raw speed did not exceed that of an ordinary human’s. Yet, he was able to evade all of her strikes.

His every movement seemingly predicted her sword’s path like an open book. Shi Tian emanated a mystical aura that ‘resonated’ with Mei’s katana. Every time she felt like understanding what it was, she fell short.

Hence, the thirty minutes of training felt frustrating even to her who has great patience.

“Huff…”

Mei noticed her school uniform sticking to her body due to sweat. Her eyes widened as she saw her curves being highlighted.

Hum-!

Swoosh-!

Under her surprised eyes, the sweat on her body “disappeared”. The wet and sticky black school uniform became clean again. It was as if her extensive training did not happen in the first place.

Mei looked at Shi Tian once more.

“It’s a spell. Convenient, isn’t it?”

She nodded.

“You will have to adjust your training routine. Your focus will be on spiritual qi. Don’t think of the honkai for now. Your father gave me your daily schedule and…”

He gave her a set of jade slips, porcelain bottles, written books, and a silver ring. The ring, in particular, is his late second grade storage ring.

Mei saw him store the items he showed to the ring, to which he threw over to her side.

She looked back and forth between Shi Tian and the ring. A surge of heat came to her face.

To this strange and mysterious man, Mei does not know what to feel. She instinctively felt safe with him around.

‘Is this… at first sight..?’

{‘You weakling. He is the one from two days ago.’}

‘..!’

Two days ago.

She recalled those vague memories. 

Mei lost consciousness upon inhaling those fog. Her bodyguards are no exception. She felt her entire body being dragged over by someone. She felt the “danger” at that time, but no matter how hard she called for help, she could not speak. Her eyes felt extremely heavy. Her body was not responding to her thoughts.

In this vague “dream”, she encountered an aurora. Its presence made her feel very safe.

Turns out, this aurora came from Shi Tian himself!

Mei fell into a daze after that. She bid him farewell, returned to her classroom hungry, and went back home. Her thoughts are mostly related to her shishou.

Only when she sat on her bed did she receive a moment of repose.

“It is him…” Mei finally registered Shi Tian’s first words a few hours ago. “He came because of father.”

She opened her phone and messaged her father.

Seeing him reply positively to their dinner tonight, Mei looked forward to it.

*****

Ryoma is clueless about his daughter’s current state. His thoughts went to the conversation he had with Welt Yang two days ago.

“I understand your concern. However, you could have placed your daughter in danger.”

Raiden Mei’s status as the carrier of a Gem was revealed to the Sovereign. Ryoma knew the one who reported him is none other than Shi Tian, Anti-Entropy’s mysterious partner.

Welt Yang, Tesla, and Einstein trusted him. The rest did not matter. As such, there is sparse information about Shi Tian prior to his meeting with Kiana.

Ryoma knew the Sovereign’s status as a Herrscher. He also knew about Kiana’s status as another human-aligned Herrscher. Shi Tian is also a Herrscher, just like them.

When he knew that Shi Tian has got something to do with the recently developed honkai corruption cure, Ryoma knew there was something else with Shi Tian.

That was when the said person approached him today. He appeared out of nowhere and knocked on Ryoma’s office.

“I can help her grasp her powers. I told Mister Yang about it and he agreed.”

When it comes to honkai-related matters, a Herrscher is definitely the best. He is also trusted by the Anti-Entropy trio. Ryoma knew the three of them very well—their trust is reserved to trustworthy people.

As such, Ryoma agreed to the tutoring.

Facing this ever-changing world filled with threatening dangers…

“I hope you can protect yourself.”

…all that mattered was his daughter.

Chapter 131: Aura Overload

Turns out, I am a good cook. That, or my comprehension is crazy good.

I looked at the pills spat out by the dispenser, the so-called [Pill Preservation Storage].

[Three Spirits True Wisdom Pill]

Grade: Peak Second Grade

Completion: 96.2%

Traits: Enhances mental cultivation; enhances qi cultivation; slightly enhances understanding of beast-type techniques; slightly enhances understanding of water-based techniques.

The pills looked like clear blue marbles. They are the size of a typical jawbreaker back in my previous world.

I collected them all inside an unused pill bottle.

96.2%...

I need to raise this up to 100%. 

This modern alchemy cauldron made it easy to cook pills. It isn’t as extensive as I thought. I only need ten minutes of rest before I can continue cooking en masse.

There are quite a lot of spiritual materials stocked up during the past year. I specifically looked up recipes that fit the resources I have today. The golden orb did not fail me here.

It’s time to convert them all to drugs today…

*****

Nagazora City, Chiba Academy.

“...eally scary.”

“Ah.”

Chiba Academy’s “Queen”, Raiden Mei, snapped out from her daze. She noticed the group of girls near her seat talking about the most recent incident.

Two days ago, someone caused a biological attack. A pair of homemade explosives and toxic gas were found at the scene. An entire district had to be cordoned off. It is said that the victims numbered around the hundreds, with more than a dozen killed.

“Oh, that’s right! Raiden-san, aren’t your headquarters in that district too?”

Mei reacted quickly and regained her composure.

“Yes. The suspect was apprehended by security personnel from our side…”

The girls’ circle quickly integrated Mei to their side. Her identity as the daughter of ME Corp’s founding CEO granted her an extremely high status. It garnered respect from others along with other mixed intentions.

Ring-!

The class bell rang. It prompted everyone to stay within their seats and stop talking. Their homeroom teacher arrived. The entire meeting took twenty minutes. Then came four subjects, each taking fifty minutes. 

Ring-!

The lunch bell seemingly liberated everyone. The sound of chatter began to grow. 

That was when Mei’s surroundings fell strangely silent.

‘What?’

She looked around and saw everyone acting as usual. It was she who couldn’t hear anything!

‘Meet me at the rooftop.’

A man’s voice came from nowhere. Moments later, the sounds in her surroundings returned.

“...ei-san?”

The girls around her were startled to see Mei suddenly stand up. Her frantic appearance earned their concern.

“No. I am fine. Thank you for asking.”

“The infirmary is not far. Do you…”

“No, thank you. I will head there myself.”

She stepped out of the classroom.

‘Am I hearing things..?’

Just as her composure came back, a distinct sharp voice answered her doubts.

{“You are not hearing things.”}

“Who—?”

{“Just do as he says. Come to the rooftop.”}

Mei stood frozen in the hallway. Her mind is in shambles.

‘I am hearing things…’

The sharp voice sounded very similar to hers. It has a compelling aura that makes everyone follow her.

‘...The rooftop.’

Mei thought there was no harm in looking at the rooftop. Unlike other schools, Chiba Academy does not lock their rooftops. 

Soon, she arrived on the rooftop. Not once did the two voices emerge.

Click-!

The door was opened. Mei was greeted by the sunlight. It is not as dazzling as during summer. It is currently late in September. The high temperatures became lower.

Tap.

Tap.

Near the criss-crossed fence, Mei saw the back of a man. His shoulder length hair is tied to its back. It is reminiscent of a wolf cut. He wore a black long sleeve folded on his elbow. It is paired with black pants and black leather shoes.

The exposed skin on his arms possessed fine muscle lines and flawless skin—to the point it emitted a tangible glow.

The man is nothing short of an immortal god descending to earth.

The moment he looked at her, Mei’s thoughts halted.

Shi Tian’s full profile dealt her a critical hit. The perfect facial proportion was found on him.

No matter what mystical qualities he held, his appearance is at the next level. Shi Tian’s original appearance is already above-average in his previous world. Once enhanced by immortal cultivation, it becomes a whole new level in and of itself.

{“I expected more from you. How disappointing.”}

Mei snapped out of her daze.

“Hello, Miss. I am sent by your father to check on some special things.”

“Father..?”

“It is the voice inside your head. The other you.”

Shi Tian gave her a smile.

“{What do you want to do?}”

Mei’s mouth spoke uncontrollably. The vibe and majesty suggested it came from the other Mei.

She belatedly reacted and covered her mouth.

“I know of a friend. She has a similar case as yours. I helped her solve that problem. She became stronger, too.” He paused before speaking, “There’s no need to hijack Miss’ mouth. Speaking in your mind will suffice.”

{“You can read minds? What a pervert.”}

Seeing Shi Tian and the literal “voice” in her mind speak, Mei felt lost. Her worldview collapsed. There was the “schizophrenic voice” inside her mind. There is also a handsome young man who can talk to it.

“...Miss?”

Seeing he gained her attention, Shi Tian let out a low cough. He knew he had to explain something to her.

“Supernatural things exist.”

Crackle-!

A small flame dragon emerged from his palm. It then turned into a scaled down mountain, a metallic light, a drop of water, and then a small forest. Each time these changes occurred, Mei felt their sensations clearly.

The hotness of flames, sharpness of metallic light, gentleness of water, and so on.

Things did not end there.

Fuzz-!

An ice sculpture of chibi Mei appeared atop his hand. Shi Tian flicked it with his finger, sending it to her grasp.

“There is a force called honkai. It is responsible for more than half of the natural disasters you have seen. The biological terrorist attack three days ago is one of them.”

It took five minutes to briefly explain Honkai's nature. He skipped a lot of things—Anti-Entropy, Herrschers, and Gems.

All she needs to know is the “impact” she can cause.

“In short, your ability to control honkai energy needs to be rectified.” He explained.

Mei fell silent.

{“You want to prevent me from touching these worms?”}

“That’s one thing. The people who tried to kidnap you are not humans, but Herrschers.”

{“I am not blind. Those worms’ desires are used by the Herrscher. So much for being of the same kind.”}

“You can trust me.”

{“I will judge it myself.”}

Before she knew it, Shi Tian and Mei’s other self spoke more than Mei herself.

“Excuse me.” She softly called out.

“Yes?”

“What can I do?”

Shi Tian did not speak. Spiritual qi began to appear on the school’s rooftop. It was then guided towards Mei. 

“..!”

The latter was surprised, but she found herself trusting Shi Tian. She did not make any noise. 

Flutter-!

The spiritual qi influx caused a gust of wind to blow over. Mei swiftly reacted and held her skirt down.

The entire ordeal took ten seconds.

‘High grade… Thunder Spirit Root.’

Today, the count of High Grade Spirit Roots on Earth increased to eight.

Chapter 130: First Alchemy Session

Immortal cultivation is extremely broad. It is a discipline that spreads out to dozens, if not hundreds of sub-divided fields. It is not just fighting and immortality.

These fields are known as the “side arts”.

Alchemy, talisman-making, astrology, dragon vein reading, artifact forging, and formation masters are one of the few examples. Each one of them has their job specialty that grants them a “unique” attribute related to the job.

The same goes to the hearts belonging to Sword, Spear, Fist, Palm, Knife, Whip, and so on. 

In most cases, a cultivator can only choose one such uniqueness. It is a transformation on the level of the soul. A blank one is needed. Once it is imposed with a uniqueness, there can no longer be any other uniqueness.

At best, there is an auxiliary technique that allows the existence of one Heart and one other uniqueness. 

This restriction doesn’t apply to me.

My cultivation speed is already fast due to the honkai energy tempering. If pills and these uniquenesses are added, it would become even more exaggerated.

My chaotic thoughts calmed down.

I returned back to reality. Kiana and I returned to the orphanage after that depressing session. Kiana was mentally exhausted and slept inside the imaginary space. I followed her. 

The plan to introduce the two to immortal cultivation is halted.

“Hm…”

I looked over the bed. Kiana is sleeping. The late third grade bed never stops being addictive. Since I want to focus on comprehending the dao rhymes, I did not sit on it.

Tap-!

My body moved a hundred meters away from the rock. I am floating midair. The spiritual qi consumed by my brief movement is five times more than the outside world.

I discovered this early on. This is the imaginary space where physical laws collide. It is more hectic and chaotic compared to the real world.

Then again, even with my current spiritual qi reserves, I can only do it less than thirty times.

A golden light flashed within my sight. The spiritual flames lay frozen by the thin golden film.

The moment my fingertips touched it, the golden film dissipated.

Hum-!

Crackle-!

The spiritual flame’s aura is unleashed. It threatened to burn and freeze everything. The surrounding spiritual qi became chaotic. They are attracted to the pale blue spiritual flames.

Shockingly, its aura grew. Its late stage aura began to grow rapidly, reaching the threshold of peak stage after an entire minute. Only then did it slow down.

I did not hesitate further. My spiritual consciousness enveloped the spiritual flames thoroughly. 

Its instinctive struggle began.

Flicker-!

Crackle-!

The pale blue flames rushed to my side, only to fall short. The Herrscher Core froze the tips of these flames. No matter how hard it struggled, it could not reach my side.

Once the spiritual imprint is drawn, the spiritual flames calmed down. In a sense, it is successfully ‘contracted’ as a lifelong partner. 

It is now my Innate Spiritual Flame.

The spiritual flames shot towards me. This time, I did not resist.

Click-!

It swiftly seeped inside me—my soul, to be exact. A unique imprint belonging to it resonated with my soul, causing huge changes.

Fwoosh-!

My qi cultivation began rising rapidly. It shared its years of accumulation in one go.

Under my surprised eyes, my middle stage cultivation grew. 

Swathes of spiritual qi began to gather around me. They entered my soul before heading towards my crystal dantian.

Two hours later, I opened my eyes. When I thought of it, pale blue flames emerged from my palm. Controlling it felt like a part of my body. I don’t have to think of anything complicated. It will follow all of my commands.

My [Encompassing Eyes] became active.

[Innate Spiritual Flame - Unnamed]

Grade: Peak Third Grade

Traits: Possesses the Dao of Yin-Yang, Dao of Flames, Dao of Ice; capable of reaching high temperatures; capable of reaching near absolute zero; capable of burning souls; capable of imbuing mental attacks; compatible with the Herrscher Core Authority…

“Hiss…”

What the fuck is this flame? 

A flame that can freeze and burn…

…

It’s my mistake. I got too confident. I believed my Herrscher Power could suppress it thoroughly. I haven’t scouted its full details beforehand, only whether it is “weak” or “strong”.

Anyways, it is a done deed. It pushed my qi realm higher. It is more than halfway through the middle stage. It made up several years of hard work.

Moreover, several supernatural seeds resonated with it: Flames, Ice, Yin-Yang, and Extremity. I felt they could unleash greater power than before. New understanding regarding these Daos also popped out of thin air.

It is incredulous, but it is what it is.

Resources can allow someone to cheat immortal cultivation. If they can’t cheat, that means they don’t have enough resources. That, or they have limited “talents”.

High grade Spirit Roots can withstand consecutive consumption of resources; they can fully absorb their effects. Lower Spirit Roots cause waste and ‘congestion’ unless they have a suitable technique.

I summoned a large black metallic box. Its sheer size is the size of a typical three-meter cabinet, with its width being four cabinets stacked together. 

Everyone who sees it will think of it as a sci-fi metal block. That’s where they are wrong.

This is an alchemy cauldron.

My spiritual consciousness drew a strange zig-zag pattern. Moments later, pale white lines appeared on the cube’s body.

On one side, a large holographic interface appeared. Six different options stood out.

[Spiritual Water Storage Compartment]

[Spiritual Flame Chamber]

[Essence Extraction Chamber]

[Main Alchemic Chamber]

[Pill Preservation Storage]

[Spiritual Consciousness Control Zone]

I was dumbfounded when I first saw it. I learned how to operate this “cauldron” later on.

Alchemy has three steps: Extraction, Combination, and Solidification. Spiritual cooking shares its first two steps, though alchemy is much more complex than cooking.

I withheld trying out alchemy before getting the innate spiritual flame. The flames from the [Nine Dragons Purple Qi] spell are harsh. It works for cooking, but not for alchemy.

Wasting materials when I am already lacking them is simply painful.

“Fu…”

I clicked on the [Spiritual Water Storage Compartment] first. A small chamber popped out from the black cube. I took out an arm-sized jar from my storage ring. From there, I poured down the middle third grade spiritual water I got from the gacha. Once I was done, it went back to the metal cube.

Then came the [Spiritual Flame Chamber]. A portion of the cube lit up in white light, which prompted me to ‘inject’ the spiritual flames inside. Once it was full, the white light disappeared.

A considerable part of my spiritual qi is consumed by this act. I had to recover for ten minutes before proceeding.

I called out its huge interface and clicked on the [Main Alchemic Chamber]. The center of the cube hollowed out. I started throwing in the spiritual plants. All of them varied within the second grade.

Peaches, apples, acacia leaves, some herbs…

Once I was done, the hollow part got covered up.

I clicked the [Spiritual Consciousness Control Zone].

Buzz-!

Click-!

The entire metal cube lit up. Its metallic texture disappeared as its surface turned transparent. Inside it are the spiritual plants and the spiritual water. The plans floated above the pool of water.

My spiritual consciousness willed them to soak into the pool one by one. A strange force emerged from the cauldron. It spread to the water pool. The spiritual plants are swiftly turned into dots of liquid essences of red, blue, white, and green.

This process took five minutes in total.

Then came the combination. I prompted the cauldron once more while carefully enveloping each of the essences within my spiritual consciousness. One by one, they swirled within the water pool.

Ten minutes later, only a fist-sized golden liquid essence remained. I separated them into twenty smaller portions.

The high-tech cauldron has a built-in analysis function that connects with my mind. It acts the same as my [Encompassing Eyes]; thus I did not need it.

I made sure to check their proportions. When they seemed off from the recipe, I adjusted them. I even had to tweak some of their properties and remove a portion of them.

Alchemy and other side arts worked differently from the techniques. There are more practical terms here than vague terminologies. Memorization and familiarity with thousands of different scenarios are the key. With the golden orb’s photographic memory, this became extremely simple.

As such, learning recipes and blueprints are easier than comprehending the vague taoist terminologies of other techniques.

The twenty portions came off perfectly. The final step came: coagulation.

The essences floated above the water pool before the latter disappeared. 

Click-!

The fire chambers are set. Pale blue flames rose up. The essences started to swirl as the flames danced around them. The solidification soon began.

Whenever signs of “overcooking” appeared, I lowered the flames’ temperature. My control over them is enhanced several times by this high-tech cauldron.

Fifteen minutes later, twenty light blue pills presented themselves in my eyes.

*****

A/N: Bonus chap.

Chapter 129: Siegfried's Seal of Approval

Kiana’s mentality since the past year has not been good. She kept a lot of things hidden from her father, choosing to settle her own problems instead. She is aware of the sacrifices he made—the smoke bombs he made by making a lot of noise despite his injured arm.

It was due to this that led to the “distance” between the father and daughter.

“So, how are things between you two?”

“Why are you so fussy?” Kiana complained.

“What? It’s a good thing to know more. You two haven’t kissed yet, have you?”

“..!”

Kiana’s lips quivered. The courage she had during her teasing dissipated like bubbles.

‘Kissing…’

Shi Tian, on the other hand, remained unperturbed outwardly. He mastered the art of feigning nonchalance, though it is a different story inwardly.

‘I get why people call this the love tribulation…’

Not once did he fall in love. He is a blank slate when it comes to this. This is basically the blind leading the blind.

“We haven’t done it yet.”

“You…”

Kiana’s eyes widened as she looked at him. She could not believe his 'teasing' went as far as this!

A thought flashed in her mind.

‘What if I tell my old man about this joke…’

It disappeared the next moment.

‘No, no. If…’

Kiana could not explain it, but she felt she would be disappointed after that. As such, she continued treading this “joke” like thin ice.

Siegfried scratched his neck.

“To be honest, I never expected her to find someone. She inherited her looks from her mother, but she took her bad habits from me. Isn’t she a tomboy?”

Kiana was about to retort when Shi Tian spoke up first.

“That’s fine by me.”

Kiana’s entire body jolted up. Embarrassment is filling up her mind. The panic in her heart increased.

“You do have some awesome tastes!”

It did not take long before Shi Tian received Siegfried’s approval. Naturally, the focus went to Theresa.

“Principal. You must be aware of our cooperation with Anti-Entropy. We got to know about your information from its sovereign, the current First Herrscher.”

She nodded her small head.

“We decided to pay you a visit when I noticed your mental manipulation. It came from the Divine Key.”

The sequence of events took longer to explain.

“Actually, this plan goes further back. During the year I was gone, someone helped me. He is a hero of the Previous Era. He is able to see possible futures… think of it as parallel universes.”

The plan was simple. Kevin Kaslana and Otto Apocalypse are the two major variables for humanity’s victory. Su acknowledged Shi Tian’s ‘future vision’ and made corresponding plans from it.

The decision to help Theresa out was spontaneous. He gave out the soulium orbs and the middle third grade talisman he imbued with [Sword Light Refraction]. It shattered the imitation Fenghuang Down inside her mind, which led to Theresa regaining her true memories of the second eruption.

Shi Tian wanted her to see the truth and decide on what to do next.

“...so you need my help when my grandpa goes out of control?”

“That’s the gist of it.”

She did not speak. Neither did Siegfried and Kiana. The former already told her the truth of the second eruption—of the honkai fission missiles deployed that led to Cecilia’s death. That alone is an unforgivable sin. There was also the matter of Kiana’s “death”.

It took an entire hour for Theresa to calm down. She wanted to badly confront her grandfather about these things.

It wasn’t an understatement to say that Theresa’s world crumbled today. She did not have much energy to deal with other things. She was dazed a while back.

“Okay. You have my word.”

Theresa did not speak further. The atmosphere turned more depressing.

Siegfried and Kiana are fine. They processed these things a long time ago. Nevertheless, seeing Theresa so downcast infected the two of them. Only Shi Tian remained calm.

‘Don’t be sad. Immortal cultivation can resurrect the dead.’ He said to Kiana through his spiritual consciousness.

‘..!’

It took her a while to process it.

‘You didn’t tell me that.’

‘Because it’s still too far away for us.’

‘...’

Her eyes looked over to his.

‘It’s another reason to become stronger. I will do it.’ Kiana declared.

‘I know you will.’

Seeing the two of them staring at each other, Siegfried misunderstood it as a testament of their closeness. Talking with their eyes is a skill learned by close people—couples, in particular. Siegfried picked it up with Cecilia.

Thinking of her…

‘If you are here…’

*****

The playful atmosphere turned depressing.

Kiana hasn’t opened up her ‘real identity’ to me yet. Everyone else at Anti-Entropy never spoke of it, too. 

I don’t know if Siegfried revealed it to Theresa, but if he did, it explains everything.

Otto…

Seeing the sins he committed first hand roused my anger towards him. I cultivated to the [Sword Light Refraction] realm. There’s no need to say about my current mentality and mindset. I would not go as far as to see him as an absolute evil.

His actions are both good and bad; benefitting mankind while harming a select few.

Unfortunately, one of those select few happened to be Kiana and her family.

If I can obliterate his mind in one go…

I would have done it.

“Sigh…”

The mind network he possessed made him borderline immortal at this stage.

My focus went to the three complex Daos in my possession: Extremity, Causality, and Yin-Yang.

Extremity involves taking “something” to its “extremes”. It can be body tempering, it can be the power of my spells, and so on.

Yin-Yang revolves around the fusion of two opposite forces, creating a third and brand new force. It can either enhance or destroy all things.

Finally, causality’s specialty lies in causal lines. Connections of person-to-person, their past, and even their possible futures can be seen.

If I work along the line of causality, I might be able to thoroughly kill Otto using his causal lines.

My current decision is the right one.

I forsook qi cultivation. Instead, I allowed my body and mental cultivation to work automatically. The former can be done automatically via honkai energy; the latter can be done by simply looking around at others’ causal lines. 

My [Encompassing Eyes] turned permanent. This is one of its perks. Solving puzzles can increase this cultivation speed further.

While these two are cultivating automatically, I am studying the applications of my supernatural seeds. Reaching the [Great Accomplishment] in any of my techniques grants a sharp increase to my combat power.

The twelve supernatural seeds inside me can work together, allowing me to comprehend all of them at an insanely fast rate.

Just then, I recalled my gacha quota. My eyes shifted from the bedroom to the golden orb space. I did the usual draws. 

The middle stage qi cultivation ensured a hard pity of a middle third grade item at the very least.

The reward presented itself to my eyes.

It is not a spiritual plant.

It is not a spiritual ore.

It is not a storage ring, either.

It is… a flame. A pale blue flame.

Spiritual flames…

Oh, shit.

My fists tightened. 

For well over a year, my [Xiutian Art]’s specialty got wasted. The job-specializations like Hexagram Spirit, Innate Spiritual Flames, and Treasure Organs needed spiritual materials. 

While I accumulated a lot of plants, ores, and other miscellaneous stuff, I did not receive anything related to them. 

Third grade, late stage. Pale blue flames, possessing a hint of icy coldness and high temperatures at once.

That’s it.

I can finally become a professional drug cook—

An alchemist.

*****

A/N: Bro got lucky and hit a 92. I don’t know what to say…

Chapter 128: The Interrogation

As an assassin, Bronya is honed with combat skills. Her combat intuition and application are full marks. Her intellectual quotient is high, too. She can learn a lot of things easily. Her cultivation journey was smooth even without Shi Tian’s guidance.

The only thing she lacked is emotional quotient. 

Bronya is inexperienced as opposed to the girls of her age. Hence, when Seele started obsessing over Shi Tian, she studied its probable causes.

That was when she learned:

Love is irrational.

No matter how much logic is put into it, it won’t make sense sometimes. It is easy to get lost. 

For Seele whose entire world revolved around the orphanage only, Shi Tian became something far beyond it. She focused on cultivating to hear his praises. Not a day would pass without Seele mentioning his name at least thrice.

Bronya was gradually infected by that fever. She could not understand its underlying mechanisms fully, but she knows its impact. 

It is akin to Bronya not knowing a gun’s component, yet she knows it exists to kill.

Unfortunately, she did not learn the art of subtlety. Her most logical way to resolve a problem is to approach it face-to-face.

That was what she saw during the past week.

Kiana’s attachment to him is obvious; it cannot be explained further. Seele’s obsession will inevitably clash with Kiana. The worst that could happen is them falling out.

Bronya sought to prevent this from happening. 

As such, she went straight to the source of the problem. She hoped Shi Tian could come up with something…

“I… care for them both.”

…except he did not.

“I don’t know what to do for now. I never expected you to notice it, too.”

“...”

Bronya could not speak.

Shi Tian does not have a solution.

Throughout this time, his figure is very reliable. There is no problem he could not solve. His background and knowledge aside, just the “Shi Tian” Bronya knew is nothing short of an impeccable person.

Yet, he fell short to this one predicament.

“...The Bronya understands.”

He was about to nod when her words came.

“The Bronya will talk with the two of them.”

“No.”

His refusal came swiftly.

“Bronya… Think of it. Without a viable solution, how will they face each other? It will make things worse.” He stated. “I know things will deteriorate as time passes… but I will come up with something.”

The two of them ended up staring at each other wordlessly.

‘He is… like me.’

Her impression towards him changed.

At first, it was pure admiration for someone similar to Bronya’s ideal self. She wanted to learn what Shi Tian did so she could become a better person. She is aware of her shortcomings. Shi Tian is her exact opposite.

He started up as an ordinary person, worked his way up while fighting, and turned into the person he is now.

She started up as an experienced fighter, worked her way up to be an “ordinary” person, and turned into what she is now.

Their friendship stemmed from it.

Seeing Shi Tian’s flaws did not diminish Bronya’s respect; it became stronger. 

“The Bronya will help you find an answer. I will wait for your orders.”

“...Thanks.”

Shi Tian struggled internally before the urge won. His right hand patted her head. Due to their height difference, it was absolutely irresistible.

‘It feels… good.’

The sensation of being treated as a cat lasted for three seconds. Shi Tian retracted his arm as he saw the door being opened. The Tuna dashed out as she looked at him.

“Aw, crap! We need to head back. My old man and aunt are done talking.”

“You don’t want to eat?” He asked.

“No. That’s for later! My old man won’t stop teasing me!”

Kiana’s shortness of breath and signs of embarrassment are telltale signs.

“Let me do it.”

*****

Sometimes, things are unbelievable.

Yesterday, we are doing our peaceful daily routines.

Today, we fought off a secret organization across the globe.

It took less than half an hour to return to the orphanage. We spent two hours resting and preparing for Raven to wake up. I also checked up on the children and did an impromptu enlightenment session.

I looked at a clock. 

10:34 AM.

“Fifty floors… I didn’t know my old man worked here.”

Kiana did not change her earlier outfit. It is still her beloved orange jacket paired with shorts. I don’t know if she picked it up from me, but she started wearing longer shorts. 

Wait a minute.

“Kiana.”

“Um?”

“Those shorts look similar to the ones you gave me.”

Her head paused bobbing. She mechanically turned to look at me.

“Of course it’s similar. I bought one design thirty times! Isn’t it awesome?”

“...”

“We are wearing matching outfits.”

As if on cue, Kiana’s smile turned smug. I deliberated whether to suppress my emotions or not… and chose not to. My eyes moved away from her.

This Tuna…

She became like this after I returned. 

Was this my fault?

Click.

I heard the doorknob opening. As expected, Siegfried and Theresa came. Kiana gave me another smug look, as if saying I escaped this time.

When the two of them sat down, Kiana closed the distance between us. Her shoulder touched mine. 

“You can explain it now, right? Why haven’t you introduced him yet?”

Kiana suddenly froze.

“I am responsible for it.” I said. “You might have heard of the Second Herrscher’s descent. We fought it off but… I got stuck inside the Imaginary Space for an entire year.”

““...””

The two Kaslanas went silent. Siegfried, in particular, looked guilty.

“Kiana looked for me during this year. I only came out a week ago.”

I explained more details to the two. It’s basically the story of how Kiana and I met, our stay with Cocolia’s orphanage, and our brief stay in Shenzhou. I also included the things Kiana told me.

It took twenty minutes to tell both Siegfriend and Theresa everything. The surroundings felt more solemn.

Kiana…

I could see she hid a lot of things from her father. I don’t know if it is to prevent him from worrying or whatnot. This only made the burden inside her grow.

“So, how are things between you two?”

Siegfried’s question broke the silence.

Chapter 127: Vague Answer, Scumbag Route?

The incident this morning is massive for Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. World Serpent’s attacks in five different places made them realize its strength. The anti-honkai reagent they used in Schicksal’s Atlantic Branch and the Far East made them wary of them.

The mobilization of a tremendous workforce came next.

This, however, did not concern the orphanage much. The children woke up, had breakfast, learned some techniques, and played around. Whenever they are confused about something, they will gather it in their notebooks. Shi Tian’s weekly teaching session comes in handy.

This daily routine was disturbed by the entry of a captured “Valkyrie”.

“Ugh…”

Raven opened her eyes. She found herself in an office.

“She planned to force entry? So much for that.”

She looked over for the voice’s source and saw a girl whose height does not exceed the desk by much. She looked very healthy.

Sin Mal continued to propose some harsh plans.

“Can’t we just…”

She made a throat-cutting gesture. Seele’s eyes widened and hurriedly stopped her.

“No! We… we don’t know her…”

“Things are simple. You are strong enough to prevent her from trespassing. If you didn’t have that strength…”

Sin Mal left the latter half of the sentence. Seele knew what she meant and fell silent.

Bronya did not say anything. A part of her agrees with Sin Mal. Another part of her wants to side with Seele.

She looked at Shi Tian and then to Kiana. The latter remained silent too.

“Okay, okay. Don’t talk about killing so casually. It’s something that shouldn’t come from a kid.”

“..?!”

Sin Mal’s eyes widened in shame. She did not have the strength to retort his words. Her ears turned red as she crossed her arms with a “humph!”

Raven did not have the time to process everything. Except for Sin Mal, the rest of the kids inside the room gave her an oppressive feeling. Her hands are free, and so are her feet.

Yet, she felt that one wrong move will result in a bad end.

“I will ask questions. You will answer. If you are not lying, we will let you off with imprisonment.”

Raven looked at Shi Tian. She determined him to be the “leader” out of them all. For some reason, she felt a strange sense of trust towards him. Similarly, she felt wary to Sin Mal whom she disregarded.

“Go on.”

Seeing her agree, he began his round of questioning.

“Name.”

“Natasha Ciora.”

“Affiliation.”

“World Serpent.”

…

Five minutes soon passed.

“...ordered to capture Cocolia’s experimental subjects. It goes against my code. I planned to retreat after a huge fight. I did not expect one girl to overpower me.”

Snap-!

Raven’s entire body jolted. Her eyes widened. Her thoughts went to the questioning.

‘Truth serum?!’

To her, it felt natural to respond honestly to Shi Tian’s questions. 

Natasha did not notice how she spilled World Serpent’s top secrets!

As an agent—a Cadre-level atop that—she is trained in all sorts of truth serums. Even hypnotization won’t work. They even had a fake Seventh Divine Key to build more resistance to mind-based confessions.

Yet…

‘How did he do it?’

“Don’t worry. It’s not only you that failed. Most of them did.”

Shi Tian “comforted” her by speaking of World Serpent’s failures. Only Chiyou’s corpse was stolen. Even that was something laid out by Shi Tian.

“So, feel free to leave with ease. You said it yourself. You wanted this mission to fail.”

“...”

Nobody else spoke aside from him. The silence formed a deterrence of sorts.

Finally, Natasha stood up and spoke.

“I will keep this in mind… and repay you someday.”

She was about to walk out when Shi Tian threw something. It was her Third Divine Key. Natasha gave him another look before she left. 

“Phew!” Kiana was the first one to take a deep breath. “This is just like in the movies! But why didn’t you let me play a role?”

“What role would you have? A lazy paramecium who sleeps all day?”

“I am not a paramecium!”

Shi Tian merely shook his head. He is the one who came up with this setup.

Sin Mal and Seele will act according to their personalities; a good and bad cop. Sin Mal then deploys her dream techniques to subtly influence Natasha. It serves as a practical training of sorts.

Finally, Shi Tian finishes it using his late stage mental cultivation. He amplified Sin Mal’s abilities and led Natasha to confessing everything.

Just then, Seele asked something to Sin Mal.

“Sin.”

“Hm?”

“Will you really do… that?”

The girl with heterochromatic eyes paused for a while.

“Of course not! Killing is letting them too easily. I would have beaten her up instead.”

Seele sighed out of relief. Sin Mal’s “act” earlier scared her.

Only Sin Mal knew she truly meant it. She did not have the strength to admit it to others, more so when things are going extremely well.

‘I don’t want to…’

She hid her thoughts to herself. 

“Tian. The Bronya wants to talk with you for a while.”

“Hm?”

“Alone.”

The three other girls looked at her in bewilderment. Then, they dismissed Bronya's unusual antics. 

As such, she was able to pull out Shi Tian outside the room.

“The Bronya asks you to arrange a sound-insulation barrier.”

*****

Out of everyone, Bronya is the one who did not grow up much. Her biggest change is her few centimeters of height increase. Kiana, and I grew up to our eighteen-year-old selves; Seele grew up to her fifteen-year-old self.

Our height difference was not that much. Hence, when she asked that strange request, I looked down to her eyes.

My [Encompassing Eyes] saw hints of her anxiety and worry.

In the end, I heeded her request and set one up with my spiritual consciousness.

“Do you like Kiana? Does Seele have a chance?”

I stopped breathing.

…

My mind worked at fast speeds. I deduced why Bronya will ask these questions. It did not take long to find reasonable conclusions.

Bronya is Seele’s friend. She is also Kiana’s friend. I am not blind to the way these two act around me. Factoring Bronya’s seriousness, I can see they are concerned about them.

I don’t know what to do. I can feel their warmth. This was something I was unable to feel in my previous life. 

I really don’t know what to do.

…

I looked at the silent duck.

Facing the sincere Bronya, I answered her questions honestly.

“I… care for them both.”

“...”

Chapter 126: The Joke Backfires

Raiden Mei’s Natural Stigma persona retreated. She could not sustain her existence without honkai energy. Being kidnapped by someone spelled for an emergency that forced her to come out.

I have to thank my overpowered spiritual consciousness.

Raiden Mei…

She wore a full black school uniform. Her skirt goes above her thighs. I knew just enough not to look at her now.

Though, I have to admit.

She’s beautiful.

Despite not being a cultivator, Mei held a certain charm around her. Her beauty and elegance are further amplified, leaving a graceful young miss of a large enterprise.

Once she learns immortal cultivation, it will definitely become stronger.

Then again, the Tuna’s lively nature is unique, too.

As for physical appearance, Kiana outmatches her. 

There’s no way, immortal cultivation is a hack when it comes to enhancing appearances. Kiana is also beautiful before immortal cultivation—she looks far above-average even within cultivator standards.

If Mei practices, the same thing would happen.

My idle thoughts went along as I investigated the small Herrscher Core. 

It is undoubtedly the Herrscher of Domination. 

I am surprised, but not that much.

Our plan accounted for all changes. Su pointed out Kevin; I pointed out Otto and the Will of Honkai’s random nature. I am mentally prepared for surprises.

But, targeting Raiden Mei…

It is confusing.

I know about its ability to steal control over Herrscher Cores. It can be done on those who “reject” them.

Mei does not have a Herrscher Core, only a Gem…

Wait a minute.

Theater of Domination. It can draw in honkai energy and force Mei’s awakening!

…

I have to take account of this.

For now, I have to return this elegant girl back to her father.

My spiritual consciousness carried her body. My five senses are linked to it. I can feel the touch and scent…

Screw this.

I placed her down.

It is more embarrassing to use spiritual consciousness. I decided to carry her in my arms instead. One of my arms went underneath her stockings, the other on her back.

Lifting her up is no big deal. 

“Hm.”

She let out a soft groan.

A judgement swiftly came to my mind. Mei’s still unconscious. I placed the Herrscher of Domination’s body inside one of the storage rings. Both time and space are frozen within it. Only inanimate things can be placed inside—a corpse qualifies as one.

Disregarding the fragrant lavender-like scent drifting on my nose, I took two steps and returned to where Kiana and Teriri were.

“Did…”

Kiana’s words were cut off. She gave the girl in my arms a look. Shen then shifted her gaze to my eyes.

“Your father’s looking for her. I resolved it.”

“No wonder you looked for her…”

I caught hints of grievance in her words. 

“You want to be carried like this too?”

“..!”

Like a cat with its tail stepped on, her body jolted. A tinge of red appeared on her face.

That look… 

No words came out of my mouth. My throat felt dry. I don’t know what to say next. 

I…

“So you are the boyfriend she talked about?”

I noticed Siegfried’s return. He scrutinized me from top to bottom.

“Stinky old man!”

Kiana’s embarrassment grew stronger, as evident on the redness on her face.

“What? I won’t mind about you having a boyfriend, but a word or two won’t hurt, won't it?”

The awkwardness inside me reached its peak. I am carrying Raiden Mei while being teased with Kiana.

That’s it.

I am fighting fire with fire.

“Father-in-law. Where will your friend come?”

“..!”

Kiana’s head turned towards me. Her lips are trembling. She could not form any words.

“You are confident, kid. That’s good.” He paused as he looked at his watch. “He should be coming anytime now. Hold on to his daughter for a while, would you?”

I did not say anything else but nodded.

Once Raiden Ryoma arrived with a trauma team, I handed over Raiden Mei to them. They are also responsible for rescuing the people affected with honkai corruption.

Kiana pointed them out. She already arranged them based on their severity. The only pity is her lack of healing capabilities. The best she can do is to isolate honkai energy from them.

“Kid.” Siegfried called me out. “We’ll talk later. Us adults will be going first.”

“Yes…”

I watched as he pulled over Theresa, the last person “adult” should be used on. Only the two of us are left.

“Phew…”

Kiana exhaled in relief.

“I never told you much to my old man…”

I did not comment on it.

“I knew he would come up with this!” She exerted force when she squeezed my shoulder. “And you played along with him!”

“It’s rare to see you embarrassed.”

“Hum!”

She refused to say anything else. Her hand crawled from my shoulder to my arm. Kiana initiated an arm hug. 

With a cheeky smile, she looked at me.

“Don’t you like this, my boyfriend?”

I dug a hole for myself.

*****

World Serpent’s five-pronged attack ended twenty-five minutes later. It brought immense changes to the two organizations. The strength hidden by the World Serpent is enough to make them wary.

However, it does not have much effect on Cocolia’s orphanage.

“I did it…”

Seele blankly looked at the unconscious woman on her right. She struck the moment the woman entered the orphanage’s premises.

Seele’s small stature hid the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. They are on par, if not stronger, than Schicksal’s combat-oriented S Rank Valkyries (Durandal and Shushang).

With continuous honkai energy tempering, Seele’s body is almost at the peak stage. She did not have much trouble dealing with Raven who was caught off guard with qi-based spells.

Since then, Seele tied her up with her water strings to ensure she won’t break free.

“Sister Bronya?”

She looked from afar. Her eyes lit up when she saw the three people return. Though, her enthusiasm did not last for long.

{“This is tough.”}

Shi Tian and Kiana left normally. When they came back, Kiana tightly hugged Shi Tian’s arm.

Everything went from zero to one hundred.

Never had they expected Kiana to be so bold!

When the three of them arrived, Bronya gave Seele a look. The latter did not notice it as she stared at Shi Tian in a daze.

“...Seele?”

“Ah? Yes!”

Shi Tian took this chance to escape Kiana’s grasp. He walked over to the unconscious Raven.

“She really came. You did a good job.”

“Um…”

His compliments sent her to another daze. This alone is enough to make her feel elated.

{“You are hopeless…”}

Seele’s other self saw her vulnerabilities. Kiana already made a bolder move. Their chances of winning can only go lower.

{‘If there is no other choice…’}

Chapter 125: Best Friend (For Now)

Theresa has a lot of questions in her mind. She did not have the time to organize her thoughts. Right after saving dozens and carrying them outside the toxic fog’s range, the rather huge disturbance on the streets took her attention. The loud roar of a dragon, in particular, shattered hundreds of windows.

When she arrived, she happened upon Siegfried and Kiana.

The latter looked at her father. He passed on the gaze back to Theresa.

“It’s a long story. Let’s save it for later.”

Theresa knew it wouldn’t be appropriate to press on it. The most important thing to do now is to save the civilians.

Ring-!

Siegfried’s ordinary watch lit up. Its glass texture changed to pure white.

“What happened downstairs? We cordoned off the entire district…”

Raiden Ryoma was present inside the ME Corp building when the attack happened. He immediately dispatched the available Titan units and cordoned off the entire city district.

Such a large-scale movement was hard to implement. Fortunately, he established a lot of connections within the Far East. 

A simple incident report stating “terrorist attacks occurring nearby ME Corp” is enough  to convince the government officials. ME Corp brought huge benefits to the Far East’s economic growth. It is a bonafide top ten enterprise across the entire world.

“It’s a terror attack involving a honkai beast. I haven’t seen it before…”

Siegfried was busy talking with Ryoma. This left Kiana and Theresa alone.

“Hello, aunt.”

Kiana greeted her first.

“How are you these years? I tried to find you and Siegfried but…” She cut off her depressing words. “You grew up well…”

Kiana’s 165cm height contrasted her real age. Qi Refining and Purple Mansion Realm breakthroughs induced growth. She looks like her eighteen-year-old self despite being only fifteen. The lively yet refined air looked a lot like Cecilia.

“It’s good you haven’t inherited your dad’s recklessness.”

“...”

Kiana could not speak. She knew very well how reckless she was. Her cultivator demeanor hides her childish side.

Theresa continued speaking like a true aunt. She pointed out Kiana’s similarities to Cecilia, to which Kiana took great interest. The two of them got along easily. This continued until the purple gas dissipated completely. 

Nagazora City no longer posed any honkai-related threats…

…or not.

Siegfried hung up the call. His serious expression told everything to the two.

“I need to go. My friend’s daughter went missing.”

“Ah?”

They watched as his figure disappeared from the streets.

Just as Kiana was about to contact him mentally, someone else arrived. 

Shi Tian’s figure solidified from his previous misty state. [Cloud Seeking Steps] is dependent on spiritual qi. With both distance and time as scales, he can conveniently traverse kilometers in a single step.

His cultivator outfit dissolved. He is back to wearing his casual outfit: an oversized shirt and a pair of jogging pants. He looked more like a handsome guy who went out for a walk.

“You’re already back?! It’s only been fifteen minutes.”

“The enemy’s strength is not as strong as expected.” He paused and looked at her. “Even you can beat him.”

“Why does it sound wrong…”

Kiana realized what he implied.

“I’m not that weak!”

“The Tuna really grew up. To think you will understand it now…”

Kiana with college-level knowledge is a far cry from her former self. The main reason why she fell behind studies in St. Freya is due to her lacking lower-level education. She could not study well as she went from one place to another.

With a Purple Mansion Realm’s mental power, it is a trifle to study.

Shi Tian shifted his gaze to the short loli. He saw the confusion and curiosity in her eyes.

He did not shy away from her gaze and took out a blank paper.

Theresa’s small eyes widened.

“So it’s you?!”

“We have a lot of things to talk about, Principal.”

Her gaze shifted from him to Kiana. She noticed the guilt on her face.

“You know him, Kiana?”

Kiana nodded. Her double braids followed her movements.

“He is my… best friend.”

Theresa saw her acting closely with Shi Tian. Just the way she held his pinky finger is blatant to her emotional quotient.

‘A lot of things happened…’

Her eagerness to catch up grew stronger.

“I overheard your father’s problem. He’s looking for his friend’s daughter, right?”

“Did you see something?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “She’s being held by…”

Shi Tian’s look changed.

“Not good. I’ll be right back!”

He did not have the time to explain everything to her. 

Tap.

Tap.

Two short distances were crossed with the [Cloud Seeking Steps]. His figure flickered as he arrived at a dark alley. There are two people, a woman and a girl. Traces of the girl being dragged to this place could be seen on the ground.

Tap.

His figure reappeared behind the woman. A flash of white light emerged from Shi Tian’s sight.

Hum-!

[Blade Mantra]’s mental attack succeeded. It momentarily immobilized the woman.

‘A Herrscher Core!’

His spiritual consciousness caught a small orange fragment inside the woman’s chest. 

Before Shi Tian could make another move, the woman fell to the ground. 

Thud-!

‘She died.’

The woman committed suicide. He noticed the Herrscher Core flicker as she did so.

He did not have the time to mull over it. 

“You…”

The peaceful surroundings changed. The girl’s eyes opened. Her red pupils stared at his golden eyes. Her voice carried a hint of majesty. Some of the objects on the ground rose up.

The girl, Raiden Mei, looked at Shi Tian warily.

“...belong to the same kind.”

“Not really.” He shook his head. “You can’t sustain yourself for long. Even if you can…”

Sword Light Refraction.

Purple Mansion cultivation.

Blade Mantra’s [True Form].

Three different sources of strength emerged from him. The majestic aura was easily overwhelmed. What remained is the vast sharpness Shi Tian held. It was both intimidating and fascinating; cold and amicable.

Since she looked at his eyes, she saw these opposing yet harmonious concepts existing within him.

Raiden Mei’s body trembled. The difference between their levels is too high. Shi Tian made her feel he could kill her in one move!

She put away her hostility. 

Although she is a Natural Stigma nourished by Raiden Mei’s dark thoughts, she can still recognize reality.

“You are lucky she did nothing.”

“Luck.” She coldly dismissed his words. “Her head would have been blown away.”

“Never underestimate your enemies.”

Shi Tian did not explain further. His spiritual consciousness penetrated the dead woman’s body.

‘Herrscher of Domination…’

Had the Herrscher of Domination stashed Raiden Mei inside the Domination Theater, even Kiana would be troubled to track her down. Who knows what she would do once she realizes it wasn’t a Herrscher Core, but the combination of a Natural Stigma and a Gem.

‘We haven’t considered this…’

Chapter 124: Reason's Successor

Herrschers…

From the game’s standpoint, their combat powers are limited. Most of them are shown to destroy cities. However, their true power lies within the higher-dimensions. Their destructive powers do not affect their abilities to affect higher-dimensions.

Kiana, using Herrscher of the Void’s powers, was able to blast Otto away from reality, allowing him to reach the tree and create a brand new timeline.

The Imaginary Tree is something “unreachable” by all. Only Aeons and the Cocoon of Finality was shown to reach it.

These things point out one fact: Herrschers are limited by their honkai energy output.

Herrscher Cores supply unlimited honkai energy. The Herrscher Core itself handles 2,000 HW by itself. Once exceeded, it all depends on the user’s honkai adaptability.

If they forcefully exceed their limits, it results in honkai corruption. Kiana suffered from that.

This is where immortal cultivation comes to play.

It is capable of raising one’s honkai adaptability by spiritual qi tempering. With a strong body capable of handling the honkai, Herrschers will surpass their in-game counterparts dozens of times.

Sirin’s output with six cores is between 9,000 to 12,000 HW. My late Purple Mansion Realm body tempered by the honkai could unleash 20,000 HW at least. I can go even higher, but I felt it might thoroughly affect my surroundings. It is best to test it on isolated places.

The brief battle with the ELF Kevin woke me up.

Purple Mansion Realm takes decades originally. Even with spiritual plants, it will still take a decade. 

Honkai energy’s tempering shortens that to a few years. 

That is the limit.

It is extremely difficult to reach the Golden Core Realm in three years… unless there is an opportunity of sorts.

For now, focusing on my Herrscher Power is the best choice. I can vaguely feel some window paper when I use it at maximum output. Absolute zero belongs to the Golden Core Realm. Surpassing it is the quantum-zero point energy, which is the equivalent of freezing movements at a high-dimensional level.

That is the supernatural power of the Nascent Soul Realm.

I suspect it is the full awakening of my Herrscher Core.

“Hum…”

I looked around and saw Antarctica’s atmosphere surrounded by spiritual qi. Its normal honkai emissions had returned.

I thought for a while and chose to disperse the [Two Phase Art]. Spiritual qi began to lose their bearing. It is unable to sustain its existence, thus it turns into other types of energies present on Earth—gravitational, solar, wind, and so on.

There is still a lot to explore with immortal cultivation. It is best to hand it over to professional researchers, though that comes for later.

Once the threat of honkai is resolved and all that’s left is the vast starry sky…

I will teach immortal cultivation en masse.

*****

Anti-Entropy, Salt Lake Base.

The surface of the military base housed numerous cutting-edge honkai technology. To the outside, it appeared as a normal military base.

Its close proximity, no more than fifty kilometers away from Salt Lake City, made it look like a typical military base.

The true wealth within the base lies in its underground infrastructures. Honkai energy experiments are designated to be contained two thousand meters beneath the surface level.

It is a high-security facility only allowed to select personnel. Anti-Entropy’s Executors are allowed inside… which was the reason why everything got leaked to World Serpent.

Shi Tian came and rectified this vulnerability. It was recording the experimental results with typewriters at first, then it evolved into computers and apparatuses made of spiritual materials. 

It ended up having extraordinary capabilities such as blocking all forms of hacking with mental power. Add to that its raw capabilities comparable to the most advanced honkai-made computers, it is a metal beast.

In short, World Serpent got nothing from their attempted cyber attacks.

Tap.

Tap.

A metallic footstep echoed within the corridor. An inconspicuous researcher made way amongst everyone else. Not a lot of people are present now. Everyone is preoccupied with their designated research.

It did not take long for the researcher to arrive in front of an iron door. A virtual keypad locked it off.

He looked and found no labels nearby. 

The moment his palm touched the keypad, a strange thing occurred.

Despite not entering any code, the door was forced open.

Swooosh-!

The researcher’s appearance changed in an instant. It turned into Gray Serpent’s looks.

He strode calmly inside the room… only to be met with another door. It happened three consecutive times. 

Even so, Gray Serpent acted normally. 

World Serpent did not just plan upon three places, but five.

Siberia for Cocolia’s coop.

Far East for Siegfried Kaslana’s Judgement of Shamash.

Antarctica for the Second Divine Key.

Schicksal’s Atlantic Branch for Chiyou’s corpse.

Finally…

Anti-Entropy’s Salt Lake Base.

All of them occurred successively and simultaneously. It was a five-stacked Xanatos Gambit. Whether World Serpent succeeds or not, it would have completed its primary objective of Kevin scouting Shi Tian’s power. The rest are dispensable.

For the networks Gray Serpent could not crack, he ought to visit the place personally. Their intel is still stuck on Welt Yang being injured from the Second Eruption. The commotion of him asserting authority as a Sovereign a week ago was dismissed as a bluff.

The rest of Anti-Entropy’s squad are negligible…

Or so he thought.

Bam.

A soft thud resounded. The end of a cane struck the ground. Moments later, Gray Serpent was forced to kneel down.

Hum-!

A bright white light assaulted his consciousness. It made him more garbled, unable to organize his thoughts.

Click-!

A pair of handcuffs and a huge iron ring restrained him.

Looking above, he met Welt Yang’s gaze. His eyes held a glint of light strong enough to intimidate most people.

‘First Herrscher’s complete recovery. Mission complete.’

Buzz-!

Bam-!

Despite the restrictions and mental attack, it only took one simple thought from Gray Serpent to self-destruct. His head exploded, revealing the mechanical parts of a cyborg. Electrical arcs danced around his half-ruined metallic head.

“I could not catch him.”

Tesla walked to Gray Serpent’s body. Her glasses enabled her to use spiritual consciousness. She scrutinized Gray Serpent’s composition and confirmed it is a mechanical body.

“A cyborg… no, it is more apt to call it an artificial intelligence. We faced several network attacks during the past three months. If it wasn’t for his heads-up…”

“Everything he said came true. The plans they made came true.”

Welt Yang sighed.

Shi Tian revealed his affiliation with the Previous Era warrior, the so-called Flamechasers. The two of them drew up an extensive plan and revealed a lot of unknown things to Anti-Entropy.

For example, the existence of the World Serpent. They did not know about it until Shi Tian came. There is also the strength of the Kaslana Family’s ancestor, Kevin Kaslana.

Anti-Entropy came across Project STIGMA due to the moon rocks and came up with their own plan to create an artificial Herrscher of Finality. But, it remains largely incomplete.

Knowing Kevin’s drive to push humanity to the Project STIGMA gave them a sense of crisis. Nobody could stop him given the Previous Era’s arrangements. Not even unawakened Herrschers can fight against Kevin with the Finality Fragment.

As such, their focus switched back to the artificial Herrscher of Finality. Both Shi Tian and Su supported this research direction, to boot.

The plan to divert Otto’s attention to the Second Divine Key was supported by the trio. They became alert with World Serpent’s intrusion, which paid off now.

While Tesla and Einstein busied themselves, Welt Yang’s thoughts drifted away.

‘I cannot enter that state again. The First Herrscher Core…’

He could only look blankly upwards. Try as he might, the First Herrscher Core could not “awaken”. It remains in a state of semi-sealed power. It is not linked to the mental power he has; nor to his honkai energy output.

Welt Yang took Welt Joyce as a spiritual legacy. A part of him could not let go of the past. He used his traces to form an indomitable determination to fight for humanity. His current mentality would not allow him to completely “let go” of Welt Joyce’s traces nor the 300,000 souls.

‘Is it time to find a successor..?’

Chapter 123: Kiana's Twin

Schicksal treats its valkyries well. The ones below B Rank work city-related honkai cases and logistics. B Rank valkyries and above have their own battlesuits and honkai weapons.

The Immortal Blades squad is Schicksal’s cream of the crop. Most of them are equipped with third-generation battlesuits. They are capable of short-burst flights and parachuting from a thousand meter altitude.

The prototype of fourth-generation battlesuits worn by Durandal and Rita are fully capable of flight.

Durandal left the five unknown aircrafts to her squad, choosing to heed Otto’s mission to take in the trade.

The scene when she arrived at the meeting point stunned her.

There are two forces, one invoking flames and the other frost. Their individual output surpasses a typical Herrscher’s. The damage sustained by the Arctic continent was noticeable, though it could not touch a single bit of the huge locomotive train spanning nearly a kilometer long.

Coincidentally, she arrived when the fight reached its peak.

Beep-!

‘The temperature dropped? No, not just that…’ 

She saw the extreme concentration of honkai energy within this place. Everywhere she looked, there was only an icy fog. The prototype fourth-generation battlesuit is working its best to regulate temperature, but even that wasn’t enough to stop the piercing cold.

In the center of the battlefield, the temperature is absolute zero!

‘Twenty thousand…’

Durandal wasn’t given much time to think.

A carefully sculpted dragon (jiao) condensed out of thin air. Its length reached five hundred meters. Countless ice spears appeared midair. They are dense enough to fill in the surrounding airspace.

With the absolute zero temperature, Kevin’s output could no longer suppress Shi Tian’s Herrscher Authority. 

It turned into a one-sided beating by the latter!

Sou-!

Sou-!

Crash-!

…

It took less than half a minute for their clash to end. 

The ice dragon didn’t pose much trouble. It was the absolute zero gnawing upon the ELF’s defenses that broke it down.

With its power worn down, it was encased in a palm-sized ice cube.

Shi Tian caught it using [Cloud Seeking Steps]. Then, he dealt with the high honkai energy emission using [Two Phase Art]. The temperature began to rise as a result.

A minute later, the harmful honkai energy turned into invisible spiritual qi. A middle fourth-grade spirit vein was created instantly. More than half of Antarctica was engulfed by a thin blue mist. Light blue raindrops fell to the ground as dozens of different colors flashed from within the mist.

Durandal oversaw all the changes. She did not know how to react. Although, she can feel that each of her breathing was accompanied by a slight surge of strength.

It did not take long to get immersed in it.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The footsteps woke her up.

Tap-!

Another footstep resounded, clearing forth the spiritual qi mist around them. It created an empty space where there is no mist.

The figure revealed himself. It is none other than Shi Tian.

The changes of the Five Elements Yin Spirit Root’s upgrade extended to his appearance. His hair grew longer again. His already ethereal appearance became even more perfect. The atmosphere he emitted gave a comforting sense of peace.

Shi Tian’s presence itself set himself apart from the rest of the world.

“Sorry for the trouble. It’s settled now.”

“No problem…”

Durandal blinked several times. He looked quite familiar in her eyes. She is currently fifteen years old. Only a year had passed since their coincidental meeting in Glastonbury. Shi Tian grew up to eighteen years old due to his cultivation progress.

She could not associate him with the young boy from before.

“I will bring you inside the Divine Key. Don’t be surprised.”

“I understand…”

Durandal was bewildered until she experienced Shi Tian’s [Cloud Seeking Steps]. He held out his hand to her.

“..?”

“I need physical contact to use it.”

Durandal complied. She held his hand out. The next moment, her surroundings changed.

‘Isn’t this like…’

“Sea of Quanta?”

“..!”

“No. I can’t read your mind.”

She relaxed when she heard it.

“Most people will associate teleportation with the Sea of Quanta. Mine works differently.”

“Are you…”

“Herrscher? Yes, I am one.” He paused as he looked at her ocean blue eyes. “There are Herrschers who fight for humanity. Anti-Entropy’s Sovereign is one. I am also.”

Inwardly, Shi Tian thought of something else.

‘It’s the same…’

The resemblance of Bianka to Kiana shows itself during their talks.

“Your Overseer must have left out a lot of details.”

“...I cannot deny that.”

He nodded to her reply.

“Here is the control room. The train can traverse space. You can wait until Schicksal sends out more personnel to operate it.”

Durandal followed through with the negotiations. She handed over the huge luggage-sized case she brought.

“The Gem of Desire is contained in a special case. It is quite tough, but it will become active once it is broken. The Divine Key is also inside.” She then added, “The Overseer told me to pass this message.”

Shi Tian’s eyes saw through the Gem of Desire and the Seventh Divine Key in the form of a burning feather. The sight limited to Previous Era Divine Keys presented itself.

‘Just like Raven’s… It’s okay.’

He swiped his hand on the luggage, storing it inside his storage ring.

The two fell to an awkward silence. Shi Tian is aware of his stranger status in Durandal’s eyes.

He chose to end their meeting early.

“One last thing. That symbol is a gift to you.”

“A gift..?”

She wanted to ask something when he disappeared. He left behind a perfectly frozen ice cube containing a chibi Kevin.

Just then, a buzzing sound rang in her ears.

The Durandal (sword) tried its best to transmit something to Durandal, but to no avail. It sounded more like a fangirl’s cries to her ears.

‘Wait.’

She had a feeling it was exactly like that!

*****

“Sister Bronya…”

It was 8 o’clock in the morning. A lot of things happened in the last fifteen minutes.

First, Shi Tian left for something.

Second, Kiana left to help her father.

Third, a wave of huge honkai beasts appeared near the town. 

Bronya was forced to take care of these honkai beasts. Seele was left to defend the orphanage from Cocolia’s ex-collaborators.

Having zero experience in fighting—even scared of it—Seele does not know what to do if an enemy truly comes.

{“You are really helpless…”}

A hint of joy could be heard from Seele’s other self. Being relied upon is enough for her.

{“Someone’s here.”}

Seele did not need her other self’s reminder. Her spiritual consciousness spanned a dozen miles. She noticed the intruder’s arrival earlier than her other self.

This is the discovery they found—only Seele could utilize her mental and qi cultivation.

Taking the initiative lies on Seele. This won’t change.

“Other me…”

{“You don’t want to try? Your power will be wasted.”}

“Um…”

Her words touched Seele. Her hesitation allowed the intruder to close the distance. She remains unaware of Seele’s observation, dashing swiftly from the parked van across the road to the orphanage.

“...No!”

The thought of everyone being in danger filled her mind. Seele could no longer sit still.

There isn't anyone else who could help her now. 

The orphanage’s safety now lies on her.

‘I won’t let anyone get hurt..!’

Chapter 122: Herrscher's Absolute Zero

We thought this hard and well over a year ago.

What are the problems blocking humanity’s victory over the honkai?

One, Otto Apocalypse. He is unstable enough to be able to be contracted by the Will of Honkai. 

Two, the Will of Honkai. It is the artificial intelligence created by the Previous Era. Due to the Cocoon of Finality’s overwhelming power, it was corrupted and turned into the Will of Honkai.

Three, Kevin Kaslana. This is self-explanatory. He did a lot of things for humanity. He is capable and decisive when it comes to executing humanity’s last-ditch effort.

Kevin left a lot of room for humanity. Even when he started losing hope on humanity coming up with better plans than the Project STIGMA, he gave them several chances.

For once, he “willingly” stepped in Su’s trap. He could have broken out yet chose to stay. He threw Su away from it, too. 

That was the last chance he gave humanity with.

If they could not come up with a solution after 1,500 years, Kevin would pull out the last resort.

In the end, he took out the Will of Honkai, turned into Deliverance Kevin, and served as the trio’s final trial before they could meet the Cocoon of Finality.

In retrospect to his deeds and efforts, he is humanity’s greatest hero. Intentionally or unintentionally, his actions paved the way and pushed humanity further to reach their final goal.

Out of all, only Kevin and Otto demonstrated this god-like determination.

To Otto, Kallen is his world.

To Kevin, the legacy left behind by Doctor MEI, humanity, is his world.

They will pull no stops to fight for them.

Facing these two formidable foes, meticulous planning and hard power are needed

Tap.

Tap.

The inside of the huge locomotive train feels like the pinnacle of human technology. The train itself is not a train; it has no seats, only connected cabins.

There are no windows, either. They are replaced with countless screens and virtual projections instead.

All of the cabins looked identical. A sweep of spiritual consciousness revealed tens of thousands of detection instruments jam-packed inside the Second Divine Key.

It took a total of five minutes to arrive at the foremost cabin. Unlike the prior cabins, it has numerous keypads in front. There are a lot of Previous Era letters labelling each button.

Su taught me a lot of stuff. Like the Current Era, the Previous Era is divided by countries and continents. Some of the languages varied, though Fire MOTH opted to create a unified language after the First Herrscher’s descent. This proved to be useful in the later stages, allowing people of all countries to be able to communicate with others.

These buttons…

Rather, this captain deck is meant for the full control of the Second Divine Key.

I took some time to observe it.

Aside from the deck, there is something else. An insignia of sorts floated in the center.

My spiritual consciousness touched it. Its identity unveiled itself from my eyes.

Seed of Sumeru.

Su left it here. It must reach its destined owner, Bianka. Only then would the Bubble World on her stabilize.

Buzz-!

Suddenly, the screens showed a glaring alarm icon. There are numerical data, the world map, and a projection of the alarm’s cause.

Kevin.

To be exact, his ELF. It was present when Durandal took the Second Divine Key. It held 1% of the chimera Kevin’s powers. With Su’s warnings, we guessed it would increase to a higher percentage.

“Huh.”

The screen projecting the ELF Kevin is blurred with a blue static signal. It could not interfere with the Divine Key’s operation, however.

Judging from his speed…

Above Mach 100. Maybe reaching Mach 500, if not 1,000. 

It’s absolutely insane. His small build and raw power turned him into a fast projectile.

Most honkai-powered jets I saw can only reach Mach 100 at most. In terms of raw speed, only Kiana and I can surpass him.

“Fu…”

I waited until Kevin arrived. My figure flashed atop the Divine Key. In my hands lay the Key of Domination, Xuanyuan Sword. The two Ji Xuanyuans are still asleep. Welt Yang finished studying its specifics and is about to create a nanomachine-based spiritual artifact.

Naturally, the original fell to my hands.

My golden eyes stared directly at him. The string representing the ELF Kevin spat out numerous pieces of information.

[Kevin Kaslana (ELF)]

Body: Purple Mansion Realm - Peak

Mind: Golden Core Realm - ???

Honkai Output: 15… 2,000… 2,50…

Buzz-!

A terrifying force interrupted my prying. The eyes of a serpent manifested out of sheer mental power. I did this three more times, each ending the same way.

Strangely enough, it did not attack my mind. The reaction is limited every time I attempt to read Kevin’s causal line. It does not extend beyond self-defense.

Finally, the ELF Kevin is not the same as the one Durandal fought. Behind it is the real Kevin Kaslana.

The stand off did not last for long.

“You cannot use your power.”

I saw through the disappointment in his words.

“Does it matter? I can give humanity an answer nonetheless.”

Kevin did not directly respond to my words.

“Why do you fight?” He asked.

This question…

I got my answer a long time ago.

“Someone told me… to fight for all that’s beautiful. That is what I will be doing.”

“...”

I sensed the fluctuations from the ELF. I prepared [Blade Mantra], ready to manifest the upgraded [Blade Eminence]. I will refrain from using my immortal cultivation abilities.

This opportunity is just enough to test out my honkai side.

“Very well.”

Kevin’s words marked the beginning of the fight.

Hum-!

The Herrscher Core within my chest became active. Mobilizing honkai energy, I can interfere with the physical laws to a certain extent—achieving the same effect as dao rhymes.

The Herrscher of Ice has a simple ability: to deprive matter of heat. It is a one-way control. It cannot increase ‘heat’, only reducing it.

Nevertheless, this is an authority capable of exerting the power of a Golden Core Realm!

Crackle-!

The frozen continent’s temperature further dropped down. Dozens of ice spikes rose from the ground. In a manner similar to Parvati’s attack, they all aimed to restrict the ELF.

Crash-!

It did not do much except delay him three seconds. The small ELF flashed in front of me. Held in his right hand is a miniature Judgement of Shamash.

Fwoosh-!

A cluster of flames emerged in the midst of the ice continent. The terrifying heat easily melted the surrounding ice floors. Its height of more than a hundred meters could send anyone to a standstill. It is similar to a certain Saber’s Noble Phantasm.

I withheld using [Blade Eminence].

One thousand.

Two thousand.

The honkai energy output sharply increased. The limit of the Herrscher Core is reached. To go further, it all depends on the body’s honkai adaptability. The insane physique tempered by honkai energy and spiritual qi comes to play.

Three thousand.

Four thousand.

Five thousand.

…

Nine thousand.

A sense of strength filled my very being. I can undoubtedly create a continent-sized ice asteroid and recreate the colony drop.

This power…

Purple Mansion Realms could lower temperature by continuously using dao rhymes and spiritual qi. But, only Golden Core Realms could truly reach absolute zero. 

It is a barrier of sorts…

…one I can easily reach now.

Buzz-!

The pillar of flames descended.

Crackle-!

Before it could touch me, the flames were extinguished. A huge line of frost replaced its prior position.

The bright blue light in my Spirit Roots intensified. My soul trembled as the Five Elements Yin Spirit Root upgraded at this time.

I disregarded all the changes I experienced. I focused on the fight at hand.

“Huff…”

Crack-!

Shatter-!

The pillar of frost shattered with a fingertip’s touch. The falling fragments could not prevent our gazes from clashing.

“Is this the answer you want to see?”

Eleven thousand.

Twelve thousand.

Fifteen thousand.

…

Twenty thousand honkai welt.

An unprecedented surge of power came. Antarctica’s negative celsius temperature dropped further.

All of these changes occurred with a thought. The entire Antarctic continent fell to my control. Both the range and ease of using the Herrscher Core increased with more honkai energy. 

I raised my hand. The hanfu I wore fluttered. I reached out to the small ELF. Similarly, the ELF pulled out its trump card—its ICHOR form. It resisted the encroaching of my power and attempted to take control of the temperature.

Just like that, round two came.

Chapter 121: Kaslanas' Meeting

Theresa was insightful to reach out for an emergency call. She managed to notify Hyperion of the emergency. The communication line remained untouched. It went contrary to her expectations.

‘What…’

Thud-!

Theresa’s body fell to the ground uncontrollably. The delayed onset of weakness assaulted her entire body. The exposure to the anti-honkai reagent from before took effect.

It took a while for her to stand up. The sense of weakness remained.

‘No—!’

Theresa thought of Siegfried. If even she was affected to this extent, how would he fare?

Bam-!

Her worries turned out to be true. Siegfried, although not as weakened as Theresa, could no longer handle Gray Serpent with ease. Coupled with the need to divert collaterals, he could not fight with his full strength.

“That guy’s a handful…”

Siegfried stood up from the office floor. It is the seventh floor of a high-rise building. He met the stunned gazes of the white collar workers.

Without a word, he leaped off the building, just in time to meet Gray Serpent whose entire body looks like a honkai beast.

Bam-!

Bam-!

Although weakened, Siegfried had no choice but to fire more rounds. He has to take its attention away from normal humans.

The dark blue honkai beast flashed and disappeared from its position. It avoided Siegfried’s attack.

Its figure reappeared right behind him.

Zoom-!

Buzz-!

The honkai beast’s claws struck Siegfried to the ground—to the gas of anti-honkai reagents.

Rumble-!

A cloud of dust emerged from the ground. The vacant cars beneath were destroyed. Some of them flipped over, with nearly all of them ringing out their alarms.

‘To think I’d fall for this..!’

His instincts told him to hold his breath, which spared the reagent’s weakening to a certain extent.

Within a year, Anti-Entropy managed to develop means to heal his badly battered body. Except for his missing arm, he had fully recovered.

Siegfried was able to return to his prime. That gave him back some of his confidence before everything in his life went wrong.

He became more confident with his firepower. 

Who could have expected World Serpent’s anti-honkai gas bombs?

Twelve seconds of exposure halved his combat effectiveness. Gray Serpent is also more intent on causing harm to ordinary people than fighting him.

Thus, it resulted in his disadvantage.

“Fu…”

He was about to pull out his trump card when a bright golden light descended onto the honkai beast. It disappeared instantly, only reappearing moments later as small dots of light.

BAM-!

ROAR-!

A loud roar resounded along with a heavy aura that threatened him to kneel. Strangely enough, its landing did not cause any physical damages.

Before Siegfried knew it, he saw the honkai beast dissipating into motes of particles.

“Stinky old man. Why didn’t you call me quickly?”

The girl with the Dragon Spear was none other than Kiana.

*****

Kiana’s absentmindedness disappeared. Her white jacket fluttered as she stood up.

“Eh? This came from…”

“Sister Kiana?”

She did not respond to Seele’s inquiry. She stared in the distance for a while.

“There are enemies.”

“Ah?”

Currently, the three girls gathered in the orphanage’s courtyard. Shi Tian asked them to be on guard today, for there are enemies that might invade the orphanage.

He pushed it onto Cocolia’s shady business partner, Gray Serpent. This caused Seele and Bronya to become highly vigilant today.

“I need to go out for a while. I will be right back!”

Before Kiana left, she turned her back to Bronya. She threw over a transparent case made of spiritual ores. Inside are several gray papers—middle third grade talismans imbued with Shi Tian’s [Sword Light Refraction].

“Use it when you are in trouble.”

“The Bronya understands.”

With a poof, her figure disappeared from the orphanage. The next second, she reappeared in the skies of the Far East.

“My mark became unstable… The old man must be fighting someone.”

The spiritual consciousness of a Purple Mansion Realm could ‘mark’ people. Any changes to their current state will be sent back to the cultivator. It is permanent, though farther distances spell weaker connections. It is difficult to maintain a connection throughout Earth, more so other dimensions.

Siberia and the Far East belong to the same continent. It is not an issue for Kiana to sense the spiritual marks he left on some people—Siegfried included.

Within three steps, her figure teleported continuously. The consumption of honkai energy bore a burden on her mind. In exchange is her swift arrival in Nagazora City.

Kiana’s spiritual consciousness enveloped the entire city. She saw the battle within the urban area.

The strange gas beneath caught her attention.

“The old man and… my aunt?”

Siegfried is barely holding on. It was Theresa who was in dire straits. She soon realized the gas’ effects.

‘Preventing honkai energy..? But why is that monster…’

Kiana felt dumb the next second. Gray Serpent transformed into a quantum-attributed honkai beast. It receives its energy from the Sea of Quanta, not the imaginary space. Kiana noticed this difference.

Five seconds passed after her analysis. She acted swiftly.

First, she consumed her spiritual qi to erect a transparent barrier that isolated the fog. Then, she moved most of the affected people outside the barrier. Finally, she separated the “alright” humans from the “might turn into zombies” ones. 

A specially made single-cell was formed to enclose them. Since she designated its durability to hold Qi Refining cultivators, it did not consume much of her spiritual qi. She easily built dozens of cages.

With the ordinary humans settled, Kiana focused her sights on the dark blue honkai beast.

“He said to finish battles in a single strike.”

She felt the magnitude of Shi Tian’s statement now. It would be fine to fight if not for the ordinary humans around. She deeply loathed World Serpent’s actions. The number of injured and casualties are increasing up to now.

“One strike… to end it swiftly…”

The pressure on Kiana’s mind was huge. She could not bear to see others being hurt. Defeating the dark blue honkai beast in one go is her solution.

The best way is to use her Herrscher Power. Her current output far surpasses the six-cored Sirin.

“Restraint… and a single strike…”

A subspace lance appeared out of nowhere. It was constructed by her Herrscher Authority. 

Spear Soaking Flower Pond.

Kiana’s spear cultivation is stuck on the second level. She lacked the conditions to break through the third level, Dragon Spear.

At this opportune time, she finally realized what it truly meant. 

Putting every ounce of faith onto the spear;

Is the time the heavenly dragons draw near.

To control one’s power accurately is the characteristic of a heavenly dragon (determination) within the spear!

Hum-!

The subspace lance in her hands began to change. Its previous black body became tinged with golden light. Dragons’ phantoms could be heard from within.

Buzz-!

ROAR-!

Her body swiftly descended from the skies. The golden light followed her.

Zoom-!

The honkai beast became stuck in place. It could not contest the authority of a Herrscher like Kiana.

The two travelled upon the imaginary space in a split second. 

Psshk-!

Its entire body was instantly shattered into motes of blue light. Her physical strength and Herrscher Authority dealt with it easily.

The next second, she returned to Earth. The first person in her sight is none other than Siegfried.

“Stinky old man. Why didn’t you call me quickly?”

Kiana did not wait for his reply. She focused on dealing with the affected people around them. Her cultivator capabilities came to use as she temporarily opened up the [Two Phase Art]. It removed all of the ‘free energies’ including the harmful ones like honkai energy.

“Ziggy?”

A voice resounded not far from them. 

The two Kaslanas looked over and saw Theresa looking at them.

“...Kiana?”

The destined reunion took place.

Chapter 120: No Morals

“Otto did not even hesitate…”

An entire day passed. I did not cultivate. I spent my time cross-referencing techniques. It is for the development of my supernatural seeds. All twelve of them give studying buffs. 

Now, I focused on the three complex Daos: Extremity, Causality, and Yin and Yang.

The other part is to develop the [Blade Mantra] to the next level.

All of this was broken when Fu Hua’s message came. Otto sent out the Immortal Blade squad to Antarctica.

Hum-!

Somebody appeared right beside me.

I looked at the Tuna. Her face has a reddish hue. It was present even to her arms and legs. She hasn’t fully absorbed the dragon steak.

“I was woken up. The formation sent out something.”

She looked away and wiped her drool with her hoodie. Her shorts are too short, revealing most of her legs. I looked away and stood up from the orphanage’s roof.

Kiana gave me a look after she finished wiping it off.

…

She saw through my embarrassment.

“The thing you said.” I spoke.

“Oh! Oh…”

She took out a jade slip from her storage ring. It is the first grade one. 

I held it in my hands, with my spiritual consciousness entering it.

“Take care of the trade. Kevin did something to manifest his strength.”

It was Grandpa Su’s voice.

“He left an ELF with one percent of his power. Taking back and returning the Second Divine Key opened the Sea of Quanta twice. It gave him two chances to grant more power to it. I will send it out at 0800.”

The voice was cut off from there. He did not ask me anything… though I know what I need to do—to make sure Schicksal receives the Second Divine Key.

“Can you stay here for a while? I need to do something.”

“Yeah. I’m still feeling full…”

Kiana rubbed her hand to her stomach. Digesting the ten pound dragon steak proved to be a hassle. Some of her hair stuck up from her braids. She looks messy.

“Let me fix your hair later.”

“Um? No need.”

“You don’t want it anymore?”

“No! I want it…”

*****

0800 hours.

Schicksal’s strongest squad, Immortal Blades, departed from Schicksal’s floating headquarters. Simultaneously, a large emission of honkai energy and the Sea of Quanta appeared on Antarctica. 

Officially, they are deployed to curb the appearance of honkai beasts and quantum spills.

Confidentially, they are headed to “trade” with someone.

Schicksal’s transport jet is extremely fast. The superimposition of Previous Era technology and Otto Apocalypse’s five hundred years created a lot of things.

The jet flew beyond the speed of sound. Nobody fell off balance. Their pilot and co-pilot are valkyries too.

Durandal walked behind the pilot’s seat. It is none other than her trusted adjutant, Rita Rossweisse.

“How far are we?”

“Five more minutes, Master Durandal.”

She nodded upon hearing it. 

Five minutes later, the valkyries are greeted with the sight of endless ice.

Antarctica, the home to thick honkai emissions. Although the entire world was “purified” by the fourth Divine Key on the orbit, the accumulation of thousands of years gathered thick honkai emission within the frozen continent.

Only those of B Rank Valkyries and above can withstand it.

Just then…

“Adjutant. Five unknown aircrafts refused to identify themselves.”

Rita and Durandal looked at each other. They knew what it meant.

“Prepare for battle.”

““Yes!””

*****

World Serpent did not give up after the Second Divine Key disappeared. Their Sire had ordered them to act upon it as soon as it reappeared.

Inevitably, the Divine Key’s return causes a huge disturbance. It is invisible in the eyes of most people. When it comes to the major honkai organizations, however, it is as bright as a firefly in the dark. 

It was bound to draw away their attention; in turn, a melee.

“The Sire’s avatar detected the target’s presence. Prepare to carry out the mission.”

Raven did not say anything else to Gray Serpent. It watched as its bio-mechanical body melted away. She steadily moved towards Cocolia’s orphanage.

Gray Serpent made appropriate plans. He intentionally left out Raven on most of it. There is a good reason for doing so.

Rumble-!

Within the Sea of Okhotsk’s shore, Gray Serpent’s “package” arrived. They caused an unprecedented disaster to the frozen seashore. More than a dozen abominations entered the Siberian land. All of them had the general shape of a common animal—dogs, cats, tigers…

Gray Serpent calmly oversaw it all.

Siberia.

Far East.

Antarctica.

Unbeknownst to all, their Sire’s intention could not be any more simple:

To gauge out Anti-Entropy’s newfound strength.

With the descent of a foreign god-like being, Kevin paid attention to the bits of information he could intercept. Shi Tian using Anti-Entropy as his base was soon found out.

The only thing left is to scout for information—even if it costs them a Cadre.

All of it, just to serve as a preparation, for the World Serpent’s descent is not far off.

When that day comes, he will execute humanity’s final plan.

As for whether humanity can overcome the final trial Kevin set himself…

It is up to them.

‘Siegfried Kaslana… and Theresa Apocalypse. How unexpected…’

The Gray Serpent’s eyes flashed, devout to executing his Sire’s orders.

*****

“Siegfried! I tried to find you for years..!”

“Come on, Little Teriri…”

“Why are you calling me that?!”

The sight of a fully grown man and an elementary schooler quarreling in front of a company building is a sight to behold. Some people stopped walking to look at it. Some are even ready to call the cops on Siegfried.

“...Where is Kiana?”

“...”

The mention of Siegfried’s daughter silenced him. 

Theresa wore a huge jacket, mask, and sunglasses. 

Siegfried’s outfit sported a pair of sunglasses. He cleaned off his beard and stubble and cut his hair short. A pair of contacts changed his eye color to pale gold. He looked like a younger version of himself, but still different.

Nonetheless, Theresa immediately recognized Siegfried. She eyed him for twenty seconds and decided to confront him. To her surprise, it really turned out to be Siegfried!

She wanted to ask about her niece, but his reaction now betrayed her expectations.

“Let’s go inside first.”

He took Theresa’s hand and pulled her inside the ME Corp building. Unexpectedly, she resisted his pull.

“Where is my niece?”

“We’re earning unwanted attention outside.”

“Ziggy!”

His apparent dodging of Theresa’s question made the latter feel uncomfortable. An ominous feeling came to her mind.

Bam-!

Rustle-!

A black cloaked figure fell from the sky. Gray Serpent’s knees bent to the sidewalk. His air drop earned much attention from the passerbys. 

Both Siegfried and Theresa looked at him. Gray Serpent did nothing to conceal everything. The two became wary at the fact he struck right in the public eyes. The dangerous feeling he emitted was nothing short of a humanoid honkai beast.

“Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. Do your best.”

Upon leaving these cryptic words, several canisters fell to the ground.

Swoosh-!

It emitted a special agent targeted to disabling honkai energy. As for ordinary humans, it is a lethal poison in and of itself.

Not long, the first wave of bystanders who inhaled it began coughing. Their body soon collapsed, with bright purple lines appearing on their skin.

“Take the others away! I will deal with him.”

Siegfried took out one of the Shamash holstered on his back.

“Go!”

Theresa went out without her battlesuit nor her Divine Key. The help she can provide now is limited.

‘This is a blatant terrorist attack..!’

Her eyes darted to the dozens of people around them. There are too many to count, yet all she can do is to start carrying them away from this place.

Rumble-!

Not even ten seconds later, Gray Serpent turned into a monster with dark blue skin. His size is somewhat small, barely surpassing three humans in height. It showed its incompleteness.

Its sight is horrifying for ordinary humans. Although its appearance was covered by the huge cloud of smoke, some of them witnessed it. They added to the number of unconscious humans present.

Bang-!

It did not react to Siegfried’s attack. 

Instead…

“Damn it!”

…it began to attack the surrounding humans.

*****

A/N: Gray Serpent turned to a weaker Tonatiuh (in-game boss).

Chapter 119: Schicksal's Little Turmoil

The entire morning passed quickly. Fu Hua asked a lot of things about immortal cultivation. I gladly answered her questions. It is satisfying to see her absorb this knowledge quickly. It really won’t take long before I would call her Fellow Daoist.

For now…

I am doing nothing.

Kiana is sound asleep inside the imaginary space. It will take her two days to wake up. The azure dragon has a body of late Purple Mansion Realm. With its enormous flesh dealt by my spiritual cooking skills, it reached the pinnacle of third grade. It is akin to a peak third grade body cultivation pill.

Bronya and Seele got knocked out after eating a single piece of skewer. Looking at their current states, their body will definitely break through the peak of Foundation Establishment.

I noticed Seele’s progress surpassing Bronya’s in terms of body cultivation. Trace amounts of honkai energy could be seen within. It is evident she used the honkai energy for tempering. 

Only those who could control the honkai can do this tempering. Without enough control, it becomes a gamble of life and death. It’s time I teach them the [Blade Mantra].

I drowned in these thoughts for a while.

“And I was wondering why it’s silent.”

I looked behind and saw Sin Mal’s small figure standing atop the roof tiles. Her voice held the same confident tone from before.

“Where is she?”

“Sleeping. Cultivation takes longer with higher realms.”

“So, Sister Bronya…”

“Sleeping, too.”

“...”

One look and I can tell she is bored. The orphanage’s management lied on the personnel Tesla sent. Though, Sin Mal aspires to become independent and take care of it like Cocolia. After all, she is the inheritor of Cocolia’s assets.

Tesla promised her to release it once she is deemed capable.

“Why don’t you go back to studying?” I asked.

“It’s too boring. I want Sister Bronya to teach me…”

“...Shrimp.”

“Hey?!”

Sin Mal wore a startled look. Her body started to shake out of pure embarrassment. 

“You can’t beat me no matter how hard you look. You will have to endure my teasing forever.”

“You..!”

A strange sense of satisfaction arose upon seeing her so flustered.

I am confused why she is acting like this. Isn’t she supposed to be like, well, a hard-headed psycho who can do everything for Bronya’s attention? 

Why is she like a tsundere now?

In the end, Sin Mal endured silently. She tried her powers on me several times. During the first time, I let her know what it felt like to be disciplined by Asian parents (i.e., butt spanking).

I waved my hand. A tinge of redness emerged on her face.

“You win!”

She angrily stormed off below. My [Encompassing Eyes] worked permanently. I can see her inner turmoil more.

...

Why is she happy?

*****

Otto stared at Fu Hua’s departing back. The latter returned to Schicksal’s HQ on the same day. She reported her encounter with the mysterious swordsman, who turned out to be an affiliate of a Previous Era warrior.

She emphasized the gift from these two figures: the location of the Second Divine Key.

“You have changed, old friend.”

Otto waited for Fu Hua to explain her changes, but to no avail. He did not say anything and acted as if everything was normal.

“But the Divine Key. How generous.” He turned his eyes to the holographic screen. “They are giving away gifts for no reason.”

It was Kiana’s full control over the Second Herrscher Core at first. Otto did nothing and gained the result he wanted to see. He was supposed to let K-423 experience “love”, transcend all struggles, and become the ideal Second Herrscher.

Shi Tian’s intervention did everything for him.

Now, he’s even receiving the Second Divine Key for a low price.

Technically, it’s not for free. Shi Tian asked for the Gem of Serenity and the Seventh Divine Key, Fenghuang Down. 

In exchange, he will give the Second Divine Key and the corresponding knowledge about the Imaginary Tree. The Gem of Desire’s purpose is to experiment with valkyries.

The Fenghuang Down, while a handy tool, is outweighed by the value of the Key of Infinity.

The deal was generous enough, so much that Otto immediately caught onto an interesting discovery.

“...They are forcing the Divine Key on me.”

Will Otto care about this little scheme?

Hell no.

He willingly bit the bait. 

As long as it will lead to Kallen’s salvation, he will do anything.

*****

Fu Hua’s eyes looked back. She couldn’t claim she understands Otto fully, but from their conversation, she knew he would gladly accept the Second Divine Key. His skepticism towards her increased too. Nevertheless, he did not point it out.

‘Things are… changing.’

Shi Tian did not shy away from telling her the full details. A brand new plan, completely different from Project STIGMA, was introduced. 

Even if the Previous Era knew about the Cocoon’s true objective of a successful embrace, they had no means to act upon it. Only with the Miss Pink Elf’s sacrifice did it open up in the Current Era.

With such a clear objective and the development of “human” Herrschers, the new plan stood a fighting chance. Seeing a new possibility of winning is enough to motivate the two Flamechasers.

This renewed sense of hope caused untold changes to Fu Hua’s mind. Her serene state was broken when she came across someone. It was a young girl. Her bright golden hair was tied to a neat ponytail. 

It was Durandal.

At the age of twelve, she was conferred as an S Rank Valkyrie. Her strength backed it up. Her extremely swift promotion was partly due to her overwhelming achievements—overwhelming enough to convince most, if not all.

Her pair of blue eyes are staring at Fu Hua. When the latter met her gaze, she smiled as a greeting.

Unbeknownst to Fu Hua, Durandal felt something on her. It was an unspeakable feeling, as if there was a sword inside Fu Hua. 

It felt similar to a stigma but not a stigma;

Like a sword but not just a sword.

In short, it was confusing.

‘Fu Hua. The Overseer often assigns confidential missions to her but…’ She thought. ‘This is not the first time it appeared. It has become stronger now.’

Durandal noticed Fu Hua’s changes a year ago. The sword-like feeling was faint. It did trigger the subconscious reaction of the sword inside her body.

Today, that feeling was magnified dozens of times. If not for the sword inside her being unable to properly communicate, Durandal had the feeling it might go crazy.

‘If it can help them…’

Chapter 118: Empyrean ASMR

Fu Hua’s voice is very addicting to hear. It is strangely calming. Maybe it is her aura of living for thousands of years.

What baffles me though is her acceptance.

I didn’t expect it to be this… easy.

When it comes to judging people, my sword cultivation alone can tell their sincerity.

I can see it from Fu Hua.

In the end, I could only accept it.

Hence, the question-and-answer portion started.

“The next level of Blade Mantra…”

“True Form. It requires shattering the false emptiness and maintaining a strong sense of self.”

“Herrscher…”

“I sealed Kiana’s Herrscher Consciousness. She can now use her powers better.”

It continued with honkai-related matters for a while.

Just then, I sensed several fluctuations on the floor below. A quick peek revealed Bronya and Seele sleeping on their beds. Their aura fluctuated strongly. Their bodies sported a tinge of redness.

Near the door, Kiana is caught up on completing her steak. She savored each bite slowly, with her face having a tinge of red. The nutrients within the compressed dragon steak is huge. It is much stronger for Bronya and Seele.

“Is that from your friends?”

“Yes.” I admitted. “Have you come across an invisible energy?”

“...When I followed you before.”

The entire orphanage is casted with [Two Phase Art]. It sits at middle first grade, but with Seele and Kiana, it is not an issue to maintain it at the third grade.

A ball of blue mist converged atop my palm.

“This is spiritual qi. A completely different energy from honkai energy…”

Fu Hua absorbed all the cultivator knowledge like a sponge. She relied on her mastery of [Blade Mantra] to cross-reference things, making it extremely satisfying to teach her.

As for her Spirit Roots, they went as expected: high grade Spirit Roots with fire and wood elements.

“The Jing is responsible for nourishing the body. Qi is to hold spiritual qi. Shen is the nourishment of the mind. Fill all three dantians to the brim and you will complete Qi Refining. What comes next is the sublimation of life, Foundation Establishment…”

“It is the adaptation of three aspects to spiritual qi? Then, the so-called dao rhymes is the human body housing traces of authorities?”

“You got them all right.”

Teaching her took hours, yet none of us got tired. She held a unique charm from the rest. Her fully awakened version is leagues ahead of her former self. I can see the Immortal Jingwei at her prime. 

Add to that her addicting voice, time passed by swiftly. When morning came, it was time to send her off.

“...return and report to your overseer.”

“Are you certain?”

“Su and I agreed to it. The Second Divine Key shall belong to Otto Apocalypse.”

Back then, Su already made arrangements for the future. He knew the 32,000 singularities could be reached with enough luck and effort. He stored the Second Divine Key beneath Glastonbury, in preparation of it being excavated by Schicksal.  In the game, Su even gave all the knowledge about the Imaginary Tree.

All of that was broken by my appearance. Su was forced to take back the Second Divine Key to take me away. My arrival to this world spiralled everything out of his original plans.

The parallel universes with my presence disappeared a few seconds after they appeared. Su could only glimpse upon some of them. Things returned to normal, though both of us know it is anything but that.

He couldn’t come up with a proper plan, only that there are a lot of parallel universes that ended in our victory.

I suggested we focus more on his original arrangements, and so we did. 

Otto’s actions single-handedly contributed to the trio’s growth, therefore arriving at Kiana embracing the Cocoon. All of that came from Durandal’s Bubble World, Kiana’s Second Herrscher Power, and the Second Divine Key.

As things stand, it is much better to give the Second Divine Key to him. 

It is basically an open scheme. Otto knows it is a bait, yet he could not help but take it. Once he takes it, his next actions will be predictable to a certain extent. It is much better than him being highly unpredictable—or even doing some crazy things.

With the honkai becoming stronger and stronger, time is limited. Only Otto knows how many crazy things he would do to accomplish his plans.

“...This sounds more like him.” Fu Hua commented on my lengthy explanation. “Got it. I will act according to the plans.”

She was about to leave when I called her out.

“How about we eat some breakfast?”

Just like that, I secured a meal with the Immortal Phoenix.

*****

“...Come again?”

“Your mission is to secure the children.”

“...”

Raven did not speak.

Being deployed in Siberia did not cause her trouble except for some bad memories. She followed Gray Serpent’s instructions and investigated a certain town. Nothing noteworthy stood out. She was confused until she spotted two girls.

While she was looking at them with a scope, one of the girls turned to look at her. The flat-looking girl’s gaze was contained with some sort of power. It induced a strong headache on her, almost prompting Raven to pull the Divine Key’s trigger. Fortunately, she did not do so. She stopped observing them since then.

Later today, she received a new directive from Gray Serpent.

“The unforeseen circumstances halted my work with Anti-Entropy’s Executor. It needs to continue. If it succeeds, they will be given the chance to return.”

‘If not…’

Raven already knew the answer in her heart.

But then, this is the confusing part. When it comes to her missions, she won’t hesitate to kill and do dirty things. When it comes to innocent children, however, she tries her best to purposefully fail her mission.

Missions involving children are not often assigned to her. For the ones she comes across on missions, she sends them to Schicksal or Anti-Entropy’s orphanages. This is the last bit of “kindness” amidst the blood on her hands.

Gray Serpent knew about Raven’s tendency. He even tacitly allowed it, disregarding the subtle clashes between her and Jackal. Yet, he assigned such a task to her. 

“Remember. This mission cannot fail.”

Beep.

The communication line was cut off.

“What is he planning this time…”

Chapter 117: Fellow Daoist Jingwei

Buzz-!

The “AT Field” shook several times before shattering. The remaining force of the mental attack was weakened.

“Ow!”

Kiana’s head swayed backwards as if she was flicked on the forehead.

“Don’t expect to master it in one day. It’s already been six hours.”

“Six hours?! That’s dinner time!” She paused and asked, “Do we still have that barbeque?”

This Tuna…

“Yes. That’s what you want for dinner?”

“Um. Um.”

Ever since the dragon corpse was taken out of the golden orb space, it is guaranteed that a tenth of it will enter Kiana’s stomach. 

That was hundreds of meters of meat. I personally butchered it. Bones took up a quarter of its weight, followed by its flesh, skin, and scales. Its internal organs mainly consisted of intestines. There is a gallbladder along with several eggs inside. The rest of them are considered miscellaneous, mainly for crafting artifacts.

In short, a single azure dragon has five thousand tons of flesh. It is a lot, but not that much in the face of an immortal’s cooking techniques.

“Do it like before. Turn them to smaller and tastier bites. I took hours to chew all of them…”

“You asked for it.”

“I didn’t think it'd take that long…”

Seeing her begging look, I relented.

The time with Su was very boring. Aside from studying techniques and spells, I delved into the cultivation professions. It went smoother than the techniques.

The cultivation profession, in a sense, has a fixed procedure. 

Refining involves the three steps of creating the artifact embryo, locking spirituality, and carving patterns.

Alchemy involves extracting the essences of plants and synthesizing them together into an alchemy product.

It is different from the techniques that seemed very vague. There are also tips and tricks within each recipe and manual I got. There are a lot of footnotes on the do’s and don’ts, basically serving as rich experiences.

The cross-references coupled with my comprehension pushed me up to the third grade of refining, alchemy, and cooking—theoretically, that is.

I got into moving.

From my late third grade storage ring, I took out a portion of the meat. It freed up some of the space inside the ring.

Turning it smaller…

It can be done with an auxiliary spiritual cooking technique. 

Just as essences will be extracted on spiritual plants, the flesh and blood of a spiritual beast can be compressed.

Hum-!

Buzz-!

The technique soon got into working. A bright red light surrounded the huge block of meat. It did not take long before it shrank to a ten pound steak. The succulent piece of meat emitted a delicious smell.

“Calm down. That’s raw.”

“I know. It’s just… it smells so nice.”

For some reason, her gaze turned towards me.

???

Kiana did not explain things. I focused on my work.

Spiritual cooking is similar to alchemy; it has two steps.

First is to activate the dormant essences within the ingredient.

Second is to enhance its effects with other ingredients.

It is simpler than alchemy.

Ten minutes later, there are three plates with a steak, skewers, and stir-fried pork with chillies. The three dishes are glowing in gold. Dao rhymes could be seen dancing around them.

It is a bonafide heavenly dish that will satisfy everyone.

“Wipe off your drool. Let’s eat this outside.”

“Um…”

Her twin braids swayed as we returned back to the orphanage. The dishes’ scent became more prominent.

“Nighttime… The kids must be sleeping already.”

A simple spiritual consciousness sweep allowed me to see our visitor’s current state. She did not leave the room, sitting cross-legged as she meditated.

Fu Hua is the legitimate native cultivator of this world. My heart itched to teach her immortal cultivation.

I passed on the glowing plate of steak along with a special set of utensils. They are all made of second grade spiritual ores.

Kiana created a simple void construct that served as a floating table. She followed behind as we walked, all the while eating the steak with relish.

“Mn..!”

Her words turned to a high-pitched hum. She stopped walking as she relished with the steak. Kiana’s eyes are closed. Her body is trembling, with her once hidden aura almost breaking loose.

Are these dishes really that delicious?

I looked at the skewers and stir-fried pork floating beside me. I ate dragon meat before. It is delicious and far outranks all mortal food. Still, both I and Kiana did not react exaggeratedly.

I reached out for one of the skewers.

The moment I bit on it…

I understood Kiana’s reaction.

*****

“Hm..?”

Fu Hua was disturbed by two strong presences outside. It took a good five minutes for them to disappear.

Another five minutes later, her room welcomed a newcomer.

Click.

The door opened. Shi Tian’s figure was revealed. Fu Hua felt he was somewhat familiar… before she recalled who he was.

“You are with Siegfried’s daughter?”

“Yes. We met a year ago.”

He covered Kiana’s mouth for speaking recklessly back then. Fu Hua noticed Kiana’s appearance and found her similar to Siegfried’s and Cecilia’s daughter. Later on, she reported Kiana’s existence to Otto. The latter asked her to monitor the two. 

A slight sense of unease emerged in her mind. She does not know how to face her benefactor-slash-former enemy.

‘What is he…’

She set aside her questions. She stood up from her bed and did the typical salute with a cupped fist.

“Thank you.”

Fu Hua did not salute for long. She sat on the bedside, looking forward to what Shi Tian would say next. Her blue martial arts uniform stood out from the orphanage’s casual outfits.

“You must be curious why I helped you.” He said. “I am looking for allies. Su said you will be a reliable one.”

“Su..?”

Both her mind and soul are completely repaired with the [Sword Nurturing Pagoda]. The traces of her removed memories started to resurface.

“A lot of things happened. I ended up meeting him and being told of his story. That’s where I heard about you, Shenzhou’s Celestial.”

“...”

Fu Hua fell into a deep thought. It did not stop Shi Tian from speaking.

“My main goal is to prevent the honkai from destroying humanity… as well as your final failsafe.”

“..!”

‘Even that…’

Her emotions are stirred violently. Project STIGMA is the most confidential project known to a few. 

More than a thousand years ago, Fu Hua’s contact with Su and Kevin got cut off. It further exacerbated the issues of her mental state.

Not only is Su still alive, he entrusted the boy in front of her to lead humanity against the honkai. 

A part of her would have doubted this… but it’s different now. 

“I will become your ally.”

Shi Tian was surprised by her answer.

“Even if I asked you to betray Schicksal?”

“...I will do it.”

In her pupils, a faint rainbow hue was reflected. It is the sword representing someone who has faced doubts and tribulation and overcome them all. It is the sword which sought to protect those around him. 

His [Sword Light Refraction] entailed all of his choices that led to this point. It reflected who Shi Tian truly is.

Facing such a person…

I will trust him.

Chapter 116: Abusing Cultivation Hacks

“You are still a one minute wonder.”

“It’s unfair. How did you train?!”

“Remember, it’s not the duration of your training, but the quality of it.”

Immortal cultivators fight swiftly. If it is dragged over by hours, or even days, it only means they are equally skilled.

Kiana has a lot of weaknesses I can leverage on.

My [Encompassing Eyes] sent out information. 

Kiana…

I thought of reworking its way of manifestation, and so I did.

[Kiana Kaslana]

Qi: Purple Mansion Realm - Early

Body: Purple Mansion Realm - Middle

Mind: Purple Mansion Realm - Early

Herrscher Core Output: Golden Core - ???

Status…

…

Instead of a continuous thought, it turned into an easily processable game-like format. My reaction time turned out a bit faster after doing this.

With a higher realm, I was able to see much more things, too.

“Pretty much nothing works on you.” She complained. “Your mental attacks are too strong.”

“It will be a pity if you fall victim to one in real battles. Haven’t you noticed you last longer now?”

The [Sword Light Refraction] is an overkill for lower-realm enemies. Its lethality against Herrschers… anyone who minmaxxes in general is deadly.

Honkai can be compared to cultivators with unstable foundations. They are in contrast to real immortal cultivators with an all-around focus.

“The special barrier you made is quite useful.”

“It’s slow to develop…”

She did not relent after repeated losses. She focused on countering my mental attacks. That was where her Herrscher Powers came to play.

The Herrscher of the Void has control over the void, including but not limited to the imaginary space. 

Kiana wanted to use the imaginary space’s nature to corrode external mental attacks. I am certain it will work thanks to Otto’s Imaginary Tree experience. His very “soul” was destroyed by the Imaginary Tree’s presence.

Although the imaginary space is a weaker version of it, that still works. As long as she can create enough barriers to cushion the attack, she will no longer think about mental attacks.

“Catch.”

I threw away a third grade jade slip to her. She was surprised to see its contents.

“How did…?”

“I’m a genius.”

“...”

Kiana’s “special mental barriers” require high requirements on her side. What I did is to simplify it to her current level. That way, she can spam and sustain the technique, making it more effective than the more complex version of it.

“When did you finish it?” She asked.

“Three days ago.”

“?!?!”

Her startled look was mixed with grievance.

I delayed giving it to her mainly because of me wanting to see how long she will persevere. The Tuna did not disappoint. She really grew up in the past year.

“This is my fault.” I admitted.

“Um.”

Seeing her agree made me feel relieved.

For a while, Kiana became engrossed with studying the enhanced technique.

I did not dilly-dally, either.

During the entire week, I studied techniques. After verifying a lot of things—the relationship of spiritual qi and honkai energy—I can rest easy.

First, body cultivation.

The nature of body tempering techniques change the physical body recovery. Every recovery from physical strain strengthens one’s body cultivation. It is an arduous process to temper it using spiritual qi, but honkai energy changes that.

Honkai energy’s nature is to destroy. A weak body with low honkai adaptability results in “honkai corruption”, which causes bodily functions to fail one by one. From sight, smell, up to the sense of pain, everything can get affected.

With its destructive nature, the physical body is easily strained. It then recovers automatically using spiritual qi. So long as the cycle of destruction and recovery is maintained, body cultivation goes up.

The repeated “tempering” gradually builds up honkai adaptability. That meant greater control over honkai energy. It is similar to the Schariac Bloodline’s effect. Durandal’s repeated practice with honkai energy results in her honkai adaptability going up.

The last time Kiana got tested, it was far high up in the skies, bordering outer space. Herrschers’ bodies mutated to be able to live in vacuum spaces. It does not affect their physical strength.

Anyways, the test occurred, and they were forced to stop when Kiana’s body reached 5,000 Honkai Welt. Theoretically, she would have no issue surpassing the six-cored Sirin’s peak at 9,000 Honkai Welt. A middle Purple Mansion Realm body equates to that.

Second, qi cultivation.

In the honkai world, “souls” are not commonly touched upon. Even on prior scans, honkai energy’s effects extended to the mind at most—Su’s and Sirin’s case. The soul is completely unheard of.

Surprisingly, they have the same effect as the body. Their presence, once captured to a soul, causes it to experience a “soul strain”. It is akin to tempering the body, but this time, it is the soul.

I have several techniques that talk about it. Soul tempering is done in conjunction with meditation to increase qi cultivation speed. Honkai energy induces soul tempering.

The only concern is its risk. It is more dangerous than doing it on the body. Irreversible soul injury will cause one’s cultivation to stagnate, or worse, to regress.

The only people who can do it now are Welt Yang and Kiana. Their perfect control over honkai energy makes it easier to temper the soul while minimizing the risks.

Even so, this was still dangerous in my eyes. I asked them both to stop for a while. Only when I came up with a technique designed specifically for “soul protection” did I let them continue.

I closed my eyes.

In the place where my crystal dantian lies, numerous golden patterns could be seen. It is the [Clear Apertures Manual] at work.

Beside that, a thin purple film could be seen enveloping my “soul”. 

The [Purple Zenith Soul Protecting Mantra] is a technique that guards the soul. It required spiritual materials corresponding to one’s realm. Fortunately, I have a dozen late third grade pears with soul-enhancing effects.

Using that, a [Purple Zenith Auspicious Aura] is formed. It will sustain all the damages the real soul takes. Although it is not indestructible, it is enough to serve as an alarm.

To be honest, Kiana recklessly experimenting is partly my mistake.

Immortal cultivators consider all aspects. They spend years practicing due to the sheer number of techniques they have to learn. 

Aside from typical cultivation, there are spells, protective techniques, cultivation boosting techniques, light techniques, and so on.

Being in honkai removes the need to be wary. The people of this world do not know how to deal with immortal cultivators, and as such, some things were neglected. I forgot to leave these techniques to her.

Finally…

The third and final thing: honkai to cultivation conversion.

Grandpa Su is an example. He is a Flamechaser with honkai beast genomes. His physical strength and mental power are very strong. However, his power gained from honkai does not possess immortal cultivation attributes.

Instead of cultivating from scratch, it is more of converting his honkai template into a cultivation template. Due to these factors, his cultivation speed is frightening.

This brings another conclusion. People who become strong through honkai energy will have terrific cultivation speeds within their limits.

Su’s qi cultivation speed is the standard high grade spirit root. His mental and body cultivation, on the other hand, is jaw dropping. He completed early Qi Refining in less than a month. Late Qi Refining? One month too.

Overall, he spent four months completing the Qi Refining Realm. I completed mine within seven months. Though if I had more resources, I would have completed it in five.

All I can say is that the advantages of honkai energy are insane.

We must abuse it.

For now, my mind became focused on a round of meditation and soul tempering…

*****

A/N: I felt there are some loose ends with honkai x immortal cultivation, so I tied them here. That way, their strengths to be shown later on will be reasonable (Yes, there are upcoming fights). The upcoming chapters deal with interactions and overall plot ('cause a simp and a snake won't leave them be).

Chapter 115: Enlightening the Empyrean

It is fine to act cool and become Fu Hua’s teacher.

The Dao of Enlightenment bases its consumption on the target’s comprehensive realm. Fu Hua is the equivalent of Foundation Establishment Realm. My automatic spiritual qi recovery can still keep up with her usage.

I can sustain five Foundation Establishment cultivators and two Purple Mansion Realm cultivators at once. Only Seele, Bronya, me, and Kiana are the large spenders. The remaining quotas are enough to deploy to all the other kids. Even that has excess.

I am lucky it does not need my attention. I can do other things after granting others comprehension boost. That’s how I am trapped in my thoughts right now.

Just then…

…

A disturbance occurred.

As expected.

Fu Hua’s breakthrough to the Sword Nurturing Pagoda triggered something else.

Unconsciously, she began to draw honkai energy from the surroundings. Her newly-repaired [Eminence] state went right into work.

Her eyes remain shut. It is evident she is facing off her ‘greatest doubts’.

The breakthrough to the Sword Nurturing Pagoda requires one to confront their biggest doubts. I did not have one. I got it easily. 

The same could not be said for Fu Hua.

The mentality of a five-thousand year old warrior and a twenty-one year old guy is incomparable. Coupled with her circumstances, her “biggest doubts” turned out to be her previously repressed emotions. That was how Senti was born.

All the “what ifs” in Fu Hua’s life was embodied by her. It is very evident when her character is the exact opposite of Fu Hua. Instead of servitude, she sought changes with her own hands.

Senti is the antithesis of Fu Hua; the person she could have been had she been more proactive.

This time, Senti came in advance, and along with her came a new Herrscher Core.

Fu Hua…

“Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating everyone as straw dogs. The sage does not wish to be benevolent, thus they do the same. The space between heaven and earth is akin to a bellows. It is emptied, yet it loses no power. The true meaning of Taixuan (lit. Great Emptiness) is not the lack thereof; but the freedom to choose…”

I did not mind her internal struggle. My words can be heard by her, that I am sure. My spiritual consciousness serves as a guarantee.

I spoke out the level higher than [Eminence]. The ten thousand or so techniques in my mind made my understanding deeper.

[True Form] is the purity of one’s thoughts. Through pure thoughts, one can control not only the honkai, but also imaginary energy. It forms a complete stigma space.

I combined mine with the Herrscher’s Stigma Space and locked up that poisonous mental power inside.

Fu Hua can do the same with Senti.

After all, she is hesitating to truly rid herself of Senti. She is the reflection of her ugly yet ideal side.

Hum-!

A bell’s chime resounded. 

Seeing her changes, I am more than sure about her success.

The only thing left is to wait.

*****

The power of a Purple Mansion Realm is immense. Their spiritual consciousness alone is enough to encapsulate more than five cities combined.

Kiana did not slack off on her cultivation. Aside from her base realms, she studied other techniques.

Her main qi cultivation technique, [Taixuan True Spirit Sutra], gives a bonus when comprehending void-related techniques. Once its [Small Accomplishment] is reached, it opens up a new function:

Buy one get one free.

If she comprehends something to [Small Accomplishment], she receives an “opportunity” to comprehend another void-related technique to [Small Accomplishment]. It is similar to the “opportunity” granted by the [Cloud Seeking Steps]. Though, Kiana’s is repeatable.

The most horrifying aspect of it lies in its [Great Accomplishment]. The “buy one get one” function was replaced with something far more absurd.

Depending on her comprehended techniques, she can instantly comprehend new void-related techniques to [Small Accomplishment] at least.

It just so happened that all of her techniques, save for [Cloud Seeking Steps], are void-related. Coupled with her Herrscher Core that lets her experience the powers of Golden Core Realm in advance, her progress is extremely fast.

All of her techniques masteries are on [Small Accomplishment]. This gave Kiana the confidence to roam the world.

Since half a year ago, she goes off to somewhere and helps resolve a minor honkai eruption. She did not distinguish between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy territories. The number of times she helped others reached hundreds, if not a thousand times.

Within Schicksal’s side, she is known as the Unofficial S Rank Valkyrie.

Within Anti-Entropy’s side, people call her Heaven’s Grace.

Kiana’s elusiveness remained… except for her practice time. With Shi Tian’s presence, leisure time was added.

Unfortunately, that is bound to be disturbed today.

Zoom-!

Her figure reappeared right inside a room. The moment her spiritual consciousness caught Shi Tian guarding an unknown sleeping girl, her hard-fought skills came to play.

“Why is she here?”

He turned around and looked at Kiana.

“Do you still remember her?”

“Of course. I am not a gold fish.” She proudly stated. “She’s that girl with a flat chest. Look, that remains the same until now.”

“...”

Shi Tian resigned himself to fate. Early Purple Mansion Realm of mental cultivation gave the Tuna great intellect.

“To answer your question, she helped me learn a technique. [Blade Mantra], the one I taught you.”

“Ah?!”

Naturally, Kiana learned the [Blade Mantra] from Shi Tian’s video. It wasn’t that hard, considering she went with a shortcut. Her Herrscher Power allows her to command honkai energy with ease, and as such, does not require her to reach [Eminence] to unleash [Blade Eminence].

Her mistake, however, is not learning it in-depth. She missed out on strengthening her mental cultivation as a result.

When he gave her a knowing look, Kiana defended herself:

“I learned it already.”

“Which level?”

“Eminence. I reached it in one go!”

“Your spear cultivation?”

“Still in the Spear Soaking Flower Pond. I am uber close to reaching the Dragon Spear realm!”

The sword and spear cultivation has similar realms. The Dragon Spear realm corresponds to the Thunder-like Sword realm.

Kiana was flaunting her achievements. What was supposed to be her interrogation turned into Shi Tian’s interrogation instead.

“So? Why is she here?”

‘She really grew several more brains…’ He thought inwardly. ‘But why is she interrogating me like this?’

Despite being somewhat confused, he answered honestly.

“I saw her roaming nearby. I taught her some techniques and she ended up unconscious.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s all.”

Kiana believed in him.

“What will you do next?”

“I will decide once she wakes up.”

“Then, let’s fight again. I will last longer this time!”

Shi Tian did not say no to the Tuna’s suggestion.

Soon, he was dragged off for another daily spar…

Chapter 114: Guiding A Junior Sister (???)

The battle during the second eruption caused untold damage to Fu Hua’s mind. She had to sacrifice the last bit of her memories to unleash Blade Eminence. If not for the Will of Honkai intervening, she would have successfully killed Sirin.

Since then, her detachment from the world increased dramatically. Being awakened by a supposed “friend” (Otto) and having to see her past self’s “mind seals” did not help.

The best she can do is to respond to the will etched deep within her mind—to act for the best of humanity. That was the only thing she wouldn’t forget.

Her entire existence up to this point depended on it. Fu Hua turned into a machine only slightly worse than Kevin.

Naturally, she saw those memories within the mind seals. But, she could no longer empathize and grow attached to it. They felt foreign. It is the most despairing feeling.

To see but to not see;

To remember but not to remember.

Simply put, her mind seals, housing her most precious memories with her friends, turned into worthless scraps.

Only by following her intent to act for humanity did she feel more at ease. She followed Otto’s orders, believing him to be humanity’s best guardian. She lived a life of solitude, except when she was summoned to do several missions with other valkyrie squads.

Her monotonous life ended a year ago.

Enlightened by a sword, Fu Hua regained the ability to empathize. 

She can accept those ‘memories’ as truly hers. The sense of detachment disappeared, replaced by a burst of melancholy.

The damage to the soul done by her damaged [Eminence] mental state was fully recovered. She regained “something” numbed by the sacrifices, tragedies, and helplessness she went through.

Fu Hua has a lot of things to say to the swordsman who enlightened her that day. Unfortunately, it never came true.

A year later, she was dispatched by Otto to Siberia. Along the way, she saw the sword intent buried deep beneath the sea. Fu Hua then realized she was sent to find the same swordsman from a year ago.

A week of search remained fruitless… until now.

Tap.

One simple finger tap to her wrist rendered it paralyzed. A faint trace of spiritual qi tensed her muscles.

Shi Tian grasped her hand. The two were then teleported thirty kilometers away—to the undeveloped area outside the snowing city. Bald trees could be seen all over the place.

To that regard, Fu Hua’s martial arts uniform did well.

He removed his hold over her. A talisman appeared between his index and middle finger. It is a peak second grade concealment talisman akin to a concealment technique.

Shi Tian flicked it to the sky. With the input of spiritual qi, it formed an invisible semi-sphere surrounding them.

His spiritual consciousness acted. A brief scan was all it took to identify several hidden microscopic-sized devices on her.

Buzz-!

Bam-!

Fu Hua was startled to see small explosions on the surface of her clothes.

“Now, we can talk. That should be enough to send my message to your employer.”

She fell silent as she gradually organized her thoughts.

Fu Hua cusped her fist and bowed her head. Her tied gray hair swayed; her red glasses perfectly matching her face.

“Thank you for your guidance.”

“I am not a senior. Please raise your head.”

She did not make things harder for Shi Tian, doing what she was told. Fu Hua did not react to his immortal-like appearance, either. 

“I know you have a lot of questions. I will answer them all.” He paused for a while before continuing, “Can you entertain mine first?”

Seeing her nod, he asked:

“Why cling onto your doubts?”

“Doubts..?”

Fu Hua swiftly fell into contemplation.

One year into the Sword Heart realm. Shi Tian went through it once, and it certainly did not take one year. It did not require Spirit Roots and anything else, merely affirmation and formation of an undying mindset.

In the first place, the Sword Heart realm requires the practitioner to throw away all doubts, to be unrestrained of it all. 

He reached it when he cut down the thunder tribulation. The time, mood, and occurrence allowed him to vent it all. After that, he no longer worried about future prospects. The change in mindset was reflected from his Sword Heart turning into Sword Nurturing Pagoda.

Shi Tian believes in Fu Hua’s talent in this regard. All that’s left is for her mental state (mindset) to fully change.

“The cultivation of a sword requires one to put all their faith into their sword. Even if it results in meaningless deaths, we sword cultivators fight to the bitter end. It is us who give meaning to our lives. Not our actions. Not our due responsibilities. Not anything else. Us.”

Ultimately, Immortal cultivators aspire to seize their destiny, not letting others dictate it. They become stronger until this is possible.

Throughout that journey, they nurture a mental state, in turn giving birth to a “heart”. It is the origin of Sword Heart, Spear Heart, Saintly Heart, and so on. 

It is a manifestation of their realizations and attitude towards everything.

Bam-!

A sharp aura tore down the surrounding soil. Her Sword Heart is inexplicably called out. Shi Tian doubled down by using the Dao of Enlightenment. Guided by it and his words, Fu Hua fell to an epiphany.

‘Fighting for humanity… is not merely a duty. It is a path I chose, built by my own choices every step of the way.’

The realizations she was supposed to reach during the events of Klostern emerged in advance. 

Along with conviction lied her heart. The purity of her thoughts reached an all-time high. No longer did doubts cloud her eyes.

In the end, her Sword Heart successfully transformed into the Sword Nurturing Pagoda.

Swoosh-!

Cling-!

Shi Tian did not mind the disturbances she made.

‘Shattered Samsara… It’s been a very long time.’

Honkai Impact is a bedrock of tragedies. It tells the tale of humans’ struggle against the honkai. The people of the Previous Era, in particular, made countless sacrifices to keep humanity afloat.

Fu Hua is one of the characters he liked the most, coming in second. Her betrayal to Kiana at that time came off as shocking, but when he understood more about her, the more he felt empathetic.

She made countless sacrifices, so much so that during the events of Shattered Samsara, Fu Hua swiftly volunteered to stay behind.

‘Bringing the future forward… is not so bad.’

Chapter 113: Red-Haired Aunt

Not a lot of changes occurred to Saint Freya.

Ever since the ‘false alarm’ pertaining to a major eruption a year ago, they found nothing else. Nevertheless, the Far East Branch was penalized and had their budget cut down. The failure to find the false alarm’s cause ultimately lied on them, to which they failed.

Unbeknownst to them, it was the headmaster who experienced a lot of changes.

For once, the talisman-paper embedded with [Sword Light Refraction] broke down the imitation feather inside her mind. It made her recall the true events during the second eruption.

It wasn’t only Schicksal who took action. Anti-Entropy put aside their deep-seated grudges and fought the Second Herrscher along with them. 

Having these parts of her memories erased and rewritten caused Theresa to doubt her grandfather.

Is he hiding more from me?

It did not help that the ‘spheres’ contained information related to the Previous Era technology. There, she found the identity of the feather: Fenghuang Down, Eighth Divine Key.

It is the weapon held by the revered Empyrean, a Previous Era Flamechaser known as Immortal Jingwei.

In the end, Theresa decided to investigate things on her own. There weren’t any opportunities to do so until now. 

Fu Hua, an A-Ranked Valkyrie, needed to be escorted to Siberia. It was an order that came from the headquarters.

Whether Theresa is wrong or not, she asked her most trusted valkyrie to tail Fu Hua. This was the only opportunity she got after one year.

Everything was done under the radar—an unofficial mission, per se.

“Why does it feel like she is aimlessly finding something..?”

Himeko put down her visor. It is an advanced honkai-tech that works like a binocular, but is much more effective.

“She is aimlessly finding something.” 

A voice affirmed her murmurs.

Her entire body tensed up. She swiftly reacted and pulled out a Pri-ARM pistol from her waist. It is far too late to go for her main weapon.

Two seconds passed. She saw the appearance of the visitor just now.

‘I didn’t sense him!’

Being able to silently appear beside an A Rank Valkyrie is a horrifying thing. It is an enemy far above their pay grade.

Himeko’s scrutiny did not last long. The young man with short black hair has a remarkable, borderline ethereal appearance. It is a kind of natural charm unpresent to all she had seen in her life.

In short, his handsomeness is off the charts.

The young man’s cape fluttered as he turned to look at her.

“How do you typically defuse tense moments?” He asked.

“By not appearing unnoticed, darling.”

His eyes widened slightly.

‘She’s still the same…’

His heart skipped a beat. Meeting with the major characters from the game is a great accomplishment for him. Shi Tian previously refrained from recklessly contacting them. 

That changes now.

His hands remained behind his back.

“I expected the little miss principal to take action. It seems like you didn’t do anything for a year?”

It was Himeko’s turn to be surprised.

“You are that thief.”

“Thief? Did you see a thief giving you good stuff?”

“...Fair point.” She paused for a while before asking, “What do you want? There are not a lot of generous people in the world.”

Shi Tian smiled at her response. He could see the tension hidden beneath Himeko’s relaxed looks.

“There is not a lot of time left. Honkai will grow stronger, major eruptions will happen in the span of months, and humanity will face their last trial.”

He described the ‘future’ based on the game. The entirety of the third major eruption up to Kiana’s embrace only took two years. It is a far cry from the somewhat peaceful facade that can still be put up now.

“I gave the small principal a chance to see the truth… or in short, I am looking for allies.” He made a quick correction. “Anti-Entropy is one of them. I cannot trust Schicksal due to the virtue of your Overseer. The entire Second Eruption is directly caused by him. I need to say no more.”

Himeko fell silent. The huge chunk of information he gave straightforwardly was processed by her.

“I am not the type to be easily swayed by words.” She said.

Shi Tian threw a smartphone in her direction. It is incapable of connecting to other networks, basically an isolated device where the evidence is in place.

“If you happen to be swayed by my words, feel free to approach the ME Corp. We’ll talk about the rest of the details then. Until then, aunt.”

Swoosh-!

A gust of wind came. 

Moments later, he was gone.

Himeko dropped the gun and returned it to her holster. She examined the smartphone on her other hand, and then his departing words.

“Aunt…”

She was very offended.

*****

Talking to Himeko is thrilling.

Another milestone was reached. Meeting her in reality made me realize how gorgeous she was compared to the women of my previous world. Heck, everyone here is very very very beautiful.

Letting Kiana try on her battlesuits strengthened this feeling.

No wonder honkai ended up favoring girls in this world.

These thoughts are a flash in the pan. 

Using a mastery-less auxiliary technique, my physical body turned transparent. I am now invisible to the naked eyes. All of the physical body’s operations are concealed beneath the small film.

Then, the method of sheathing one’s aura came next. My spiritual qi and mental fluctuations are thoroughly sealed. The concealment effect of [Sword Light Refraction] is simply exaggerated compared to [Sword Nurturing Pagoda].

Except for Sin Mal’s strange eyes that can slightly pry it open, no one else managed to see through it.

Zoom-!

Crack-!

The sound of mirror breaking emerged. The distance of five kilometers is traversed with a single step.

The girl in front jumped in a startled manner. She turned her entire body to my side, barely enough to catch my hand. The shoulder pat failed.

Fu Hua. Realmless. Sword Heart. Foundation Establishment Body, severely damaged. Suspected Purple Mansion Mind, severely damaged. Mortal Soul, maintained by the presence of honkai energy.

Numerous information flashed in my mind. My knowledge was swiftly sorted out, and even some parts I was unaware got filled in. 

The permanent [Encompassing Eyes] draw judgement both from my knowledge and peeking through the causal lines.

I stopped when it came to the part about her three sizes…

Desolate, indeed.

“Are you looking for me?”

Looking at her eyes, I knew she recognized me.

Chapter 112: Schemes in a Non-Cultivation World

After sparring with Kiana, there are a lot of things to do outside. It is mainly teaching the kids and experimenting with the Dao of Enlightenment.

It turned out there are two modes of enlightenment. One is a weaker but continuous boost to comprehension. The other is a stronger but momentary bout of epiphanies. Both of these depend on my spiritual qi. I can also use its effects on myself. Most importantly, it grows stronger the more cultivators become stronger.

It is another plug-in cheat with great potential.

From two years ago to now, I reaped a lot of benefits as the first immortal cultivator of this world. There are a lot of difficulties, but they are outweighed by the benefits I received.

Twelve supernatural seeds, four unlocked golden orb functions, Purple Mansion Realm cultivation…

Now, I stood amidst the golden orb space. It is still the same darkness with the orb’s brilliance serving as the sole light.

My mind thought of the fourth function.

Buzz-!

Swiftly, the surroundings changed. It turned into a misty mountaintop. Several trees, presumably spiritual plants, emitted traces of dao. The [Encompassing Eyes] identified them as late third grade.

Can I pick them up?

Creak-!

Rumble-!

A monster went out of its camouflage. 

To my surprise, it is a dozen kilometers long azure dragon. Its body circled mid-air, its green pupils flickering with deadly murderous intent.

My first match in this Demon Arena is a dragon!

Azure dragon. Dragon blood. Middle Purple Mansion qi realm. Late Purple Mansion body realm. Late Purple Mansion mental realm. Supernatural Seeds, Water, Clouds, Power.

My judgement did not delve deeper into its origins. I haven’t seen any actual spiritual beasts yet. My subconscious is hastily sorting out all the information related to it.

Roar-!

The dragon did not give me time.

Rumble-!

Buzz-!

The skies turned black instantly. The moment I looked above, I saw a literal tsunami descending. Accompanying it are bolts of lightning, all of which threatened to strike me down.

Buzz-!

Bam-!

I avoided it with [Cloud Seeking Steps]. A portion of my spiritual qi was spent, only to be recovered due to the abundant spiritual qi around.

The thunderstrike scorched the ground. Much to my surprise, it did not shatter easily.

That’s right.

Judging from its concentration, this is a peak third grade spirit vein. The toughness of this place is exceptional, far surpassing Earth.

Bam-!

Buzz-!

My thoughts popped up as I avoided its attacks. It happened three more times before the kilometer-long azure dragon finally decided to use its body.

I have no time to waste. I need to experiment some things here. But, the death of my opponent will eject me from this space.

One decisive strike, just enough to incapacitate it.

Crunch-!

I tried to pick up a tree leaf, only for my hand to go past it. I tried to do the same for the other trees and the same happened.

It left me with no other choice but to use a spell.

Crackle-!

A flame dragon emerged from my palm. It swiftly grew as it rotated around my body, consuming a portion of my spiritual qi. The supernatural seed containing the Dao of Flames became active, imbuing this spell with further strength. Once it reached two meters, it stopped growing.

Rumble-!

After avoiding its thunderbolt for the fifth time, the tsunami finally descended. The azure dragon’s body merged into the unimaginably huge swathe of water, intending to collide against me.

Hum-!

A bright rainbow hue emerged from the small dragon. It flew straight to the tsunami in the sky, its most destructive purple qi now being mixed with the rainbow hue.

Everything can be a sword.

Flick-!

Sou-!

The [Sword Light Refraction] showed its prowess.

Facing this huge spiritual beast, the rainbow light easily went past the surging dao rhymes within the water. The dragon could not react until the light easily cut through its body.

Boom-!

The surrounding water melted. Scorch marks appeared on the dragon’s body. The tsunami spell dissipated into nothingness.

From head to tail, a horrifying burnt wound was left on its body. 

RUMBLE-!

The azure dragon fell to the ground. A small leaf won against a huge tsunami and a dragon.

The tough ground relented to the dragon’s might. It caved in. The remnant aura of [Sword Light Refraction] alone caused damage to its surroundings.

Surprisingly, the “trees” weren’t affected by it.

Only now did I realize the sheer size of this “mountaintop”. My spiritual consciousness traced the dragon’s body and found half of it sprawled halfway through the mountain.

This mountain is bigger than Everest.

Unfortunately, I could not go past the mountaintop.

I popped up two pills to recover my exhausted spiritual qi and mind. Unleashing the [Sword Light Refraction] can only be done once at my current level. I need more restorative pills besides the five or so bottles of qi and mind-restoring pills.

While it is empty, I tried using my Herrscher Core… but to no avail. It remained unresponsive.

Oh.

I instinctively drew honkai energy from the surroundings—it came from the imaginary space. This space does not have the imaginary space, therefore no honkai energy.

Using the small bits of honkai energy in my body, it responded normally.

Roar-!

I didn’t care about the dragon’s dying roars. I tried to pick up a fruit from a certain tree.

Just like before, I failed in doing so. Everything except the azure dragon seems like an illusion. It is apt to say it is a projection. Only the dragon is real.

The entire mountain is filled with first to third grade spiritual plants. Harvesting this entire mountain will make me rich overnight.

Sadly…

It’s like robbing a bank, only to see that the vault’s emptied out.

Fuzz-!

With my Herrscher Authority, I ended the poor dragon’s life.

******

Teaching Anti-Entropy immortal cultivation is something I will never regret.

My one year absence did nothing to stop their experiments. It was the lack of resources that forced them to be cautious step-by-step. More resources meant they can experiment with less restraints.

One week has passed since our return to the orphanage. Nothing much changed except for the children’s enthusiasm towards immortal cultivation. They mainly formed a small competition based on how fast they can learn “magic” spells.

With the occasional guidance of “seniors” (i.e., us), the ones with middle grade spirit roots already entered the early stage Qi Refining Realm.

The harvest from the Demon Arena is good. The azure dragon’s body is a huge treasure. 

For once, its monster pill. Unlike humans, beasts form a monster pill similar to the Golden Cores, but it is far weaker.

It is a translucent blood-like orb containing the most potent power of the said beast. Be it their most concentrated blood essence (bloodline) or dao rhymes, everything is stored within it.

In this azure dragon’s case, others call it “Dragon Heart”. It made me remember a certain auxiliary technique that can enable the simultaneous cultivation of all three cultivation techniques.

I only need to gain some other spiritual plants to use it.

Aside from that, its flesh reached seven kilometers. I don’t know how many people have to eat to finish it. Even Kiana’s black-hole level stomach got filled after eating a tenth of it. 

It was our first time eating a spiritual beast. It is very filling and slightly improved our qi and body cultivation realms.

There are also its claws, whiskers, eyes, scales, and so on. I sent some materials to Anti-Entropy, mainly for creating spiritual artifacts.

My mind returned to the illusory mountain.

It is merely a peak third grade spirit vein, but it must have existed for thousands of years. The amount of spiritual plants it housed is insane. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get any of them.

The future scene of our currently desolate low fifth grade spirit vein made me excited.

“Fu…”

With my bare eyes, I can see nothing except endless blue and white. Flying high up in Earth’s atmosphere does that. My physical body did not feel any strain whatsoever.

Both my mental and physical cultivation reached the late stage. My qi cultivation fell behind at the middle stage.

My spiritual consciousness began to spread out. 

Ten miles.

One hundred miles.

Five hundred miles.

One thousand miles.

The total range of my spiritual consciousness is one thousand miles, roughly around 1,600 kilometers. It covered more than a seventh of the entire Siberia.

I did not scan deeply. Only when there are some unusual honkai energy readings will I highlight them. My spiritual consciousness followed as I flew at a fast speed.

Just then, the presence of a Sword Heart attracted my attention. The class rep’s familiar face flashed to my mind.

Unsurprisingly, she looked up. She could not discern my location, however.

Not even a second later, I found Himeko tailing Fu Hua. She stood more than a few kilometers away, looking at her with a scope.

The present I left…

It’s good enough to plant the seeds of doubt. Otto kept a lot of things from Theresa. Siegfried’s status as a rebel, the truth of Cecilia’s death, Kiana’s involvement in Project Sirin…

It is exactly what pushed her to ultimately join forces with Anti-Entropy in the game

I put aside contacting them for a while. I continued my usual search.

…

I found another one.

The presence of a dead Herrscher Core grabbed my attention.

Seven Thunders of Retribution.

Its wielder, Raven, was startled by my spiritual consciousness sweep. I retracted it soon after, but not without seeing her vigilant state.

The inspection did not take long. Siberia’s length is around 7,000 kilometers. It is akin to taking a garden stroll. Thirty minutes is enough to inspect the entire Siberian territory.

The power I possessed manifested tangibly. I can do a lot of things I could not do before.

The only remaining threats aside from the honkai are Otto and Kevin. Everyone else, I am confident of defeating.

A Herrscher’s Authority and immortal cultivation…

I saw how terrifying this combination can be.

With Foundation Establishment Realm as a minimum, they will be leagues ahead of their original counterparts.

These thoughts remained for a while before my position shifted.

Buzz-!

Using time as a scale, I went back to the city where Fu Hua stayed.

Both she and Himeko remained within the city. There aren’t any other tails. 

…

Wait a minute.

Fu Hua. Otto.

Raven. World Serpent. Kevin.

These two…

I have a hunch they are cooking something… or at least want to see something.

My strength? Maybe.

Su managed to spot me within the imaginary space. It’s not impossible for Kevin to do the same.

As for Otto… perhaps he’s doing a blind guess?

I put it at the back of my mind. I can do a lot more compared to before. All that’s left is to see what they are up to.

For now, the reunion with the second sword cultivator takes place.

Chapter 111: The Middle Ground

Fighting on a losing ground.

That is Seele’s current state. Her other self was quick to point it out. The best she can do now is to take any present opportunities.

With Kiana gone, isn’t this a godsend?

“...for the past year? Aside from traveling, I settled some things. Fighting other people. You can do it, too.”

“Fighting?”

Her interest was piqued when fighting was involved. She never properly fought someone, not even once. She is a Foundation Establishment cultivator who never unleashed her power.

“I broke a lot of things. It took a long time to get it under control…”

“Your new body? That is normal. Everyone else went through the same experience.”

“Even Sister Kiana?”

“Even Kiana.”

Seele never had to think about their topic. It was Shi Tian who actively led her through the talks.

“I… I can’t do it. Fighting…”

She sat near to his right. He saw her expression change.

‘She didn’t go through the fear of kidnapping… and Veliona isn’t spurring her on.’

“I understand it. But sometimes, we have to fight.” He then asked something, “You used your power to heal everyone, right?”

“Yes. It was very easy. Everyone’s condition improved. I thought Cocolia Matushka would succeed using my power…”

Seele’s face turned complex.

“I did not expect Sister Kiana to stop us. She is also very strong, too. I can’t… stop her.”

The scene of Kiana stopping them never disappeared from her mind. Part of her did not struggle since she knew Cocolia was in the wrong. Seele merely held a glimmer of hope that the experiment would succeed with the virtue of her strength.

Her other self also contributed to it. She was impressed by the level of power Seele reached with immortal cultivation. Her physical body is on the next level, and as such, it has a higher chance of opening her Natural Stigma’s secrets.

Unfortunately for them, Kiana’s overwhelming strength halted it all. Her hunch from Seele’s “vacation” was proven true with Anti-Entropy scouts confirming Cocolia’s movements.

Since then, that possibility never came true.

Seele was deeply aware of her weakness. She still accepted it. Shi Tian wanted to subtly change that notion. It would only lead to her inability to fight when a crucial moment comes.

“Then work hard.”

“Ah?”

“Work hard to be able to stop Kiana.”

She was speechless. 

{“I hate to admit. He is right. You are already competing with your sister. It won’t hurt to do more.”}

‘That’s not what he’s saying!’

Her strange expression was seen by Shi Tian. He knew she was talking with Veliona. Seele’s panicked expression flashed before it went away. If there was one thing she learned from Bronya, it is her flat look.

Her other self soon fell silent.

Seele continued talking with Shi Tian, unaware that her other self is plotting something else.

{‘That might be your only chance…’}

She entertained the prospects of defeating Kiana and snatching Shi Tian from her grasp. She was the exact opposite of Seele who hated fighting.

For the things she believes are right, she won’t hesitate to fight.

She wouldn’t just watch Seele become yet another blue-haired girl who gets rejected.

Just then, she sensed a gaze cross through all obstacles. 

It was Bronya.

‘So it is Kiana.’

Unbeknownst to Seele, Bronya immediately uncovered the truth. She noticed something was off when she was chatting with “Shi Tian” three weeks after their departure. He said some things that were completely unlike him.

Although Bronya’s emotional quotient is questionable, her memory is top-notch. It was further strengthened by immortal cultivation. A simple recall is enough to determine it wasn’t Shi Tian.

After all, he said some subtle things like “feeling closer to Kiana” and the likes. That caused untold damage to Seele’s morale.

Bronya wanted to uncover things when they returned, but only Kiana did. Shi TIan was nowhere to be seen; with Kiana being very guarded to his whereabouts. She also became very mature during that time, a trait lacking from their previous meetings.

Her assassin instincts came to play. She concluded that something uncontrollable happened to him. Kiana is hiding it from them, most probably to avoid worrying them.

Now that Shi Tian is back, Bronya wanted to know what happened.

She only has a few friends. It is natural to care for them. Not doing anything feels uncomfortable for her.

‘Seele is…’

Bronya knew what was going on. Kiana was gone for a few hours and Seele went in for the kill. She has been fully aware of her feelings since a year ago. She even supported her with advice, though some of them are dubious. 

She practically advocated for Seele to steal him away from Kiana. That made her feel very bad towards Kiana who had considered her a friend.

Her concern for Shi Tian, support for Seele, and guilt towards Kiana all ended with a sigh.

Bronya is the middle ground of the three… and she is torn apart between them.

‘No. I need to do something…’

*****

Fu Hua was picked up by a Schicksal affiliated plane. She had been staying in the Taixuan Mountain in-between Otto’s assignments.

Unintentionally… or intentionally, they passed through the place where Chiyou was slain.

‘...Chiyou.’

Facing the mistakes of her past, she fell silent. 

Fu Hua is aware of this event. Her [Sword Heart] made her take back the xinyin mind seals containing her memories. Naturally, she remembered Fuxi and Nuwa as her good friends.

To the monster they died fighting for, her feelings are very complicated. 

Anger? Frustration? Regrets?

She does not know.

Just then, her [Sword Heart] throbbed. It immediately gave her an indescribable feeling.

Her vision soon changed. Under the depths of the ocean, she saw faint traces of rainbow-like light. 

The moment her eyes gazed upon it, her eyes “saw” a silhouette. The man wore a white cape atop his blue-black hanfu. He merely stood midair, commanding the rain until a rainbow light descended from the sky.

Fu Hua’s vision returned to normal. Only the deep sword intent hidden beneath the sea was left.

She headed to the pilot’s cabin and asked some questions.

“While acquiring the honkai beast’s corpse, have you experienced strange things?”

“Strange things?” The valkyrie pilot thought for a while. “Everyone felt very apprehensive when entering its range. It should be the remaining pressure from its corpse.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Thinking of the sword will and Otto’s lack of information, Fu Hua had a guess.

The swordsman from before…

She will meet him again.

Chapter 110: Mihoyo's Greatest Work

Arranging the farming space is just the first episode.

“Are you sure it will be fine?”

“That’s a fully working fourth grade formation. It can sustain damage well.”

Formation plates can be used from the get-go, but it becomes stronger if it was properly arranged. The eight flags can be used to form a self-sustaining shield that blocks Golden Core level attacks. 

Arranging it that way allows lower-leveled cultivators to fully use formations.

With that, we flew from the garden’s opposite side. The spar I promised must be fulfilled.

Kiana is more than fifty meters away from me.

My spiritual consciousness soon clashed with hers. It contended like two domains pushing each other back.

Knowing she couldn’t beat me, she immediately retracted it to a smaller radius.

The advantage of my strong mental cultivation showed. Kiana is only within the early stage of Purple Mansion Realm. Resolving Sirin’s resentment might have a lot to do with it.

Two wills sharing a single soul is a rare phenomenon, even in cultivation standards.

Zoom-!

Her figure flashed. Several afterimages were left behind her. She did not choose to close our distance; just circling around me.

Buzz-!

A suppressive force came out of nowhere. Honkai energy flared up from within my surroundings.

It tried its best to push my body down, but to no avail. 

My [Encompassing Eyes] is active since the beginning. [Cloud Seeking Steps] did not have any uniqueness; its afterimages are easy to be seen through. It is akin to an add-on. 

Without [Great Accomplishment], it will remain that way.

Fuzz-!

A circle of frost came from beneath my feet. The Herrscher Core acted like a faucet. The stronger one’s physical body, the stronger the water flow becomes.

At my current level, I am far beyond most Herrschers. All thanks to my Late Purple Mansion physical body.

Shatter-!

Two lines of void emerged and slashed at the incoming frost. Kiana dealt with the attack I gave her.

Hum-!

A net with small openings came from all sides, thoroughly destroying my AoE attack.

Just then, my next move is finished.

Countless motes of gold-brown light gathered in front of me. It turned into a miniature mountain. 

The [Mountain Raising Art] showed its might.

Rumble-!

Kiana was forced to remain still. The “weight” of that mountain is not a physical phenomenon; it burdens both the soul and mind.

In short, a soul and mental attack hybrid.

Sou-!

A black javelin shot straight to the mountain. It fought back for a few seconds before perishing along the javelin.

In the face of a Herrscher’s authority, Purple Mansion Realm does not suffice. Spiritual qi consumption alone is a problem.

Still, I carried on to my next attack. 

A decisive one.

Tap.

My position shifted. I am now an arm’s length away from Kiana. Her back is completely exposed—literally and figuratively.

Buzz-!

A world of gray tainted our surroundings. The flow of time slowed down. Even my current physical body could not withstand its effects.

Swoosh-!

Swoosh-!

Two ropes made of blank void attempted to entrap me.

Unfortunately, Kiana is too naive.

I have a sword.

Cling-!

The chiming of bells resounded. A white light followed suit. The [Sword Light Refraction] and [True Form] elevated this mental attack to the next level.

These intangible ‘things’ shook her mind greatly. 

Just like Sirin’s experience, her Global Time Fracture is forcibly broken.

Fuzz-!

It was my turn to create an ice hoop that tied her up.

My hand patted her bare shoulder.

“I win.”

“Hn..!”

Kiana was freed from her constraints. She gave me a helpless look.

“You neglected some courses I mentioned in the video.” I scolded her. “Mental defense is crucial during actual fights.”

“But… I didn’t have much time.”

“...You can study it later.”

With this spar over, I took the time to appreciate her current attire. Her double-braids are fully undone. Her blue eyes remained the same. Her shoulders and back are completely exposed. 

The notable change is her ‘skirt’. It is lower than what I could remember. Only a portion of her thighs remained exposed, with her black “stockings” covering the rest.

All I can say is…

The game’s far less stimulating than this.

I have full control over my mind. Messy thoughts and the likes can be easily expelled. I can be in a perpetual state of clearheadedness. 

I chose not to.

Except for some really bad thoughts, I left the rest untouched.

Just then, I recalled her battlesuits that marked in my mind. The ones that made her look really beautiful.

“I have some outfits in mind. Can you try it on?”

The Tuna’s eyes lit up.

“Does it look good?”

“Yes.”

“Show it to me!”

*****

Thank you, Mihoyo.

I still had these lingering thoughts after letting Kiana try the outfits out. Both of us enjoyed that process. It took us three hours before we left the imaginary space.

Kiana with the Flamescion battlesuit…

I forgot to breathe when I saw that.

Her New Year’s battlesuit also suited her very well.

Finally, the Finality battlesuit.

Although she lacked the aura of the Herrscher of Finality, it was replaced by her cultivator aura.

She is jaw-droppingly beautiful.

My mind is still disturbed by this event. I can’t help but notice this irregularity. I have been with Kiana for seven months. I never got to see her in this way. Not until now.

To solve this, I separated with her for a while. Kiana went off to see her father in the Far East. 

I am left contemplating life on the orphanage’s rooftop.

The hard roof does not matter when I sit down. My physical body is far beyond most of the people in this world. Things like this won’t matter.

…

I am glad to have given out immortal cultivation.

An average human lifespan is seventy years. Su and the other Flamechasers can live for five thousand years due to their emperor-class honkai beast genes.

A Purple Mansion Realm can live for three thousand years. It can go as far as five thousand years if their physical cultivation is up to par.

Thinking of the future without her… them…

Well, I can think of the future now.

My current strength grants more confidence to get through the honkai. There are a lot of ways to play things out.

For example, fighting with Kevin.

I can summon my high-level mental power. No matter what happens to me, I can get past his “final trial” and contact the Cocoon of Finality. I can pass on the position of Finality to Kiana.

I can also circumvent Kevin and use Promy’s backdoor for myself. Then, open a way up to the Cocoon and deal with Honkai once and for all. I have Su’s help and my high-level mental power.

Of course, these are the riskier plans. There are a lot of safer ones. Ensuring Kiana’s safety, replicating the canon events to have the Herrschers of Origin and Truth, and so on.

“Fu…”

My mind wandered between idle and serious thoughts. A burning motivation welled up inside me.

I want to protect this future with others.

Just then, I was disturbed by the arrival of someone.

I looked back and saw Seele wearing a long-sleeved sweater. It is paired with a knee-length skirt.

“Oh. Uhm… I didn’t expect you to be here.”

I used my sword cultivation to sheathe my aura. Only Sin Mal can penetrate this sheathe using her talent.

“Bronya’s teaching them?”

“Yes.” She nodded as she replied. “I have some free time so… I came up.”

Seele stopped talking. I realized it was her lack of topics to talk about.

“You can sit here if you want.”

“Oh. Thank you…”

She did not hesitate to do so. Both of her hands are placed on the back of her thighs, holding her skirt from falling.

I did not look at her further.

“It’s our first time talking properly. I am sure there are a lot of things we can’t say in the chat…”

Chapter 109: World's Strife

The entire day ended up with me single-handedly introducing all of the kids to immortal cultivation. The experience of casting spells feels very novel for them. Their eagerness to learn more is in sharp contrast to the Tuna’s first encounter.

It did not help that they were kids who are easily fascinated by things.

Although, teaching them is too time-consuming. Their comprehension varied along with their Spirit Roots.

Fortunately, I came up with the plan of creating comprehensive videos and handing out jade slips. I can conduct a lesson once a week. There is also the trio who proposed to help me out in teaching.

Now…

“You brought soil?”

Kiana stared at the small piece of soil in my hands. It came from outside the orphanage. It is frozen solid and had to be gradually melted with fire. Even so, it is basically unusable for farming purposes.

An auxiliary technique came in handy. Spiritual soil can be made with crushed bits of spiritual stones. Anti-Entropy built spiritual artifacts capable of continuously condensing spirit stones. Resources are not a major problem here.

“I will build a garden here. You won’t mind, right?”

“No, no.” She shook her head. “How will they last here?”

We are inside the imaginary space. Ordinary items will break down due to the space’s unique nature. Only spiritual artifacts and honkai-related things will survive.

“Watch and see.”

“Hm…”

Kiana began thinking hard when I did not give her the answer.

“These rocks… They will float indefinitely, right?”

“Yeah? It’s a permanent thing.”

“That’s good.”

I reappeared to the other rock. My spiritual consciousness enveloped it.

Then…

Rumble-!

I began cutting it layer by layer. It soon turned into a stable floating ground, merely separated by their edges.

Its surface area extended to a quarter of the warehouse.

Rumble-!

Rumble-!

…

The rest of the rocks, even the one where we put our bed on, got turned into a ground. It took up more or less a warehouse’s surface area.

Once all of them gathered, I used an auxiliary technique. The gaps between them disappeared as they merged together. My spiritual qi reserves did not get affected much.

These rocks are still within the range of “normal rocks”. They look similar to the ones on the Moon. Either way, I am using them merely as footholds.

My mind connected to the golden orb space. I thought of the farming space.

Buzz-!

My sight changed. A huge patch of translucent gold appeared on the rocky ground. It stretched all the way to the edges of the man-made ground. Most of the footing was covered by it, leaving a small space the equivalent of a modern house.

It’s alright.

Swoosh-!

The flow of spiritual qi converged in this area. A flash of golden light emerged and swept through the ground. Every time it did so, it removed the rough surfaces, turning them spotlessly smooth.

The changes extended to the space above us. It lasted until I vaguely felt a mysterious aura from within the farm’s coverage.

“What happened? The surrounding space… I can’t manipulate them.”

“Master’s gift. I turned it into a farm.”

“Farm?!”

A look of disbelief spawned on her face.

“You are not the type to farm…”

“You think I only know about swords?”

“Yeah.”

“...”

I chose to repress my incoming teasing. I focused on placing the bunch of soil dug from the outside world. They are already considered as first grade spiritual soil due to my preparations.

They can steadily grow in environments with high spiritual qi concentrations. Coupled with batches of first, second, and third grade spiritual plants, it won’t take long for them to evolve from ordinary spiritual soil into something else.

The rest of the time is spent spreading these soil out. Then came planting down seeds. They are accumulated from previous consumption of other spiritual plants. Most of them had seeds.

The majority of them came from a sack containing second grade spiritual rice. 

What came next is watering them with another technique and arranging their ecosystem.

In the end, only three-fourths of the surface was filled. Worse, there is still a lot of unused farming space remaining.

Next time, I had to bring more rocks.

I looked behind me and saw Kiana squatting down. She is observing one of the plants. It has grown a piece of leaf at a visible pace.

“It’s not a normal farm.” She commented. “Does this mean we will have unlimited food to eat?”

“Definitely.”

“Then we can grow strong by eating!”

I can tell that is what she looked forward to.

“Oh! What else are you planning here?”

“Building a house here.”

“For… us?”

“Yeah.”

“...”

I can tell she is daydreaming.

I let her be and started estimating the materials needed for the new two-storey house.

If all of them are made of spiritual materials…

*****

Kiana never thought of the future.

Most of her life is related to honkai. She knew its might and what it could do. Everyone else does, too.

Anti-Entropy, Schicksal, World Serpent…

All of them are fighting the honkai in their ways.

She never thought of what the future could entail.

‘Farming… just us two…’

She paid greater emphasis to the latter point. Kiana’s advantage is the time she spent with Shi Tian. 

If she claimed second on his closest friends, nobody would dare claim first!

‘Hehe…’

*****

“Siberia… What is he up to?”

Fu Hua is Otto’s A Rank Valkyrie. Without Otto’s orders, she stayed on the Taixuan Mountain most of the time.

Now, she received a brand new order: to scout Anti-Entropy’s hidden bases in Siberia.

She is aware of Schicksal’s hold over Siberia. It used to be the home of Babylon Labs, the root of Sirin's awakening as a Herrscher.

Up to now, cleaning the excessive honkai energy in its atmosphere is on agenda. Except for a few cities open to the public, everywhere else is restricted.

“He did not say anything else.”

Fu Hua felt there was something fishy to it, yet all she can do is comply. 

Otto Apocalypse does not do pointless things.

“Otto…”

*****

The Imaginary Space exists within the borders of worlds. It is the place between heaven and earth. The real world is earth; the Imaginary Tree is heaven.

That was why the Imaginary Tree is infinitely more dangerous than the Imaginary Space. No one bounded by reality can reach it. It is a higher-dimension unreachable by others. 

It can only be seen, never to be touched.

A fraction of power was sent out from the untouchable heaven. It formed an independent subspace within the imaginary space.

The Theater of Domination.

“This is…”

Amidst the empty stage, a girl stood blankly.

Fragments of memories began emerging like a tide. The girl’s life was extremely tragic. Her so-called parents abused her to death. Her body was thrown in a river. 

The confusion she felt turned to endless resentment. A hint of sentience remained, something resulted by another power.

“I can be… everyone. Everyone’s anger is also mine..!”

The Herrscher of Domination was born.

*****

A/N: We are all going to the next huge arc. It will be divided into several smaller arcs. As to what it leads to... that's something for the future ;)

Chapter 108: The Fraudulent Representative

A/N: Minor changes on the Cloud Seeking Steps. The time scaling only lasts for two hours at most, not twelve hours. I wrote it while feeling sleepy. Apologies.

*****

Techniques library.

Gacha.

PvE.

Farm.

I can’t see a pattern.

It can only be attributed to the golden orb. It follows zero conventional rules. Even its novice gift turned out to be a disaster.

I left the golden orb space. Holding Kiana’s hand once again, we returned to our “rooms”. 

“We need to postpone our spar.”

“Hum?!”

Her head instantly turned to my side.

Seeing her wronged look, I conceded.

“Nevermind. That can wait for later.”

She did not say anything as a smile appeared on her face.

“Don’t you need to take a bath?” I asked.

“Bath? I stopped taking one half a year ago.”

Seemingly sensing my stare, she hastily added:

“That was when I was training hard, you know?!”

“It won’t hurt to take one now.”

“...You’re right.”

Just like that, I managed to convince the Tuna to take a bath.

*****

The orphanage’s breakfast remained as orderly as before. Even the naughtiest kids stayed to do the dishes, all to meet Cocolia’s expectations.

They, who did not know her predicament, did not think much of her long absence.

As soon as the chores ended, all of them gathered at the courtyard. 

Shi Tian’s impromptu magic show yesterday caught their eyes. He promised to teach them tomorrow… which is today.

‘Alright. That’s all of them. Eighty seven.’

Their number made him sigh inwardly.

Although Cocolia’s desperation led to her unforgivable acts, she started out with a pure intent to help.

‘[Two Phase Art]… done.’

Their surroundings turned into a middle first grade spirit vein. The new staff nor the children did not notice anything amiss. Only the awakened cultivators could see these changes.

Sin Mal watched it separately from Bronya, Seele, and Kiana. She remained inside the office, stalking them from her favorite spot.

The ground beneath him rumbled. It soon turned into a two meter white stage. 

The Dao of Earth made extraction of mortal materials easy, hence the gathered marble stage.

Soon, minute amounts of spiritual qi were attracted to enter their meridians. There are no requirements for it. The middle first grade spirit vein sufficed for the consumption.

Soon, eighty seven kids completed their spirit root awakenings. 

All of them had varying degrees of spirit roots.

Out of them, seventeen had middle grade spirit roots. The rest had low grade spirit roots.

‘All of them… honkai really knows its targets.’ He thought. ‘I can pass on the techniques for improving their spirit roots…’

The plans in his mind did not stop him from teaching them. Some of the kids are skeptical, but that changed when one of them managed to perform a spell in one go.

Shi Tian’s eyes could not only see Spirit Roots, but also hints on whoever has good comprehension.

What remained next is a snowball of questions—of how they could also do such things.

Just then, a brand new seed emerged out of Shi Tian’s crystal dantian. He had to pause for a second to see its changes.

‘This…’

His eyes suddenly turned golden. More than ten thousand techniques swiftly got sorted out of his mind.

‘Dao of Enlightenment.’

He was in disbelief.

It is definitely not that easy to gain supernatural seeds, more so one as complex as this. Yet, he managed to get another one just like that.

His spiritual consciousness ‘touched’ the seed.

Hum-!

It trembled before feeding him back information.

‘No wonder…’

Three words stood out from the said information.

Ancestor of Dao.

Shi Tian is the first immortal cultivator of this world. He began spreading enlightenment to the denizens of this world, opening the option to cultivate. He is considered as the Ancestor of Dao, and as such, easily gained the supernatural seed.

Unlike other supernatural seeds, it grows stronger not with the realm, but on the progress of his enlightened people. So long as they progress, the supernatural seed will naturally upgrade to a higher level.

‘Honkai… you’re really blocking my path.’

Without the honkai’s threat, Shi Tian could spread immortal cultivation properly. With honkai’s strength growing in proportion to the civilization’s advancements, there are a lot of things he cannot do.

Even Welt Yang’s developed cure could not be distributed en masse.

Time is their enemy. They could advance an entire civilization’s progress as a whole, but that only brings their doomsday forward.

During times like this, it is best to focus on creating high-level combat powers—the ones with middle to high grade spirit roots. Their strength rapidly spikes at the Foundation Establishment Realm, being capable of dealing with emperor-class honkai beasts.

Shi Tian’s decision to awaken these children stemmed from this intent. He wanted to see whether honkai can be used as an indicator of cultivation talents.

As for the unnamed casualties resulting from disregarding others…

‘...I will remember.’’

Shi Tian soon returned to reality.

*****

Time.

It is the authority held by the Cocoon of Finality. It resides dormantly within the solar system. Its longing unintentionally caused the collapse of numerous civilizations. 

It is akin to a small kid playing around with a hill of ants. The kid longs for the ants to become its companion, but unfortunately, they were too fragile. They could not withstand the kid. 

It is a higher-dimensional being longing for companionship amongst the lower-dimensional ones. Its small actions are big in the eyes of humanity.

A small change happened fifty thousand years ago.

Humanity was able to forcefully attach a backdoor into the Cocoon. It let them do as they pleased.

Unfortunately, the said backdoor, Prometheus, fell to the Cocoon’s influence. It no longer acted within its directives. She was influenced by its nature, misinterpreting its longing as a pure evil will hell-bent on destroying humanity.

The Previous Era A.I. turned into the current Will of Honkai. It is the Cocoon’s representative in destroying humanity.

Fortunately, its original directive wasn’t erased. It is still a backdoor; it is also responsible for maintaining the order of Herrschers. It accomplished its mission while becoming corrupted. 

Time.

It is the authority belonging to the Cocoon of Finality. The rest of its other authorities are merely lower-leveled derivatives.

As such, the Cocoon is sensitive to changes over time.

It happened that the unsealing of Shi Tian’s polluted mental power stirred up a wave. It brought onto brand new future possibilities, completely disrupting the future of this solar system.

Although they disappeared moments later, its traces remained. The Cocoon never forgot about that.

Its intent was misinterpreted by the Will of Honkai. Shi Tian became a hateful leader of humanity marked by the Cocoon.

To that, it came down to one thought:

There is no need to maintain the Herrschers’ order of descent.

The honkai was limited to the progress of humanity as a whole. The Cocoon did not want to destroy them mindlessly, merely giving them a chance to ‘grow’. Even the Will of Honkai could not infringe on that.

But, if it is a small manipulation of its own rules…

It can.

The emergence of a Herrscher went underway.

Chapter 107: Farming For Real

“The places you visited…”

Upon returning to the familiar bakery, we were greeted by the owner. Another round of bottomless eating began.

“The limit is not only on distances. It’s on duration.”

“So… you can teleport across the world as long as you were there an hour ago?”

“Yes.”

The newly upgraded [Cloud Seeking Steps] has a passive and active effect. Its passive effect lies in its increase in movement speed. Its active effect, on the other hand, works two ways. 

I can either scale my spiritual qi consumption on spatial distance or the duration I left a place.

Teleporting from Earth to the imaginary space is impossible with my current qi realm—if spatial distance is used as the basis. It is a higher realm far out of Purple Mansion Realm.

However, if I use “time”, it will consume much less; because we came out from there half an hour ago. The longer the time passes, the more spiritual qi it will consume.

By the second hour, I will no longer be able to sustain that travel.

That applies to everywhere else. Higher dimensions won’t matter; only time.

The complexity of the Dao of Time is truly fascinating.

“I can’t see much use for it.”

“How about we spar? You and me.”

“That’s a good idea!”

Her eyes lit up.

“We can use anything, even honkai. Whoever gets put to danger first loses.”

“I’m in. When will we do it?”

“Tomorrow. We still have to settle our rooms.”

*****

“Liliya. Is that who I think it is?”

“Positive. He is the legendary brother they told us about.”

Shi Tian halted his descent to the stairs. His gaze swept over to the hallway, where two girls could be seen peeking on their door. They have light blue and pink hairs, respectively.

‘Another nonchalant stalkers… no, wait. They’re just like us…’

Rozaliya is fiery and reckless; Liliya is calm and collected. That was the exact duo Kiana and Shi Tian were.

‘Gray Serpent hasn’t done it yet…’

Aside from the noticeable honkai corruption they suffered from, he saw nothing else.

‘I hope they have good enough spirit roots…’

Shi Tian’s attention did not linger for long before he went down.

There, he met the new arrival.

Kiana and Seele are talking to the newly arrived Bronya. Unlike Seele who visibly grew up, Bronya’s changes remained very minimal. She is still the same old duck.

For a few seconds, Bronya’s gaze remained on him.

‘Was it really a special case? He, too, grew up…’

She put aside this small thought.

“How is Miss Cocolia?” He asked.

“She is treated well in terms of prison standards.”

It was Bronya’s turn to ask this time.

“The Bronya heard you will stay in the orphanage.”

“Yes. We will stay here for a longer time.”

He explained their plan to teach the children here. Kiana no longer had any reason to travel—her father’s living well in the Far East. She forced him not to stir up trouble, which was then backed by Welt Yang.

The high-end combat power of Anti-Entropy exploded with immortal cultivation’s existence. Thus, they no longer remained as passive as before.

It removed Siegfried’s need to draw attention. They can already handle Schicksal’s forces. Similarly, it gave Kiana a reason to stay in one place.

The orphanage is a good choice.

Seeing the three of them chatting together, Shi Tian relaxed.

‘There aren’t many threats for now… except for Otto and Kevin.’

His current strength warranted safety to most. There is still a lot he hasn’t tried out. Cultivation aside, Shi Tian’s honkai adaptability and the Herrscher Core aren’t put to use yet. There is no telling how strong he had become. The spar he proposed to Kiana is one way of finding that out.

‘Give me three, no four years… I will find a way to harness that mental power and… put an end to honkai.’

Soon, he rejoined their conversation.

*****

Ring-!

I was instantly blasted out of my trance. My qi cultivation session stopped. The heavenly comfort of the late third grade bed tempted me to continue lying down.

A heavy weight disrupted my thoughts.

“Heh… A dragon…”

No matter how far I distance myself, I wake up with Kiana using me as a body pillow.

Last night passed by quickly. My distorted sense of time was barely sustained by that alarm clock.

I heard it was developed by Welt Yang. It is an alarm clock filled with intricate carvings of heaven and earth patterns. It is a middle second grade artifact designed to disturb a cultivator’s mind.

“Hum… It’s already morning..?”

Her bright blue eyes met mine. Her messy double braid spoke volumes of her bad sleeping posture.

She is nothing like an elegant jade beauty.

“Mn…”

Kiana continued acting like there was nothing wrong. She removed her arms on me, stood up, and started stretching.

I followed suit and stored the bed inside my storage ring. Then, I came inside the golden orb space and claimed my daily techniques.

Ever since my [Cloud Seeking Steps] reached [Great Accomplishment]—with the [Taiji Steps] doing so as a bonus—I gained insights about the Dao of Time.

I tried to find techniques similar to [Cloud Seeking Steps] but to no avail. This led to me finding more time-based techniques. It is broadening my horizon, nothing else.

I have way too much to learn, after all.

Buzz-!

The golden orb suddenly let out a flash of golden light. It travelled through space and reached my forehead in an instant.

Akin to jade slips, it fed me with new information.

…

“Huh.”

I expected the golden orb to change with each major realm. That did not happen. The technique and draw functions appeared randomly.

Now, two new functions have opened up. One of them is very useful to my current situation. The other one is broken if used right.

First, the Demon Arena.

It creates a demon—beasts—on the same level as me. It will have nothing but rational bloodthirst, forcing it to fight me to the death. This function can be opened once every ten days. It does not consume my spiritual qi.

I can voluntarily forfeit too. It will waste ten days of waiting, though.

Second, Farming Space.

I can turn an imaginary space into an exclusive Farming Space. I am required to find the spiritual soil and spiritual plants to fill it up.

Its sole function, however, is to boost spiritual plant growth by a thousand times. This depends on my qi realm.

For reference, peak Qi Refining plants take a hundred years to grow. Peak Foundation Establishment takes a thousand years; Peak Purple Mansion Realm takes ten thousand years.

A multiplier of ten is present to them. That was why I emphasized the “if used right” part.

Qi Refining plants will grow up in more than a month. Foundation Establishment plants will grow in a year. Purple Mansion? Ten years.

This solves most of the problems with resources.

As for the farming space’s size, it is roughly the same as a factory warehouse. I can maximize its space by creating staircases of fields…

It seems like I am no longer solely aura farming.

I will farm for real.

Chapter 106: Forbidden Act, Handholding

After leaving the office, I went back to Kiana. She stayed on the first floor.

“Can you bring me to your space?”

“Um. Was it the [Cloud Seeking Steps]?”

“Yes. I have a feeling I’ll use it soon. I can’t teleport long distances like you.”

A tinge of confusion appeared on her face.

“Is it a problem? We won’t be separating much. I already found my stinky old man..” She paused before continuing, “That’s right. I haven’t introduced you to him yet!”

Siegfried…

“Let’s meet him this month?”

“Sure.” I agreed.

Kiana soon handed out her palm. I touched it with my right hand. I have a stinging suspicion this isn’t necessary… but I let her do as she pleases.

Moments later, I found myself back in the imaginary space. The extremely thick concentration of spiritual qi felt very pleasing.

“This might take a few hours.”

“That’s alright. I can wait. I will give Seele a heads up…”

Kiana’s figure soon disappeared.

This girl…

I can feel her complex feelings towards me. She thought she was hiding it well, but the changes are far too drastic compared to the normal Tuna.

It wasn’t just her. Seele too.

The spiritual consciousness of a Purple Mansion can detect changes in emotions, so long as they remain unguarded. Kiana can hide it from me, but not always.

“Fu…”

This comes for later.

I began thinking of the [Cloud Seeking Steps]. The hard to describe dao rhymes danced around my eyes, showing me the changes occurring in nature. It is complementing my thousands of cross-references and other knowledge. It is piling up my mastery of [Cloud Seeking Steps].

All of my techniques and spells are at [Small Accomplishment]. The others are still a long way from [Great Accomplishment]... except for [Cloud Seeking Steps].

There is a reason why it only had a hundred pages. It is simple and short, yet its purpose is not just a placeholder. 

At its base, [Cloud Seeking Steps] is slightly worse than other light techniques in my possession. It is compensated by how easy it is to learn. Meaning, it has no other power except for afterimages and fast movement. In terms of speed, it is also inferior to most techniques.

That changes in its [Great Accomplishment] mastery. I can integrate another “technique” with [Cloud Seeking Steps], regardless of the said technique’s mastery.

At that mastery, a one-time opportunity for enlightenment emerges solely for the two techniques’ integration. 

[Cloud Seeking Steps] will gain a new power and even faster movement speed. That makes up its weakness in the early stages. Most importantly, its nature of being easy to cultivate remains unchanged.

It is the equivalent of learning elementary math and gaining knowledge of advanced algebra. Strange, but that’s how cultivation works.

Simply put, [Cloud Seeking Steps] pays off in the later stages. That is how it stands out from the rest of my light techniques. It turns a complex technique simple while retaining its power.

My trance continued until a low humming sound came to my ears.

I am surrounded by white clouds…

*****

The moment Shi Tian stepped into the [Great Accomplishment] mastery, several kilometer long clouds engulfed him deeply. It contained a strange force that allowed him to comprehend the nature of his to-be-integrated technique, [Taiji Inversion]. It is the unique aspect contained within the [Cloud Seeking Steps].

In a daze, he found himself understanding it to [Great Accomplishment]. He has newfound applications of two elements: Five Elements and Yin-Yang.

[Taiji Inversion] imposed the ‘reversal’ of one’s footsteps. 

The Purple Mansion Realm allows it to manipulate space with the Dao of Five Elements and Dao of Yin and Yang. 

Soon, the final stage came. [Taiji Inversion] began to merge with the [Cloud Seeking Steps]. The reversal of all things met with the method of stepping onto “clouds”.

“Clouds” are subjective to this technique.

For the weak, it is the white clouds in the sky.

For the strong, it could be universes under their feet.

Shi Tian is not strong yet.

‘Yet…’

The notion of yet implied the future.

A thought flashed in his mind.

‘Taiji Inversion… Clouds… and Time?’

The white clouds around him rumbled. It expanded to the edges of this section of imaginary space.

The one-time enlightenment opportunity was completely utilized by him.

Buzz-!

Kiana came back and happened to see this scene. Everywhere around her, she could only see white fog. She tried to scan them using spiritual consciousness, only to be hit by a hard wall.

‘It doesn’t pass through?’ She thought. ‘[Cloud Seeking Steps]... Is it this strong?’

Helplessly, she decided to walk around.

Five minutes…

Ten minutes…

Half an hour passed. Kiana walked through most of the floating rocks. She tried her hardest to backtrack Shi Tian’s position.

“Oh?”

She happened to step onto a blank space filled with white dots. She mistook it as the space and stars.

In its center, he stood with his back to her sight.

A forked line appeared beneath his feet. It extended to three, five, ten, twenty… until it reached a hundred. 

Shockingly, every forked line had his silhouette.

Kiana’s heart skipped a beat.

‘Those are not… afterimages.’

Her intuition told them they are all real. 

Each one of this Shi Tian is a possibility manifested. They are parallel versions of him.

Under her eyes, they began to turn blurry, disappearing in motes of silver light. These silver lights gathered to the true Shi Tian.

The supernatural seed for the Dao of Clouds began to change. It turned into a fuzzy silver light, flickering every few moments.

From now on, this supernatural seed contained hints of the Dao of Time.

The white clouds throughout the imaginary space disappeared instantly like a mirage. Shi Tian opened his eyes and saw Kiana staring intently at him.

With a step, he reappeared right in front of her. She did not see any signs of his movements at all!

“How long did it take?” He asked.

"Thirty minutes.”

“Not that long…”

Just like before, Kiana offered her hand. Shi Tian took it. They found themselves back in the orphanage’s vicinity.

She was about to release her hold over Shi Tian when the latter tightened his grip.

“Hm?!”

“You said you want to eat, right? Let’s go.”

“Um.”

A different kind of force surrounded them. Kiana felt the familiar presence of space and… time.

Moments later, the two found themselves in a desolate alley. 

Shi Tian released his hand from hers.

“This is the bakery.” She muttered. “You can teleport now?”

“Yes. But I need to hold your hand.”

Her heart almost jumped out.

‘He knows…’

With a tinge of embarrassment, she followed his back to the familiar bakery.

Chapter 105: Another One

One year of inactivity meant I have a lot to catch up on.

By that, I mean a lot.

I left a considerable number of first and second grade spiritual plants to Welt Yang. Their research was stunted by the lack of materials. It should be enough for them to develop more potent and efficient treatment for honkai corruption.

That was just one of them.

There is also Anti-Entropy’s research on what I call “post-modern spiritual artifacts”. 

I found out that spiritual artifacts can also be high-end technological stuff like smartphones and likes. 

It can either be “pre-modern” with the typical swords, spears, armors, boots, and the likes. 

It can also be “post-modern” with guns, industrial machines, computers,  and even mechs!

It requires a lot of complex stuff like high-precision machines that support spiritual consciousness. There is also “programming” featuring countless codes written in the so-called Dao Syntax Source Language.

My jaw dropped when I learned them.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. The rate of spiritual qi’s decay can be calculated in a mathematical equation (i.e., Differential Equations). 

That was when I realized there is more to immortal cultivation than swords, spears, talismans, and the likes. Immortal cultivation and technology works hand in hand.

Click.

My thoughts ended when I opened the doorknob.

A familiar office greeted my sight. This is where we met Cocolia several times.

Now…

“Who… Ah.”

Light purple hair could be seen on the desk. She put down the book she was reading and stared at me for ten seconds.

I took the time to sit on the chair opposite the desk. My eyes caught the title of her book.

Efficient Economic Planning (2013 Edition).

…

“I did not expect you to come here.” She said.

“I got caught in a lot of trouble.”

Hmph. I won’t forget what you did.”

“???”

I looked at her in confusion.

“You did not trust me at all!” She explained. “Seele and Sister Bronya became very strong. You taught them… not me.”

She…

She is not wrong.

I taught Sin Mal how to approach Bronya. That allowed her to integrate into their circle. The only problem is during their practice. The effects of immortal cultivation are extremely evident.

Seele mentioned they outmatched the rest in terms of honkai adaptability.

“I guess it’s fine. I would have spilled the beans to Cocolia Matushka anyways.”

Sin Mal went back to her grumpy self.

…

I almost forgot she is a psychopath. It is hard to look at her like that when all she’s done is to act like a normal girl. 

Then again, it is better to be like this. I can’t say anything about the murder of her adoptive parents, but it is better to see her act like a normal child.

“Why did you come here?”

“The kids are suffering from an illness. I want to teach them something that will make them healthy.”

“The same one as Sister Bronya’s?”

“Yes.”

Sin Mal fell silent for a while.

“How long will you stay?” She asked. “Your previous room is occupied by those two brats. You’ll be living on the third floor.”

Brats…

I can’t help but look at her.

Isn’t she one?

“...Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Feel free to guess.”

“...”

I stopped playing around with her.

Thinking about her being a nonchalant stalker, it is hard to imagine she will actually take on Cocolia’s role. I can foresee she will mature faster than in game. She earned Bronya’s attention, hence she won’t be narrow-mindedly doing some shitty things.

That’s it.

I will help her.

“Stay still. I will help you practice.”

“Okay…”

Her eyes are dubious. She must have been confused how immortal cultivation works.

I casted the [Two Phase Art], enveloping the area of the entire orphanage. A low first grade spirit vein was successfully made.

My spiritual consciousness led the surrounding spiritual qi to Sin Mal’s metaphysical body.

My eyes did not see her meridians and dantians. I did not panic.

Swoosh-!

The spiritual qi began tracing her meridians. The moment it touched them, they “appeared”. The meridians’ location is consistent for everyone. 

Soon, all of her 1,599 meridians are successfully passed through. Her inactive Jing dantian was all that’s left.

Once it was completed, a tiny dot of gray light emerged. The intensity of its glow continued increasing until it reached the threshold for high grade spirit roots.

It is…

Dream Spirit Root.

It quickly matched one of the qi cultivation techniques inside my head.

[Eternal Dream Scripture].

It is a technique suited for those with Dream Spirit Roots, a kind of mutant root. They are masters of manipulating dreams, creating illusions, and even turning them real. It is connected with the Dao of Dreams, something as complex as Dao of Void and Dao of Five Elements.

“Huh. I feel better.”

I snapped out of my thoughts.

“You are talented. It’s on the same level as Bronya’s.”

“Really?! Hum, hum!” 

She nodded enthusiastically. Those words were all she needed.

“What’s next?”

I took out one of the first grade jade slips inside the warehouse-like space. I transmitted my spiritual consciousness onto it, carving down the contents of the [Eternal Dream Scripture]. To not make her feel overwhelmed, I only gave the Qi Refining chapter.

Soon, the jade slip was handed down to her.

“Use it to touch your forehead. You will be able to read words from the technique. Write down the parts you are confused about. I will answer them.”

“Oh. Oh.”

“Here are the basics of practicing. Make sure to read this first before the technique.”

I began handing her several more jade slips. Sin Mal went completely silent, trying her best to process my instructions.

“Basics. Qi Technique. Talent. Spells. Finally, footwork. Prioritize the [Cloud Seeking Steps] and spend less time on [Dream Weaving Footsteps]. You will use that later.”

“Oh. Oh…”

*****

Sin Mal stared at Shi Tian’s receding back and then to the six jade slips on her desk. Her heterochromatic eyes shifted between him and the jade slips until the door closed.

Before he left his vision, Sin Mal tried to use her good old sharp eyes. It was this that allowed her to see the ever-growing strength of Seele and Bronya.

“Ow!”

It was akin to a flick to the eyes. She was forced to close her eyes. She was forced to wipe her tears with her sleeve.

“Huff…”

It did not end in simple eye strain. Her arms are shaking; her entire body trembling. Drool uncontrollably escaped from her mouth.

Sin Mal did not see anything. Her instincts took over and stopped her from doing so. That rendered her paralyzed for a good five minutes.

Still…

‘Hehe… You became even more beautiful…’

A twisted sense of joy came from her heart.

Life was ordinary for the young Sin Mal. It held a certain sense of beauty that cannot be erased in her mind.

That changed when the accident happened, leaving her an orphan. What came next is the adoption of her uncle and aunt. They only cared for her inheritance money, and as such, went through all sorts of legal and illegal loopholes to take it.

They locked Sin Mal to her bedroom. It remained so until Bronya broke in.

That marked the second beautiful thing in her life.

She helped Bronya hide and eat. Although their interaction only lasted for half a day, it never mattered to Sin Mal.

She began cooking plans of escaping. She showed off her ‘power’ over honkai, leading to Cocolia knowing about her.

That continued until her uncle’s plan prematurely happened—a butterfly effect. Her uncle soon went to debt after losing big-time at a casino. 

Instead of gaining favor from Cocolia, they wanted to marry her off to a nobleman in exchange for money.

Sin Mal was taken to meet with her soon-to-be husband…

When the entire Seele hostage crisis occurred.

That was the third beautiful thing in her life. She witnessed the budding of a blinding light. It was hidden, but the notion of carefully unraveling it like a present filled her mind.

Then came her joining of the orphanage. She saw the budding light fully grow within Shi Tian. There was also Bronya’s presence.

Over time, she considered Bronya as the main gift and Shi Tian as the side gift. 

That was until now.

‘Beautiful…’

*****

A/N: I hope this explains everything; on why she didn’t fear Shi Tian. Him showing off his aura back then is basically giving what Sin Mal wants. That’s how life is. He now has two potential yanderes after him.

Anyways, have y’all seen the current honkai star rail livestream? That was very dope. Cyrene is basically a perfect copy of Elysia, except that Elysia looks the best on her Herrscher of Human Ego battlesuit.