IdleYoungMaster

Chapter 104: Tides Surging

That day…

Cocolia watched as everything she built crumbled down. The Kaslana girl she let go a year ago turned out to be the one who will cause it all. Not a hint of honkai energy was used. Her Titans all fell at the same time. Even her partner who proposed the X-10 Project fell.

Everything that could go wrong went wrong.

Cocolia stared at the ground. She was sent into this interrogation room from the moment she was captured in Siberia. She waited for someone to come in. Not a hint of her former demeanor could be seen.

Click.

The door opened. It revealed an unfamiliar brown-haired man. He wore a pair of glasses and held a black cane. No one else came in after him.

He placed the cane against the table and sat down.

A guess appeared in Cocolia’s mind.

‘Is he…’

“...Sovereign?”

“Yes. Pardon me for the late introduction. I am Welt Yang, Anti-Entropy’s Sovereign.”

“...”

Numerous thoughts came to her mind.

One thing was certain:

She was outplayed.

“We will be holding you responsible for thirty major charges, of which the Project X-10 being the highest charge.” He paused before adding, “This has been discussed during an emergency meeting. You will be charged with a hundred years of imprisonment.”

“Huh. Why phrase it at that? Why not lifetime?”

“You will come to understand.”

Welt Yang did not elaborate further.

“You also attempted to clone the First Herrscher, Welt Joyce. Were you supported by that android?”

“That’s right.”

She frankly admitted it.

“The X-10 Project is also a result of our collaboration. Given the chance, it will allow us to cure honkai corruption.”

Cocolia’s intention was revealed.

“That man… he possesses resources beyond Anti-Entropy’s. The biological science reports I received showed the possibility of it succeeding.”

“A possibility. You cannot deny the other possibility of putting your own children in danger. If there is someone who should carry the burden of honkai… it would be us adults.”

Welt Yang calmly pointed out the flaws in her words. To that, Cocolia shook her head.

“You know the truth, Sovereign. Words alone do not suffice in a world like ours. Sometimes… taking risks is necessary.”

He did not reply. Instead, he handed her out a brown envelope.

Intrigued, Cocolia opened and read its contents. She was doubtful at first, but as time passed on, she was shocked.

“It is a top-secret project we conducted a year ago. The discovery of a new substance, dubbed as spiritual qi, enhances the body’s function to repair itself.”

It was the most important project the three of them undertook. Welt Yang’s physical body was able to fully recover by reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm. The recovery effect brought by spiritual qi is enough to overwhelm the honkai energy’s destructiveness.

It showed spiritual qi’s capability to heal honkai-related diseases—honkai corruption.

Unfortunately, they lacked enough materials. Welt Yang used himself as a blood factory to sustain this study. It was fortunate Kiana managed to give them the small number of spiritual plants left by Shi Tian.

Overall, it took an entire year to create sufficient results.

“Four one hundred milliliters of dosage, taken once every three months. Moderate cases of honkai corruption will be gone after that. Severe cases will take more. Lighter cases will take less.”

“...”

Cocolia did not speak. She found everything to be incredible. Too much she found it extremely doubtful.

‘Honkai… It’s time I step up.’

Welt Yang was caught in contemplation. Cocolia’s case is a wake-up call. 

Humanity has been fighting the honkai for hundreds of years. It is inevitable for some to resort to extreme methods. Otto Apocalypse is a prime example of it.

His long absence caused Anti-Entropy to be like this—scattered sand. The Executors possessed most of the powers. It resulted in the radical and conservative split. That was how messy it is.

Prior to Welt Yang’s recovery, they could not even do anything to these Executors’ private experiments. Raiding Cocolia’s turf without a high-end power like Kiana or Welt Yang is doomed for failure.

It was precisely due to this that Welt Yang decided to step back up. Punishing Cocolia and showing their capabilities is the prelude of it all.

Today is the day their Sovereign comes back.

“You will be open to visits at any time. I believe… your children would like to see you.”

“...”

Four days later, Cocolia received her first visit.

“Cocolia Matushka.”

“...Bronya.”

Anti-Entropy has their own correctional facilities. It is used in dealing with officers turned criminals. It is a prison solely used for Anti-Entropy’s internal affairs. 

The two are separated by a glass wall. Bronya’s short stature is noticeable.

“Have you been treated well?”

Her concern awakened Cocolia’s inner conflict.

“Don’t concern yourself about it. I am doing well.” She then shifted the topic, “How is the orphanage?”

“Da. Sin took charge of your affairs. Seele is helping her coordinate with the people sent by the Sovereign.”

Bronya began talking about the changes during the five days she was gone. It took a long while.

Just then, Cocolia heard a voice in her mind.

“I can help Cocolia Matushka to break out.”

That voice belonged to Bronya’s.

Cocolia was visibly surprised by it. She vaguely knew about her ‘secret’ training sessions with Seele. She did not pay much attention to it. They did not secretly dabble with honkai energy. That was her bottom line.

Little did she know, it was actually the spiritual qi introduced by Welt Yang.

Without a proper detection device or a cultivator in charge, nobody will notice its existence.

She shook her head.

“Perhaps… I am wrong. Children who did wrong…”

“...needs a punishment.”

Bronya finished her sentence. It was this strict persona that disciplined the dozens of children inside the orphanage. Cocolia is known for it.

“Take care of them on my behalf, Bronya.”

“Da. The Bronya understands.”

*****

The final sweep over the Earth’s surface by the Herrscher of the End destroyed all traces of the Previous Era.

However, there are contingencies who survived. By utilizing the influence of the Sea of Quanta, some structures resisted the final sweep and survived up to this day.

Deep beneath a room filled with all sorts of equipment, two people are represented. One of them was the masked man, Gray Serpent. The other one is a gray-haired woman. Her black cloak concealed her body.

“A reconnaissance mission?”

“You are allowed to bring the Divine Key. Avoid direct contact.”

“...Understood.”

Their meeting was short and brief. The woman, codenamed Raven, left.

One of the screens inside the room lit up. It revealed a beautiful woman. Her eyes held a distinct glint that supported her arrogance.

“I hate to ask… but what was it?”

Seeing Gray Serpent being unresponsive, her tone became harder.

“The samples you sent. Where did it come from?”

“Have you studied it?”

“...This is something that person would find great interest in.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It is a brand new element invisible to our eyes. I cannot discern its nature, but the changes it produces shows its prowess.”

He nodded with her assessment. Gray Serpent’s experience with Kiana Kaslana made him feel more about that invisible power.

“It is Anti-Entropy’s work.”

“Huh. So much for Schicksal being ahead of them. Tell me, they don’t know about this, no?”

“They don’t.”

“Really.”

After showing disappointment, the woman, Jackal, went straight to the business.

“What are you planning to do?”

“The Sire ordered an investigation. We will dig it out.”

Chapter 103: War Prelude

We talked for two days, slept for two days, and the entire Chiyou fiasco took an entire day. 

Five days have passed since I came out of the Sea of Quanta.

I froze.

“Wait a minute. I have to settle something.”

“Um. Go.”

I stood in place. The familiar dark landscape greeted my sight. The golden orb stood amidst.

The draws become shorter as my qi cultivation realm goes up. I can do a random pull once every five days now.

Soon, the draw results came out. It turned out to be an irregular-sized ore fifty meters tall. Its radius is more than ten meters.

My [Encompassing Eyes] formed a detailed assessment.

Spiritual ore. Middle third grade, approaching late stage. Thunder attributes. Possesses the thunder of thunder tribulations. Can be smelted into weapons, pills, clothing…

Thunder…

This is my second third grade spiritual ore. The other one is flame-attributed.

I don’t know if this is the case, but ores grow increasingly bigger the higher the realm.

Naturally, I thought of my jian. It is still at the early second stage, lagging far behind my current realm. 

There is also the Xuanyuan Sword. I am wondering whether I can create an immortal cultivation version of it. I tested its toughness and sharpness. It is amazing. It can easily handle honkai energy with ease and turn it into an attributed attack—similar to Parvati’s fake authority.

My thoughts flew over in a flash. I got out of the golden orb space. Only half a minute passed in reality.

“It’s done.”

“Was it the girls from before?” She asked.

I looked at Kiana. I can’t see anything unusual from her. The way she acts makes me feel so, however.

“It’s something else. They’re still resting.”

I took out the small jade piece hidden in my pockets. Turning smaller is one of its functions.

The ancestral tablet needs spiritual qi to work, something I am constantly supplying.

“Anyways… Someone’s waiting for us.”

Kiana looked at the direction I pointed at. Someone stood in front of the orphanage’s gate.

Seele.

*****

Seele saw the world through the duo’s lenses.

Three rows of computers could be used in the orphanage’s study room. That was how she and Bronya chatted with them every night.

Only, Seele felt something unusual when “Shi Tian” chatted.

It does not feel like him at all.

That suspicion remained small in her heart. It became stronger when Kiana visited them alone. Seele expected Shi Tian’s visit at that time. She wanted to show off her progress.

‘Sister Kiana… was more serious at that time.’

Kiana is hiding something from them.

The notion of that thought was incredulous. Yet, without evidence, she chose not to tell Bronya.

The days passed by normally. “Shi Tian” chatted with them every night. Seele committed a few mistakes as a Foundation Establishment here and there. Her sense of time was warped.

If not for Bronya taking care of her, she might have unintentionally revealed their secrets to Cocolia.

Her days remained simple. That was until a month ago.

Cocolia gave them several tests. It is related to the manipulation of honkai energy.

Due to their Foundation Establishment physical body, their honkai adaptability is leagues ahead of the rest. Their original honkai adaptability plus the recovery of spiritual qi made them perform extremely well on the test.

Cocolia then revealed the X-10 Project.

Turns out, the kids in this orphanage are all suffering from honkai corruption, an incurable disease. In exchange for being able to manipulate honkai energy, they have to suffer varying degrees of physical damage. Death is their ending.

The care they received and Cocolia’s words persuaded them to go with it. Seele and Bronya saw her sincerity even with their spiritual consciousness. Moreover, they believed more in their practice’s results. Immortal cultivation made them stronger.

Finally, on the day of the experiment, Kiana intercepted them. Cocolia was arrested by Anti-Entropy. All of her existing underground laboratories are seized. The X-10 Project was cancelled.

A lot of changes occurred to the orphanage. It is a tiring week.

‘He’s really here!’

Seele was liberated from her hidden worries the moment she saw Shi Tian. He grew taller and more mature, yes, but that will not prevent her from recognizing him.

Her sharp eyes enabled her to see further. 

Inevitably, she saw how Kiana held his pinky finger.

‘That shouldn’t be the case…’

An ominous sense of foreboding came to her. It was so evident her “other self” went online.

{“Oh? The two of them acting as close as that? Your worries are not groundless.”}

‘I have a feeling it wasn’t him… that it is Sister Kiana who chatted with us using his account.’

{“You don’t have to think much. Go confirm whether or not that’s the case later.”}

Seele’s other self answered eloquently. She was vented enough to the point she learned how to deal with situations like this.

It showed how her other self cares for Seele.

{“But, I have to point it out. Your Sister Kiana is not the same as before. She is ready… for a fight.”}

‘...Got it.’

Her internal turmoil remained unnoticed under the duo’s gaze.

“It’s been a long time.”

“Yes. It is nice seeing you again.”

“Me too.”

Just when things were going smoothly, Kiana spoke up.

“Where is Bronya?”

“Sister Bronya… She went to visit Cocolia Matushka.”

Bronya came with the Anti-Entropy staff who returned to the Salt Lake Base. Seele and Sin Mal are left to manage the orphanage.

“The kids are still processing the change of staff. Sin Mal and I… we are helping them adapt.”

The three talked about serious matters along the way.

“I secretly tried to heal others with my spells… and it worked.”

“That’s why you agreed?” Shi Tian asked.

“Yes. I am hoping we can produce results. I am sorry if it goes beyond…”

“No need to.”

He stopped her first.

“I agreed with it before.”

Shi Tian gave Kiana a look. The latter’s face lit up several degrees. 

In his absence, Kiana chatted with the two using his account. She helped them decide on some things. Seele using her spells to treat others is agreed by Kiana. The video he left entrusted her with making decisions regarding it.

It did not take long before they entered the orphanage. It is not as lively as before.

When the kids saw their appearance, however, they rushed straight to Shi Tian.

“You didn’t come with Sister Kiana. We thought you did not want…”

“Sorry. I got caught up with something… like this.”

Like a magician, a box of pastries appeared in his hands. It swiftly took the kids’ attention. What came next is Shi Tian performing miniature spells to entertain the kids.

Kiana and Seele were separated from him.

“We are planning to teach the kids how to practice.”

“Ah?!”

Kiana’s revelation startled Seele.

“With his Master’s permission, of course!”

“Um. Um…”

Just then, her other self’s voice spoke.

{“You really need to make your move.”}

‘T-today!?’

{“You are already a year behind. Don’t wait until it is too late.”}

Seele’s other self left something out.

{‘His eyes… it changed a lot.’}

Momentarily, she grasped Shi Tian’s unspoken changes.

Chapter 102: Counterattack, Critical Hit!

The wonders of immortal cultivation are right in front of my eyes. I am aware of being in a daze; of sleeping. 

At this level, sleeping is a state with lowest mental power consumption. It allows my mind to recover the fastest. 

Every other function of my soul and body is put to the lowest. Experiencing both the “low” (resting) and “high” (practicing) contributes to cultivation.

It is a feat far beyond that of humans’. I am ‘sleeping’ while retaining the smallest bit of awareness.

The five colored lights projected different scenes related to the five elements. It is the attribute of my qi cultivation technique. All sorts of vague perceptions came to my mind.

Fuzz-!

A blue light broke my trance. My eyes shot open. My physical body became active, followed by the fluctuations on my soul.

I looked inside me. A light blue seed sprouted. My eleventh supernatural seed, the Dao of Ice.

Something else happened.

My Spirit Roots.

It was sidelined. I could not practice the [Toushen Manual] in the past year. It is still stuck on the embryo of Five Element Spirit Roots. It is not even considered a low grade spirit root in terms of effect.

My Spirit Roots consisted of Five Elements Yang Spirit Root. It is shown in five vibrant colors.

Now, their pale counterparts began to grow at a visible rate.

It did not take long before they reached the threshold of low grade Spirit Roots.

Hum-!

Click-!

A resonance was formed between the two, only to be broken the next moment. Their Yang counterparts outclassed the Yin. Still, it continued existing as a standalone Spirit Root.

My mind returned to reality. I noticed the slight decrease of the surrounding temperature.

Then it hit me. The heavenly sensation of being in this godly bed returned. That wasn’t the only thing it struck me.

The Tuna.

I already expected this. Kiana is using me as a body pillow. Her arms are tightly locked on my back. One of her legs is atop mine. She clung tightly to my body like an octopus.

I noticed her not-so-subtle changes.

Purple Mansion Realm pushes the body into the optimal form instinctively dictated by the soul. The subsequent realms will also induce such a thing; something unpresent in Foundation Establishment Realm.

It is the stage where the soul walks toward the tangible—Nascent Soul. Huge changes to the body is not surprising.

Unlike a year ago, she grew taller. Her facial features still possessed that bit of childishness, but it also exudes elegance. She looks more beautiful than her game counterpart. 

A gift of immortal cultivation, indeed.

Then there’s that…

…

She’s really too comfortable with me.

I resigned myself to fate. I can’t bear to wake her up.

Just like before, I chose to fall into another sleep-slash-cultivation.

*****

Moments after Shi Tian fell asleep, Kiana opened her eyes. She had woken up half an hour ago. Her mastery over sleeping is so high she can perfectly emulate her sleeping state… without sleeping.

It is capable of fooling him without a deeper look.

As to whether it is useless or not, Kiana is the only one capable of answering that.

‘You haven’t changed.’ She thought. ‘It feels like yesterday…’

Shi Tian remained quite the same. The same could not be said for Kiana.

The events leading to his disappearance made her blame herself. She regretted how powerless she felt; that a single force of evil can take away everyone around her.

Thus, she resolved herself to become stronger. Immortal cultivation offers that. It is a never-ending process of becoming stronger. It feeds onto time, dedication, hard work, and talent.

Kiana offered them all. She reached her current level in return. She honed her mental state which resulted in her [Spear Heart]. Her bad habits are also thrown to the trash bin. Even her favorite hobby, eating, was reduced to once a week.

It mirrored Bianka’s experience. Only, she is not as fortunate as Kiana who got Shi Tian back. This created a difference between the two Kaslana’s.

‘Never… I can’t lose you… again.’

Her face dug deeper onto his chest.

‘If I…’

His disappearance also gave her an answer to the question:

Will she mind it if Shi Tian leaves her side?

Yes.

As such…

‘I can’t… leave you to others.’

…she chose to fight her friends for him.

*****

Question: What should I do with a clingy Tuna?

That is the dilemma I am facing. Not cultivation. Not Kevin. Not Otto. Definitely not the honkai too.

A Tuna.

I didn’t notice much when we talked for two days straight. I did not mind it when I got turned to a body pillow, too.

But now that we are strolling the streets…

“Oh! That’s the bakery we frequented! It’s still full of people.”

Kiana’s hand is holding my pinky finger as we walk. This did not happen before.

“How did the orphanage fare?” I asked.

“Sin is taking care of the children. The rest, aside from Bronya and Seele, did not know about Miss Cocolia’s arrest.”

Cocolia is one of the biggest points I made in that pre-recorded video. She did a lot of shitty things after Seele’s disappearance. She turned into a gambler who wanted to recover with another game.

Whatever shit that might save Seele, she will take it. She did NOT care about anything else.

I passed it as a warning from my imaginary Master—that Cocolia built a laboratory in Siberia’s vicinity. Somewhat far-fetched, yes, but I am left with no choice. My imaginary Master is reliable in their eyes, to boot.

“Sin? Sin Mal?”

“Yes? Why..?”

Kiana stopped walking and looked at me. She did not show anything wrong. Her blue eyes stared at me, however.

“I thought it would be Seele.”

“Oh! Me too.” 

She resumed walking, to which I followed suit.

“The orphanage’s guards were changed with new ones. It was Sin who talked with the Anti-Entropy official sent by Doctor Tesla.”

Sin Mal…

She took care of the orphanage in the game, too.

I guess it did not change. She’s somewhat reliable.

“How did you guess it would be Seele’s turn?” I asked.

I became curious. Kiana told me that Seele’s message is worded as a typical vacation. It is impressive she caught onto it.

“I sensed the unusual honkai energy traces from Seele. I used my spiritual consciousness and saw the stigma on her.”

“...You looked at her stigma?”

“Yeah. Where else?”

Her double braids swayed while walking. She let out a cheeky reply. Kiana changed quite a lot. She is more comfortable goofing around with me than before.

I can already foresee her next retort being "Shi Tian's a perv?!"

Unfortunately for the Tuna, her comeback dug a hole for herself.

“Like when you first unlocked your spiritual consciousness.”

Kiana stopped walking for the second time.

She gave me a startled look.

“My Foundation Establishment breakthrough. You reacted strangely when I asked you to observe with spiritual consciousness.”

“W-what time?”

I gave her a smile. Seeing panic slowly take over is a sight to behold.

“That time when you peeked through my clothes?”

“...”

She slowly moved her gaze away from me. I can see her neck turning red.

I let out a satisfied sigh.

All the tribulations I went through to arrive in this world…

It’s all worth it.

Chapter 101: Cultivators' Quality of Life

Once the trio arrived, Shi Tian began his storytime. It took several hours to complete.

“A warrior from the Previous Era…”

“He mentioned an interesting plan that you had, Mister Yang.”

Welt Yang understood what Shi Tian asked about. His eyes turned to Kiana. The latter was surprised.

“Me?”

He nodded affirmatively.

“The Second Herrscher once possessed the power of six cores. We also received knowledge about the Previous Era. The fourteenth Herrscher… The Herrscher of the End culled humanity. Only the people left in a cryogenic state inside a Divine Key survived.”

The moon rocks sent by Siegfried back in the second eruption were not for naught. It gave Anti-Entropy knowledge about the Previous Era—their inheritance, so as to speak.

Even if it is incomplete, it provided them a lot of help.

“The fourteenth Herrscher possessed all thirteen Herrscher authorities. Her power was said to be catastrophic.”

Seeing Welt Yang end his speech, Shi Tian added:

“The final Herrscher easily destroyed Earth’s surface. The Previous Era’s heroes… their strongest one disabled the Final Herrscher for seven hours. That was how humanity survived.”

Welt Yang sighed. The bits of information he received showed the heroes’ strengths and courage. He could not help but recall his predecessor who possessed the same qualities.

Humanity sacrificed far too many times to reach their current point.

“The power output of the Second Herrscher under six cores is 9,000 honkai welt. She has the highest record in our era.” Einstein explained. “Our theories show Kiana’s likelihood in recreating her peak. She will be helpful in fighting the impending Final Herrscher.”

Through the data gathered from the moon rocks, Anti-Entropy saw the gradual increase of minor eruptions since the second major eruption. Calculations show they have less time remaining—approximately ten years. If an abnormality happens, it would be even less.

The hope brought by spiritual qi is an unexpected surprise that furthered their studies in the honkai.

Fwoosh-!

A block of ice appeared atop Shi Tian’s palm.

“This is the last thing I wanted to tell you.”

Crumble-!

A small bit of honkai energy fluctuated from the ice block. It remained the ice’s form. Without it, the ice will break down.

“I am chosen to be a Herrscher.”

*****

‘It is like a dream.’

Kiana felt surreal. She looked for him everywhere. Never had she considered Shi Tian coming back all by himself.

He is just built different.

“I will bring you somewhere good.”

“Hm?”

Shi Tian looked at her hand. It took a moment to process things. He held her hand. 

‘Quite soft… and delicate.’

It is in sharp contrast to her actual strength. It made him marvel at this gap.

Buzz-!

A sharp ringing sound came. Moments later, the two found themselves in a familiar pinkish-gray space. They stood together atop a floating mass of rock.

‘Such thick spiritual qi… Fourth grade.’

Shi Tian’s [Encompassing Eyes] saw more details. It is no longer a fourth grade spirit vein. It reached the standards for the low fifth grade. 

This kind of environment houses Nascent Soul powerhouses whose spiritual consciousness spans light years. That was trillions of kilometers!

Unfortunately, cultivators’ dantian can get saturated. Once their cultivation speed is capped, it can't increase further. Their biggest advantage now is not worrying about spiritual qi.

‘Imaginary Space… Coming here is the best thing that happened.’

If it was in a typical cultivation world, Shi Tian would have either courted death or acted as a young master. That dog-eat-dog world where survival of the fittest applies is far more cruel than here.

Most importantly…

‘I met everyone.’

“So? Isn’t it amazing?”

“Can you tell which grade it is?”

His question stumped Kiana.

“I guessed it was the fourth grade.”

“It’s higher. It’s the fifth grade.”

“...”

Her lack of knowledge made her embarrassed.

“A-anyways… This is where I practice. I can’t bring normal items inside. I make my bed like this.”

A simple pale black bed frame appeared. The bedding came next. It is a very tough bed.

“You don’t have to worry about it now.” He spoke. “I’m rich now.”

Shi Tian flashed five rings on his right hand. All of them are storage rings. The biggest one housed the jade slips. The rest are middle third grade, low third grade, and two late second grade.

In the second grade ring lies the typical sundries.

Bam-!

A huge 300 by 400 golden bed emerged out of thin air. Its frames are made of spiritual gold and jade. The bedding came from a low third grade cotton. Coupled with the small patterns of heaven and earth, it is a bonafide low third grade artifact.

Hum.

It sent out a gentle white glow. The surrounding spiritual qi became attracted to it.

“Huh…”

Kiana tested its softness with her hand. It sank quite deep. It is not too soft nor too hard. It struck the right balance of a perfect bed.

“There aren’t any pillows for now.”

“No… This feels heavenly!”

Shi Tian watched her lay on the bed. 

Three seconds later, she fell asleep.

“...”

He was speechless. Her steady breathing and receded spiritual consciousness indicated she fell to a deep sleep.

She hasn’t even changed her jacket and shorts. She slept on her outer wear.

“Hm.”

Shi Tian tested the bed’s softness and understood why she fell asleep.

It’s too damn comfortable.

Immortal cultivation does not simply raise life level. It also brings along the quality of life. The higher the cultivation, the better their quality of life.

His eyes shuffled between the five storage rings. The unprecedented wealth he has now made him satisfied. 

He is no longer the broke cultivator from before.

“Fu…”

Shi Tian’s eyes shifted from the bed. He decided to settle a few things before trying it out. He decided to sit on it for now.

‘Even sitting… What if it’s a fourth grade bed?’

His distracting thoughts flew away.

The first thing he checked was his soul. It housed his crystal dantian.

At this moment, more than a quarter of his soul is filled with majestic golden runes.

‘Twenty five percent through the [Clear Apertures Manual].’

It is the technique that increases one’s comprehension. Geniuses and mediocre people alike will benefit from it.

Shi Tian tried out its effects. He began thinking of the [Xiutian Art]. As he did so, dozens of techniques popped up from his mind. They served as a cross-reference and began pointing him out to a higher mastery.

It took a while to remove himself from that clearheaded state.

‘No shit.’

His original comprehension is already high. It became even higher with the [Clear Apertures Manual]. 

“Fu…”

The second one he checked is the [Xinhai Sutra]. It fused into his eyes and turned into a permanent sight. He can freely see the ‘strings’ and obtain information without fatigue.

Other than that, it also gained another state.

Hum-!

A brand new string emerged from him. The floating rocks also gained colored strings. His was golden red; the rocks’ are grayish-black.

The moment he thought of gaining their information, flashes of images came to his mind. It showed the origin of rocks (Sirin) and the memories of him together with Kiana.

When he snapped out of it, Shi Tian found his mental power decreased by a quarter.

“Causality…”

He felt he could do things to these causal lines. Only, it will cost him a lot of mental power.

Shi Tian chose not to meddle with them. He continued checking his current state. His physical body reached the late stage; qi cultivation at the middle stage; and mental cultivation at the late stage.

These were the benefits he got after reconnecting his mind to the body and soul.

Seeing there wasn't anything else, he surrendered his body to the heavenly bed.

“It’s really… comforting.”

He struggled to start his qi cultivation. Fortunately, he was able to do so. He soon went into a trance as he fell asleep…

Chapter 100: Still The Tuna

A cultivator’s sense of time becomes skewed as their realm goes higher. 

For two entire days, we did nothing but talk about what happened in the past year. Neither of us took any breaks. The changes between sunlight and moonlight seemed so fast in our eyes.

“Yawn… What time is it?”

Kiana stretched her body. We are sitting on the same couch. She has her feet atop the couch. Her attire is the same casual one she wore back then—t-shirts and shorts.

“4:12 PM… We only spent a few hours?”

“...Two days have already passed. It is 4:12 PM… on Wednesday.”

“Ah?!”

She hastily took out her phone. 

“It’s really two days! Just like how I sleep…”

Kiana then asked:

“Is it normal? I will sleep and find out an entire week has passed.”

“You are cultivating qi at that time? If so, yes. Cultivators are destined to live for a long time… given you achieve something.”

“A long time… Then wouldn’t I sleep for years?!”

That thought dumbfounded her.

“Isn’t that what you’d like?”

“But the honkai…”

“That’s the goal. Let’s beat the honkai so you can sleep at peace.”

“That makes a lot of sense!”

Seeing her react like this is enough to make me feel lighter. 

“Wait a minute. That’s right! I was supposed to report back to Doctor Tesla!”

Kiana is still a Tuna.

Just a bit smarter, I guess?

Buzz-!

Honkai energy surged within the house. Everything lost their colors, leaving them with nothing but gray. 

The source of the Battlesuits’ Global Time Fracture is Sirin herself. It is not surprising to see Kiana do it on her own. Time slowed down inside this house.

I saw the honkai energy staying within the boundary of the house. Her control over it is on another level.

But using a Herrscher's power to avoid being late…

“Can you help me with my braids?”

“Sure.”

…it’s really Tuna-like.

*****

Kiana’s efforts are destined to be pointless. She is already two days late. There is no point in delaying several hours.

Currently, the Salt Lake Base remains their usual operations. Only, a fraction of it has been transformed invisibly. The number of hidden and repurposed facilities number a few dozen.

For example, creating a first-grade spirit vein to enhance their troops’ physical fitness. Even without cultivation, passively breathing spiritual qi brings wonders. Nobody noticed these changes, only the fact they could recover faster from fatigue.

Tesla is responsible for overseeing these changes. Einstein is assigned to experiment with honkai energy and spiritual qi. Welt Yang is busy creating spiritual artifacts.

Needless to say, the two almost turned into shut-ins, cultivator edition.

“Hm?”

Tesla stopped walking. She sensed a huge source of spiritual qi coming from the skies. It was not one, but two of them.

A vague guess came to her mind.

She stepped out of the building.

“Kiana? It’s been two days…”

“Sorry, sorry. I forgot!”

Tesla’s eyes did not stay on her for long. She looked at the person beside her. He bore huge changes compared to their last meeting.

Back then, Shi Tian was akin to a fifteen-year-old. His height barely exceeded hers.

Now, he’s taller by a head.

“Hello, Doctor Tesla.”

“...I can see why you took so long. Is the matter of the Pacific also your fault?”

“Yes.”

Tesla sighed. 

Anti-Entropy poured in resources to find the missing Shi Tian. They do not have capabilities to explore imaginary space. They can only focus their sights on the Sea of Quanta.

They do not possess capabilities to explore it, but they can read the disturbances within it.

They managed to see the abnormalities on the day of his disappearance, but after that, there are no other findings.

Kiana herself went to the Sea of Quanta several times, but to no avail.

Thus, it feels incredulous to see him pop up after a year’s worth of effort.

“I have a lot of things you might be interested about. Divine Keys and the Previous Era.”

“...I will call them now. You can wait in the lounge.

Tesla went back to the building. Her footsteps are very fast. The two followed her inside and sat on the desolate lounge.

“Can you show that to me?”

Just then, Shi Tian asked Kiana something.

“Um.”

Spiritual qi surged from her. A faint purple light emerged on her right hand.

His eyes turned golden. One look and he can tell it came from a supernatural seed.

‘Dao of Power.’

Supernatural seeds are the unique skills of Purple Mansion Realm cultivators. They can better exert techniques and innate talents with it.

Similarly, it can be acquired by having enough understanding of techniques and talents—whether it is physical or mental.

The thing is…

‘I haven’t seen anyone with a cultivation physique.’

This world is a non-cultivation world. The [Two Phase Art] depended on its caster. The higher its mastery, the more one can convert. [Small Accomplishment] grants one the ability to convert inanimate objects into their spiritual equivalents. 

[Great Accomplishment] pushes it further, converting honkai-related physique into cultivation-related.

His confusion stemmed from how Kiana managed to have it.

“Maybe it’s from my body? I felt some changes appear when it reached this realm.”

“Honkai… It’s possible.”

The recovery of spiritual qi strengthens honkai adaptability. Kiana discovered she was getting stronger every time honkai energy destroyed her body. Her one year of effort pushed it to an all-time high. It resulted in her physical body “awakening” dormant powers.

‘Kaslana bloodline? Then, Parvati. It’s a variant of Ganesha… and it is renowned for strength.’

A quick thought led Shi Tian to a reasonable conclusion. 

Kiana awakened the Kaslana Bloodline’s full potential. An emperor-class honkai beast possesses an authority similar to a Herrscher's, but weaker. It stimulated her to form a supernatural seed related to the Dao of Power.

‘If honkai can help create a supernatural seed… Well, I don’t need it for now.’

He did not lack supernatural seeds. He has ten of them. Five of them are the Dao of Five Elements, all of which can be combined for stronger power. There is also the Dao of Clouds and Dao of Swords from the [Cloud Seeking Steps] and [Daluo Sword Art], respectively.

Finally, the most special ones lay on his cultivation technique. The three supernatural seeds created by them are the more ‘complex’ Daos.

The [Ten Directions Body Art] spawned the Dao of Extremity.

The [Xinhai Wuji Heart Sutra] created the Dao of Causality. 

The [Xiutian Yin-Yang Art] housed the Dao of Yin and Yang.

‘Then there’s this…’

He sensed a growing power inside him. Shi Tian can tell it is the sign of another supernatural seed forming. From his usage of the Herrscher Core, he can tell it will be the Dao of Ice.

‘If I can get the Chimera treatment from Mobius…’

He was snapped out of the daydream with the trio’s arrival. He met Kiana’s gaze who had been staring at him since the beginning.

“What were you thinking?” She asked curiously.

“Our cultivation hacks.”

*****

A/N: Well, well, well. 100 Chapters. I can’t believe we reached it in less than two months. I thought it would take longer, to be honest.

Anyways, I already have some plans once Finality gets dealt with in the near future. That will probably take another hundred chapters or so. MC’s Sect might take a while to be built (lmao).

Chapter 99: Their Wishes

Otto Apocalypse has a tight schedule.

The second eruption thirteen years ago dealt a devastating blow to Schicksal. Their strongest valkyrie, Cecilia Schariac, died. A number of A Rank Valkyries also died. It created a power vacuum in which Schicksal’s forces got stretched thinly.

It gradually stabilized from the emergence of the S Rank Valkyrie, Theresa Apocalypse.

Now, there is also the prototype of the Immortal Blades led by the potential S Rank Valkyries, Bianka Ataegina and Rita Rossweisse.

After their return from their “adventure”, they swiftly rose in ranks one after another.

All of these are contributed by Schicksal’s current overseer, Otto Apocalypse.

“What a pie in the sky.”

He could not help but smile. He had just finished yet another run of Kallen Fantasy VIII. He is still short of defeating Cecilia’s legendary record.

“I did not have to do anything. She defeated the Second Herrscher on her own.”

Otto did his research in the past year. The strange honkai eruptions caught his eyes. 

First, England.

Second, Siberia.

Third, Shenzhou.

The appearance of Kiana Kaslana in Shenzhou while the third incident occurred is enough to spark suspicion. A simple backtracking revealed that she is in every place where it happened.

Over the course of this year, this phenomenon happened more consistently. At some places, he did not see anything strange. At some, there are strange warped spaces.

That was when it dawned on him:

Kiana has control over her Second Herrscher Core.

The extent of this statement is still questionable. Nevertheless, it is a very pleasant surprise for Otto.

He relaxed the surveillance over Kiana since Siegfried brought her out. He did not meddle with her nor Siegfried’s movements.

Otto is self-aware of his lacking information. Project Sirin began with the notion of using the Imaginary Tree to further his plans.

For that, he must get the Second Divine Key of the Previous Era. Bianka’s adventure and Kiana’s journey occurred alongside his search for it. When the time is right, that is when he would strike.

Knowing when to interfere is one of Otto Apocalypse’s talents.

“Chiyou. The strange spatial distortions. The foreign power found in the cities.”

He did not dislike the appearance of new possibilities.

After all…

It will contribute to fulfilling his greatest wish.

*****

The Chiyou escapade ended peacefully. The honkai beasts that spawned around are dealt with my [Life Extending Heavy Water]. 

In a sense, it is saving lives… by killing.

Kiana brought me to a house in America. It is two cities away from Salt Lake City.

Looking at the two-storey modern house, I saw semblances of my previous world’s architecture.

Kiana did not speak along the way. 

I know this is the day of reckoning.

I have a lot of things to tell… to explain.

My attention is drawn to her unstyled hair. She does not have her braids. She still looks good in it.

My thoughts are filled with all sorts of random stuff. It ended when she offered me a seat in the living room.

A sense of unease and heaviness spread all over the place… literally. It was further strengthened by Kiana’s relentless gaze on me.

High-level cultivators can change their surroundings based on their mental state. The hug from before is an example.

…

I swallowed my saliva. My mind worked fast on how to explain things.

Just then, she spoke first.

“Sorry. It’s my fault.”

I let her continue.

“I caused trouble… and almost killed you.”

Her solemn, borderline pensive look is a far cry from the Tuna I knew.

“It’s partly your fault. I have a part in it.” I said. “I… haven’t told you very important things.”

“Hm..?”

“I knew… this would happen.”

I came up with this. 

Instead of letting Kiana take all the blame, I should take mine, too.

“I felt an impending disaster solely for me. I let you proceed with your breakthrough so that I can help you… before it strikes. Everything that happened next is my own catastrophe.”

I want to make sure she will not feel guilty about it.

“I did not tell you. I also have a part in it.”

I uttered my final words.

“Sorry.”

Kiana did not speak until a minute later.

“You are not consoling me, are you?”

“No.”

I shook my head.

Her eyes did not move away from mine. I can see her seriousness from the heavy pressure around the living room alone. I can disperse Kiana’s subconscious act but choose not to.

“I am uber smart now. You really can’t trick me.”

To my surprise, she began to cite the things she had learned.

She finished it off with one statement.

“Mister Yang told me I can be a top scorer at universities!”

“...”

Damn.

Immortal Cultivation is one hell of a hack.

Never had I expected to return with this Tuna having university-level knowledge.

I saw through her will to joke. She wanted to test me and break this depressing atmosphere around us.

“So, what happened to you? Your bloodstains and ring had me worried!”

“I wanted to move away from you because…”

A small amount of honkai energy is mobilized. A block of ice emerged out of thin air.

“...I turned into a Herrscher.”

The long story-time began.

*****

‘God has chosen the wrong person.’

Sirin is trapped and powerless inside the Second Herrscher Core. The film of aurora constricting her cut off any chances of controlling Kiana’s body. It also cut off her connection with the Herrscher Core.

This open spot was instinctively taken advantage of by Kiana, hence her current control of the Second Herrscher Core.

All she can do inside is to watch the world with Kiana’s senses. Sirin’s senses, in a sense, have a one-way connection with Kiana’s body. Kiana’s senses are passed to her, but her senses are isolated from Kiana.

Prior to the [Sword Light Refraction], Sirin saw the world like this. She can actively choose when to compete for the body’s control. Therefore, she was used to it.

‘That boy…’

Kiana is unconscious during Shi Tian’s incident, but not Sirin. She saw and felt the two opposite powers inside him.

Shi Tian himself is like a container. The cultivator’s mental power and IX’s mental pollution is stored in a small box, and then placed inside the container. 

What Honkai did was to destroy the box and cause everything to leak to the container.

As the person beside him, Sirin was scared by these two powers. They are just as terrifying and boundless as god.

It did not just scare her. It shook her faith in the Honkai God (Will of Honkai).

A year later, the boy returned. He no longer gave off that terrifying feeling. He did become stronger, however.

What’s more, he bore the gifts of Honkai and turned into a Herrscher, one that supports humanity.

Sirin is numbed by these events.

Every bad thing turned to good with Shi Tian around.

She thought of Kiana… K-423, another ego born from her will. Her experiences up to now doused her in cold water. It gave her time to mull over things.

‘Have I… fulfilled my wish?’

Chapter 98: Teriri's Present

The items from the draws are not guaranteed.

The most useful ones are pills, spiritual plants, and spiritual ores. What comes next are the ready-made artifacts and formation plates.

There are also the ‘bad’ ones, mainly poison and demonic artifacts. 

Finally, there are the ‘miscellaneous’ ones. This ancestral tablet is one of them. Its sole function is to house a soul for thousands of years. It substitutes the physical body, allowing souls to exist instead of dissipating.

Originally, I intended to give it to Su. Once all things are lost and his physical body is done for, this tablet will house his soul.

Since immortal cultivation worked, this goes to them.

I watched as Ji Xuanyuan’s other half appeared. Her entire outfit is black; her eyes are crimson red. 

They are two personalities coming from one soul.

Flick-!

The ancestral tablet lit up. Thousands of microscopic patterns of heaven and earth gave it a sanctimonious white glow. At the top portion of it, the character for ‘mind’ (shen) emerged.

A simple command using my spiritual consciousness sufficed. Third grade and above artifacts house ‘information’ about their origins and can be used with spiritual consciousness.

The late third grade spiritual artifact, [Heavenly Official Soul Tablet], showed its might.

Hum-!

Buzz-!

Their astral bodies are soon attracted to the tablet. The bright gold Xuanyuan Sword stopped floating from above. It lost its luster as its honkai energy fluctuations died down.

Swoosh-!

I caught it with my spiritual consciousness. It flew to my grasp. I stashed it inside the storage ring for now.

“I want to hear your stories.”

Kiana’s voice attracted my gaze.

“Yeah. I will tell you about them. For now, though…”

I pointed upwards.

A brief spiritual consciousness glance revealed an approaching airship.

“Want me to bring you along? It will be uber fast!”

Pride showed on her face.

“Wait.”

My spiritual consciousness swept through Chiyou’s internal body. Dozens of silver orbs are located in it.

Soulium orbs.

In the game, it contains information about the Previous Era. It was Himeko and the squad who got them. All of them are surrendered to the Schicksal Main HQ… except for one.

Theresa took it. That served as the beginning of her doubts. Otto manipulated her memories… but this event and Anti-Entropy invasion caused her to join Anti-Entropy’s side when Kiana got kidnapped.

In short, bringing this orb to Teriri is crucial.

“Can you drop us off by your aunt?”

“Ah..?!”

She replied with a startled look.

“We need to give her something.”

“Oh? Oh!”

*****

The honkai eruption a year ago proved to be a stain in the Far East Branch’s record. There are officials who question their reliability. This led to a budget cut for the next five years.

Looking at the normal seawater below, Himeko knew that would be extended to ten years.

They are too late.

“Command. This was previously a frozen lake?”

“Yes.”

Hearing this, she closed her eyes and accepted their extended budget cut. She switched to another channel.

The person on the other side is none other than Theresa.

“No sightings of the Herrscher?”

She looked at the reports coming in on the Hyperion. Their largest airship, fueled with the latest honkai reactor tech is enough to fight with a Herrscher. It has a specialized battlesuit that will turn the ship’s reactors into solid firepower.

Theresa chose to send a forward team to scout in advance. As long as they received a visual indicator of the Herrscher, honkai beasts, or any fighting, they are ordered to retreat.

What they did not expect, however, is the lack of anything on the site.

No Herrschers, no honkai beasts, nothing.

It is the fourth recorded incident throughout Schicksal—the second in the Far East.

A few hours later, the Far East branch returned to its normal operations. Hyperion’s combat readiness is revoked.

Their biggest finding is the thirty-kilometer wide honkai beast lying on the oceanic plates. It has been severed in half by something. The said something is powerful enough to do so in one hit.

Other than that huge honkai beast mimicking aquatic caves, there is nothing else.

Tap-!

Tap-!

Tap-!

“We are lucky to have found that corpse.”

“It’s bugging me. These events happen with no probable explanation.”

Theresa wasn’t as relieved as Himeko thought. She is stuck wondering how these strange events kept happening.

Worse, her grandfather told her to not think about it. That made her feel like she’s being consoled!

Himeko opened the door to the principal’s office. The moment she did so, she froze and became ready to fight. 

Once she opened that door…

There was nothing.

Theresa was keen to capture the foreign items atop her desk.

Five silver orbs and a letter.

“Someone broke in.”

Himeko went ahead of her. She inspected the entire office.

“It’s not the windows. No footsteps. No honkai residues.”

Theresa did not say a thing. She inspected one of the silver orbs and recognized it was made of soulium.

Her gaze shifted to the letter. Theresa’s height is the same as the desk. Her small arms took it.

The letter is not contained within an envelope. It is a piece of gray paper. Its size is half a short bond.

Inside it reads a single sentence written in English:

Beware of what is false; an eye to see the truth.

A blinding brilliance appeared as she finished reading. It forced her to close her eyes.

Crackle-!

A piece of flaming feather was soon turned to dust.

Theresa opened her eyes and saw the paper burning to ashes.

It caught Himeko’s eyes and prompted her to come.

“Principal. Are you fine?”

“Yes. It did not burn me.”

Just…

She became absent-minded here and then. When everything was confirmed to be untouched and Himeko left the office, Theresa let out a complicated sigh.

“Grandpa…”

The piece of paper broke down fake Fenghuang Down’s influence. It made her remember a lot of things.

All of them are related to the second eruption.

Theresa believed Schicksal fought against Anti-Entropy. The truth was that they cooperated.

She has to think why Otto removed their existence from her memories—from history.

‘Grandpa…’

Chapter 97: Idiotka's Reunion

There is a price for acting cool… for aura farming.

Using [Sword Light Refraction] once dented my mental capacity by a lot. It is a major realm higher than my current capabilities.

My Qi cultivation that reached middle Purple Mansion or my mental cultivation in late Purple Mansion did not have any chances.

That single attack in this frozen lake almost knocked me out cold. 

I used a Golden Core power in Purple Mansion Realm. It is very nerfed. Still, this nerfed version killed Chiyou in one hit.

Crunch-!

Crunch-!

I bit onto the pills I prepared earlier. Prior to the fight, I placed them in my mouth. 

They came from the gacha: a middle third grade qi restorative pill and a late third grade mind restorative pill. There are quite a few bottled pills amidst my treasure pile.

A sense of coolness headed straight to my almost empty dantian. My mind felt ‘refreshed’. I swiftly regained my normal processing speed.

Truly, taking drugs… spiritual pills is the right way.

I watched as its medicinal effect got filtered by my crystal dantian. The semi-smelted high grade Spirit Roots ensured there won’t be any leftovers… impurities, to speak.

All of this happened while staring at the Xuanyuan Sword.

An entire minute of staring later, a literal soul flew out of it. Her appearance is the same as I saw.

The (former) empress of Shenzhou, Ji Xuanyuan.

Her eyes are sent to a daze. It took another minute for her to snap out of it.

“For vanquishing this evil beast… thank you.” She did not give me a chance to breathe. “I will imbue my remaining power to this sword. You—”

“Hold up! Is that it?! You’ll die just like that?!”

Another voice came out of the Xuanyuan Sword. It is extremely similar to Ji Xuanyuan’s. Both of them sound courageous and dignified.

“We both know he isn’t talking about the Xuanyuan Sword!”

She’s right.

I can see how she wanted to leave this world after "enhancing" the tenth Divine Key.

“We have different interpretations of the sword.” I spoke out. “Ultimately, it lies in our realizations. A strong will? Unbreakable blade? To protect humanity?”

Her soul looked at me.

“All I want to say is… Don’t you want to step onto this road?”

I saw through her fatigue. She must have wanted to follow the footsteps of Fuxi and Nuwa. I can still recall the part of the game when Chiyou got dealt with.

My eyes can tell their condition. Only her soul is left… and it is dissipating fast. Ironically, it is her dark version that is in a better condition; just slightly.

By doing nothing, they will truly die.

“You speak like an old monk. Be more direct. What is this sword way you speak of?”

…

Grandpa Su must have rubbed off of me.

“Immortal Cultivation. It is a power that lies beyond the honkai. Cultivate well and you will beat the honkai.”

“Pfft—!”

The normal Ji Xuanyuan looked at me seriously. Her dark counterpart, on the other hand, scoffed at it.

“You might as well say you are an Immortal!”

This is where I would say “Presumptuous!”

There’s even the classic “You have eyes but cannot recognize Mount Tai.”

It rhymes and rolls of the tongue smoothly.

I chose not to speak.

I fully let out the power of [Sword Light Refraction]. Both the real Ji Xuanyuan and her dark counterpart fell silent.

Just when I showed off my momentum, a peering gaze landed on me.

It feels like…

Spiritual consciousness?

My own spiritual consciousness extended upwards. Immediately, I saw a huge aircraft. I don’t know if it is the Hyperion or not.

I pushed it aside for the time being. I searched for the origin of that gaze.

Soon, I finally saw who it was.

The Tuna.

*****

Twenty minutes ago.

A huge spike in honkai energy erupted in Shenzhou. This wasn’t the first time it happened. Both Schicksal and Anti-Entropy reacted immediately.

This time, Anti-Entropy arrived the fastest. It took a total of twenty minutes for Kiana to respond. 

The nearby coastal area did not have any residents. The nearest city is more than twenty kilometers away. 

‘A reading belonging to a Herrscher.’

Kiana kept it in mind as she flew. The huge ice lake could be seen even from the satellite feeds. The sharp increase in honkai energy showed it, too.

Cross-referencing from their database…

Herrscher of Ice.

‘I will strike first. I won’t be an uber cool popsicle!’

She teleported to arrive here and then opted to spiritual qi to lay low.

Soon, she arrived at the scene of the incident. The ice lake was no more. It is crumbling down into smaller pieces.

Most importantly, a sharp intent permeated its center.

Kiana’s heart skipped. An outrageous thought came to her mind.

‘Is it—!’

Her spiritual consciousness extended downwards.

It did not take long to see a huge carcass split into two. Inside its body are a bunch of soulium orbs. 

Her sight shifted to the soul of a woman… and then to the man standing nearby.

The moment she saw that silver light, her entire world paused.

…

…

…

Kiana forgot to breathe and speak. The overwhelming surge of emotions prompted her to fly straight to Chiyou’s corpse.

She did not say a word. Consequently, the man… Shi Tian removed the silver light hiding his face.

His eyes met Kiana’s head-on. His spiritual consciousness alone sensed her turbulent mind.

Tap.

Her feet landed on the ground. 

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Several afterimages stood in place. Kiana herself is already in front of him. Her free-flowing long white hair momentarily mesmerized Shi Tian.

Their height difference prompted her to look up. Her eyes carefully scrutinized each and every detail on Shi Tian’s face.

Without a word…

“Ow!”

She locked him in a tight hug. The force behind it is not meant for ordinary humans.

Hum-!

Buzz-!

The atmosphere around them turned heavy… literally. Gravity responded to Kiana’s state of mind. 

‘She’s a T-Rex again…’

Shi Tian thanked his physical body. He is at the late stage of body cultivation with a supernatural seed related to his body. He could not help but think Kiana’s gotten one too.

Amidst this meeting, the unfortunate duo became the spectators.

“An emotional reunion…”

Dark Ji Xuanyuan did not give out a response. She is still stuck at the impact of Shi Tian’s [Sword Light Refraction].

“What do you plan to do..?”

Ji Xuanyuan asked her.

“...It’s none of your business.”

Shi Tian patted Kiana’s head. She understood it and freed him… for now.

“There’s not much time left. You came out and started your death timer. Especially your condition.”

He pointed to Ji Xuanyuan. As he did, a blank jade tablet appeared in front of him. It bore huge similarities to ancestral tablets.

“It’s time to change your home. Come inside here.”

His fingertip touched the jade tablet.

“...”

“...”

The two Ji Xuanyuans were put at a loss.

Chapter 96: A Sword's Intention

Two thousand years of pure suffering. A selfless sacrifice pushing oneself towards eternal damnation. 

For a moment, I saw a part of myself on her… or rather, them.

The artifact of the Previous Era, the tenth Divine Key. A total of one thousand copies are made from the Herrscher Cores of the Herrscher of Domination. They turned it into a self-transforming weapon capable of granting someone ICHOR—and by extension, the completion of Project MANTIS.

The Xuanyuan Sword is special amongst the tenth Divine Key. It is the weapon once held by Shenzhou’s Empyrean, Fu Hua.

Honkai…

Humanity truly suffered an unexpected disaster.

Fwooosh-!

The rising of the sea levels ensued. The small interference caused by my arrival awakened Chiyou in advance. It is akin to kicking a rusty lock. It will be destroyed in another year or so. 

My arrival broke that rusty lock.

Hm…

A strong yet hidden way to defeat Chiyou.

The [Nine Dragons Purple Qi] is not plausible. Its sheer length will reach two hundred kilometers. I can use it, to be honest. It’s just that… I wanted to explore my power.

Seawater…

Sea…

Water.

A previous move popped up.

In Cocolia’s orphanage, I used the [Life Extending Heavy Water] to carry my sword intent. It is very effective.

Sword cultivation has a purpose in each realm.

Sword Heart teaches one to forge a strong mental state/mindset.

Sword Nurturing Pagoda nurtures the sword with one’s determination.

Thunder-Like Sword points the way of decisiveness, to act as fast as a thunderclap and leaving no doubts.

Sword Light Refraction tells one that…

Everything can be used as a sword.

…

I know what I need to do.

*****

Rumble-!

Pitter-!

Strong winds swept on the sea surface. It is followed by small raindrops causing countless ripples.

The skies turned dark. It is a recipe for a severe storm.

Just then…

Creak-!

Seawater began to turn into blocks of ice. No more than a minute later, everything within a hundred kilometer radius were frozen. Movements at the molecular level halted, causing heat to disperse and for all things to freeze solid.

A Herrscher’s Authority on one hand; immortal cultivation on the other hand.

Shi Tian did not get swept by his current strength. He can still remember a power far stronger than this.

Instead, he looked up. His body did not get drenched by the rain. It is actively avoiding him. He is the one who messed with the weather in the first place.

Crack-!

Crack-!

…

Each raindrop caused cracks to appear on the ice block. They are heavy to begin with. The acceleration brought by Earth’s gravitational pull enhanced it further.

Shi Tian’s eyes remained below. His [Encompassing Eyes] is feeding him information about the Xuanyuan Sword. He cared more about the story it has.

‘...Heroic yet tragic. A noble person left to be forgotten by the world.’

It started on day one. His interactions with Kiana showed the world beyond the game. It is completely different to be able to talk with Kiana Kaslana, much less the people who sacrificed themselves for humanity’s sake.

It caused his emotions to surge.

‘Being forgotten… Disheartening.’

Shi Tian understood why there are two wills inside the Xuanyuan Sword. One of them is the soul of the original Emperor Xuanyuan. The other one is a dark version of herself, the one holding all of her darkest feelings—similar to a Seele’s Veliona.

Rumble.

The dark skies reflected his current feelings. 

‘To show others another way… that is what I can do.’

The dark clouds are reflected in Shi Tian’s pupils.

One of the condensed raindrops started falling. A flicker of five-colored light is present inside. It is so small nobody would have paid attention to it. Only extraordinary people can see the dazzling intent merged on it.

Sou-!

A loud whistling sound came as it contacted the ground.

Boom-!

Crack-!

Unlike other raindrops, it went past the ice on the surface. It caused one large fracture to appear. The deeper the raindrop went, the further the crack’s length became.

It did not take long before the crack extended to the edges of the ice lake. Simultaneously, the raindrop touched Chiyou’s white shell.

Hum-!

A bright aurora broke free.

Across all cracks, this light seeped out.

Buzz-!

BAM-!

The first to give up was the ice lake. Hundreds of cracks appeared instantly. The huge block of ice crumbled.

Splash-!

The surrounding sea water began to pour in. The crumbling ice revealed Chiyou’s huge body. It is laying dormant right below the oceanic crust. An entire portion of the sea was split open by Shi Tian’s attack.

Chiyou’s body bore a huge tear. The transcendent sword intent tore through its entire body. Any bit of its soul remaining also turned to ashes. 

The skies cleared up. The intense rain stopped. Only the gurgling of the sea which filled the empty space could be heard.

Just like that…

The Xuanyuan Sword is liberated.

*****

Endless darkness;

Bound by duties;

One shall never meet;

The face of sunlight.

That was what she believed.

Two thousand years is a long time. The empress of Shenzhou, Ji Xuanyuan, willingly offered her life to prevent the beast from wrecking havoc. Along with her teachers, they banished it to the nine realms.

Her teachers died. She was left to safeguard the seals they gave their life for.

Still…

It birthed her doubts.

How long before being put to rest?

She shouldered the duty of guarding mankind. She placed her very life to pull it off. Her teachers left her alone.

How long will…

…

Eternal solitude.

Victory is not within sight. Nobody came to put her out of misery. Nobody came to end Chiyou’s life. She is destined to end miserably from the start.

The darkness on Ji Xuanyuan’s heart gave form to another version of herself. The disappearance of her physical body did not hinder her natural stigma. Her dark version used it as a form of residence, accumulating more darkness as time passed.

The day the seals break down is the day they will break free.

Unfortunately, the world overturned their expectations.

A single strike of a sword fell the beast they kept sealed for two thousand years.

Chiyou’s huge carcass was torn open. They saw the light of day.

It was then that someone descended from the skies.

His face is hidden in a veil of silver light. His cape fluttered as he stepped into the surface. His footsteps rang across the broken carcass.

Soon, he arrived in front of them.

The man emitted the exact same feeling as the ‘sword’ the two saw. It is formless and intangible, yet its presence rests on him.

“I ask of you, Your Highness. What is the sword?”

His calm voice disturbed Ji Xuanyuans’ broke her two thousand years of desolation.

Chapter 95: Sword Immortal

Su’s situation soon became stable. His body cultivation began to skyrocket with each repair attempt done by spiritual qi. As long as there are spiritual qi present outside, this repair session will not stop.

It is the equivalent of him auto-cultivating his physical body.

“I can’t make you wait for a while longer.”

Just like that day, he stood in front of a huge tree. It is ninety percent similar to the bubble world where he met Durandal.

“Make sure not to strain yourself, Grandpa.”

“In terms of age, aren’t you older?”

“...”

Eh.

He beat me to it.

I won’t win a verbal fight against a 4,500 year old guy.

I missed the times with Kiana more.

Two formation plates floated atop my palm. It took the shape of a Bagua, with eight flags floating on each intersection of a line. I focused on the left one.

The outer plate remains stationary. The inner and core plate can be moved in various directions, however.

I pushed the core plate with the yin-yang symbol in the middle. A small circular chamber emerged. Its insides are completely hollow.

Su tossed me a spirit stone. A brief glance is enough to tell it is fourth grade.

The moment it touched the small chamber, it shrank down and fitted into its hollow part. I did this with the ten other spirit stones tossed by Su. All of them fitted the small chamber.

Click.

I handed the other formation plate to Su and kept the other one. I am very careful of it.

After all, this is the first fourth-grade reward I got from the gacha. It reached the late fourth grade, atop that.

The plates’ main function is to enable teleportation to and fro its counterparts. It housed strong attack, defense, and auxiliary functions, to boot. Most importantly, it is very simple to operate. It allows a lower realm to exert a part of its capabilities.

As long as its batteries (spirit stones) exist, only some external input is required for it to continue running.

“Take care of it for me.”

I said as I tossed a storage ring in his direction. He caught it.

Zoom-!

A dark blue line appeared in front of me.

A huge sigil appears behind Su. He is utilizing the Second Divine Key’s power again. Its Zeroth Form is not required to operate within the Sea of Quanta.

“Remember to take your meds.”

“...”

With what seemed like a victory, I touched the dark blue light. My surroundings began to move.

My vision changed into nothing but dark blue. My physical body trembled. 

A foreign energy washed over me. It sensed the honkai energy inside my body. I could feel its aggressiveness soaring off the sky.

Just then, my spiritual qi began to act up. 

Like a bard, it caused the Sea of Quanta’s energy to calm down.

…

Why am I imagining a three-character romance now?

This absurd thought only died down when I broke out of the endless dark blue. The movement stopped.

In the blink of an eye, I found myself on a coast.

Swish-!

The waves crashing attracted my senses. 

Although the bubble world has a peak fourth grade spirit vein, it lacked something compared to the real world. It is more like a false world complemented with the thick dao rhymes.

If the same amount of energy is in the real world, it might reach the fifth grade.

Rumble-!

The faint shaking of the ground attracted me.

Swoosh-!

My spiritual consciousness spread out.

One mile.

Three miles.

…

Eight hundred miles.

I locked onto a source of honkai energy. I retracted my spiritual consciousness and focused on the said source.

In the depths of the seabed, an extremely huge honkai beast remained dormant. Its sheer body size is larger than an average city.

Inside its body lies a sword.

…

Gramps really knew what I wanted to do.

Our exchanges in immortal cultivation and honkai gradually led to me wanting to do some practical tests.

Sending me to fight this Judgement-class honkai beast showed Su’s trust on me… rather, on my abilities.

I will prove it right.

Tap.

Honkai energy is actively mobilized around me. My mind is burdened to control it. My body, on the other hand, served as the gateway of honkai energy. These two aspects are deeply tied to honkai adaptability.

The [True Form] state of my [Blade Mantra] activated. The burden decreased sharply. I can use more honkai energy now.

Creak-!

Each passing step caused a foothold made of frost beneath my feet.

Flutter-!

The sea breeze swept through my cape. Nature itself is assisting me in aura farming.

A hazy silver light covered my face. It is enough to shield some prying gazes.

For now…

It’s time to stretch some muscles.

*****

There are a total of four initiatives passed from the Previous Era, the so-called Project S.A.V.E.

Stigma.

Ark.

Valuka.

Ember.

The fourth section, Project Ember, is related to passing on advanced honkai knowledge to humanity.

The advanced honkai knowledge caused civilization to develop, in turn prompting the honkai to grow stronger as well.

It spawned the first Judgement-class Honkai Beast of the Current Era, codenamed Chiyou.

A total of three heroes died in order to seal it. Fuxi and Nuwa, two Previous Era researchers, managed to seal and imprison it at the depths of the sea.

The First Emperor of Shenzhou, Xuanyuan, lost her mortal body inside the honkai beast.

Now, the ancient legends of yesterday reappeared to the present age.

Fwooosh-!

Sea levels started to rise. It instantly alarmed the people boating in the area. Its intensity is enough to shake them off their boats.

“Shit!”

“It’s tilting backwards!”

“What—”

Numerous profanities and shouts rang across the sea. They appeared sparse as the distance between them is huge.

This area does not produce much fish. It is more of an area for sightseeing. The number of boats in this radius does not exceed twenty.

It was precisely due to the lack of people that they were panicking. Losing control of one’s boat in the boundless sea, without being able to send a distress signal, is a death warrant.

Just then…

Swoosh-!

All of the boats stopped rocking. An invisible force held them still.

“The Dao is endless.”

A soft whisper unheard by everyone marked a new change. The people on top of the boat began seeing small fishes made of water. They are so intricately sculpted it briefly sent them into a daze.

Then…

Wooosh-!

Under each boat, a dolphin sculpted out of water began pushing forward. The acceleration of the boats soon outclassed the heavy waves.

“Dad! Look above!”

“Huh?!”

A family of two are forced to hold on for their dear life. The acceleration did not throw them off. It is manageable by holding onto something.

That was how they had the leisure to think of something else.

“What…”

“An immortal! Just like the folktales!”

“Celestial.”

The father and daughter duo bowed their heads in the floating figure’s direction.

If there was an immortal, he is one!

“...”

Shi Tian fell silent. He made sure to clear out eight hundred miles of Chiyou’s radius. It covers the entire coast from Shenzhou to the Far East.

He is the sole person within Chiyou’s range.

“Following one’s heart… is also being free and unfettered.”

His sword cultivation grew slightly. It affirmed his notion.

Shi Tian waited until the people he sent out were fine. He stared beneath his feet and saw the waves surging. A lot of marine species are disturbed and want to migrate, only to fall ill of honkai energy.

The originally near-zero honkai energy concentration spiked in less than five minutes.

“Sword.”

His attention was caught not by Chiyou, but by the sword inside it. The Xuanyuan Sword is responsible for watching over Chiyou’s seals. It is gradually weakening over the years, showing how it ended up wrecking havoc in the near future.

Right now…

Shi Tian saw through the sword’s experience.

Chapter 94: Honkai's Secret to Minmaxing

“I knew it’ll turn out like this!”

Never in Tesla’s life did she feel as comfortable as now. Anti-Entropy’s long experience is primarily in espionage. They are experts at lying low and spying on Schicksal’s work.

Their “2013 Latest Anti-Entropy Invasion Manual” is a testament of that.

In short, their modus operandi is to defeat the strong with the weak; to create plans and take down superhuman valkyries and honkai beasts alike.

It is Tesla’s first time seeing an operation end within minutes.

“Thanks, Kiana.”

“Oh…”

After giving Kiana a thumbs up, she stepped inside the submarine and went towards the research base under the sea.

“So that’s how I look like..?”

“...ister Kiana.”

“Oh?”

Her daze was broken by Seele’s voice.

“Ah. Uhm… He is…”

Kiana did not divulge Shi Tian’s disappearance to Bronya and Seele. She even used Shi Tian’s account just to chat with them. She was lucky their meetings did not happen frequently.

“...busy.”

“I see…”

Only an air of awkwardness was left between the two.

*****

The conversation between Kiana and Seele woke me up.

I can’t dilly-dally in this place any longer.

My gaze shifted to Su. He is holding a palm-size jade brick. It has the thickness of a smartphone.

It is the fabled jade slips in immortal cultivation.

The best thing during this year is the accumulation of cultivation-related items. I received sixteen items related to Late Foundation Establishment at the very least.

Once I broke through the Purple Mansion Realm, the six days of wait turned into four days. That was fifty items belonging to the third grade at minimum.

Out of them, I lucked out once and received an item of the late fourth grade. That is the ones used by the Golden Core Realm.

Anyways, one of the items had a late third grade storage ring that contained stacks upon stacks of blank jade slips. Their quality fluctuated from the first to the third grade.

The storage ring has the size of an entire standard hangar in Salt Lake’s Base. The jade slip section consumed a quarter of that space.

If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought it is smuggling jade slips.

Wait.

That might be true.

“Interesting. Medicines can be used like this?”

“That’s the most optimal way to deal with your broken body.” I replied. “Eating the plants… the materials and storing it on you is the best failsafe.”

“While I am not as skilled as others in biology, this should be enough.”

I felt relieved after hearing Su’s confirmation.

Since it is an auxiliary technique with no masteries, Su quickly got it to work. I passed onto him the lowest-level spiritual plants in my possession… which are late second grade.

Fortunately, I managed to dilute its power by fragmenting them into smaller pieces.

After a while, tribulation clouds began to form on the highest point of this bubble world. It formed normally. I thought it would bug out due to the bubble world’s nature. It is merely a copy of the worlds nourished by the tree. 

Meaning, it is missing a lot of things.

My vision soon changed. It took a blink to see the strings connected to the cloud. My eyes had truly turned into the [Encompassing Eyes]. It is no longer an external ability.

I can easily read the nature of my targets. I can even predict some possibilities of the future. 

It uses my knowledge base to form judgements. Luckily, I happen to know more than ten thousand techniques. That turned it into a broken appraisal skill… or rather, a pair of Mystic Eyes.

I watched Su’s breakthrough closely. The body skill check proved to be troublesome. Su’s body is akin to a broken bucket. It could not properly hold spiritual qi.

If the body cannot adapt to hold spiritual qi, the skill check fails.

The plants’ medicinal effects began to work. They started to affect Su’s body, assisting it to adapt to spiritual qi.

After a lot of twists and turns, he got through it.

The second and third skill checks are done with ease. His strong mental power carried him all the way until the end.

The tribulation cloud’s changes appeared. From its calmness, it turned aggressive. A portion of the cultivator’s aura is messing up the nature of things. It possessed the power of an early Foundation Establishment attack.

Su pulled off something I never saw before.

Just by looking at the thunderstrike, he made it avoid him!

A strong mental power, influenced by honkai energy, followed Su’s will and attacked the thunderstrikes in an intangible way.

His strongest means did not lie on immortal cultivation, but on the honkai.

The Plus One Law…

It’s broken right in front of my eyes.

As long as honkai energy is present, one can break the Plus One Law of immortal cultivation. A proper honkai adaptability increases control over honkai energy. More honkai energy equates to greater control over their power.

With enough honkai adaptability, they can use enough power to destroy Earth, something Kevin has.

This is the secret to honkai’s minmaxing.

Su’s current mental power is sitting at the peak of Foundation Establishment. I believe it’s not his full power, either.

I sensed my physical body. Both spiritual qi and honkai energy are in a state of co-existence. I don’t know as to what level my current honkai adaptability is… but I can tell it is very high. 

The continuous forging of honkai energy did not just raise my body cultivation; it also increased my honkai adaptability. This is the most insane part.

Immortal cultivation’s spiritual qi gave the same effect as Bianka’s talent. Her Schariac bloodline allowed her to increase her honkai adaptability by going past the limits each time.

“Metal… Is this how it is?” Su asked loudly.

A golden light is present on his mental power. It has the same effect as the [Sword Heart]’s sword intent. Only, it is mimicked through the metal element.

High Grade Metal Spirit Root.

Su has that talent. It greatly contrasted his peaceful temperament.

“That’s one of cultivation’s perks…”

I habitually went into my teaching state.

*****

A/N: These are the draws. It lucked out on the first one, which moved it to the fourth grade selection. 93 appeared after the 100, hence the late fourth grade. 

The sixteen Foundation Establishment draws went like this.

The one hundred turned 96, thus the late third grade.

Chapter 93: High Realm = Instant Victory

A/N: Small revisions (chapter 90). Instead of not finding Cocolia’s base, Kiana found it months ago. Only when I reread it did it sound so forced and unnatural. A peak Foundation Establishment can have a consciousness of fifty miles (80 km). It’s easy to find it even at the depths of the sea.

Either way, nothing much changes from the planned plot. Cocolia is destined not to succeed. Every other outcome will feel so forced (and I don’t like it).

*****

I felt lighter than ever.

Out of my time in this world, I kept quite a lot of secrets. Being able to straightforwardly tell my knowledge of Honkai feels very refreshing. It is the knowledge of reaching the end-game, in particular.

Finally, it is fun to play as the riddler on Su. I am giving him the same treatment he gave Durandal.

My spiritual consciousness spread out to this entire bubble world. My mind came across thousands of individual things. Most of them are inanimate objects formed by the Sea of Quanta’s power.

They contained traces of spiritual qi. It resulted in these objects becoming more “real”, rather than a high-end replica from the Sea of Quanta’s power.

There is nothing much in this bubble world. Its entirety did not surpass the limits of my range. Except for the plants, greenery, and some ruined infrastructures, there is nothing else.

With my mental cultivation at the Late Stage of Purple Mansion Realm, it can reach as far as a thousand miles.

“Your friend is making a lot of mess.”

Su projected something reminiscent of a live feed.

The moment I saw Kiana’s face, I knew what they were up to. 

They did not disappoint me.

Currently, she is confronting Cocolia on the beach. Along with her is Seele. Bronya is not there.

Well.

As long as the X-10 experiment does not happen, it cuts off the subsequent effects of Raiden Mei’s Herrscher Awakening. I already cut off Otto’s chance with the Imaginary Tree. There is also the Seed of Sumeru that was supposed to stabilize the bubble world inside Durandal.

I messed up a lot of things.

Do I regret it? No.

Humanity will defeat the honkai with the best ending possible. To hell with Kevin’s at all cost.

Looking at their confrontation, I relished in their upcoming fight.

*****

Nine months ago, Kiana went back to the orphanage. As per Shi Tian’s reminders, she helped Bronya and Seele to break through. Kiana helped them secure a second grade spirit vein and ensured nothing would go wrong on their “tribulations”.

Bronya dealt with it easily. Her [Starlight Controlling Art] dealt with the tribulation clouds. It was Seele who had difficulties.

She did not realize much of her spells’ combat side. The [Heavenly Water Falling Art] has the sides of life and death. It exists to drown and to save. Seele focused more on the saving part, which led to her difficulties on the tribulation stage. Kiana ended up dealing with the clouds for Seele’s cultivation bonus.

Fwoosh-!

The flight speed of a Purple Mansion Realm caused a whistling in the sky. Some aircrafts who came across it tried to read their radars, but to no avail.

That was how Kiana remained unnoticed while looking for the underwater base.

“Cocolia is spotted. You can get ahead of her, Kiana.”

It was Einstein who spoke on the intercomms.

‘I’m not late!’

That made Kiana heave a sigh of relief.

Three days ago, Seele sent her a message. She and Bronya will head out to see the beach in three days… which is today.

That was when Kiana thought of the artificial beach in Siberia. That served as Cocolia’s gateway to the underground laboratory. 

Even if it was a false alarm, it sent Anti-Entropy to a state of alert. Their reconnaissance over Cocolia’s turf was increased.

Kiana decided to break through at this juncture. Welt Yang’s Foundation Establishment can ensure the operation’s success even without her.

The breakthrough is more of an assurance than anything else… and Kiana took that gamble.

In the end, she broke through the Purple Mansion Realm. She suppressed the strange urge inside her dantians and took action.

Soon, she arrived on the artificial beach. It is cordoned off from the outside. The scale of the “beach” is not large enough to pose issues for satellites above. Seeing a white sand beach in Siberia is extremely suspicious.

A brief scan revealed more than a hundred Titans hidden within the beach’s kilometer radius. They are ready to respond to all external threats.

Kiana saw there weren’t any humans inside the hundred Titans. They are all controlled remotely or with artificial intelligence.

“Uhm..?”

Seele seemed to have noticed Kiana beyond her light concealment. She stared at the huge spiritual qi source up above.

Her abnormal reaction was seen by Cocolia.

“What is wrong?”

Just as she asked, Kiana broke out of her concealment.

“Kaslana..?”

Cocolia has a dozen questions.

Luckily, Kiana also has questions for her.

“Miss Cocolia.”

Her words served to worsen Cocolia’s expression. She thought of something and frowned.

Kiana’s appearance, her flying midair, and her battlesuit-looking outfit all served to point out something.

“Mister Yang is on the way here. You can explain your unauthorized actions later. For now…”

Boom-!

Boom-!

Boom-!

…

Dozens of small explosions rang out on the beach’s surroundings. The spears made from spiritual qi accurately pierced through each and every Titan. 

A wave of her attacks disabled Cocolia’s most prided force. Kiana restrained her aura, yet it was enough to cast a shadow of intimidation on the radical’s ringleader.

“Sister Kiana…”

Seele looked conflicted with the duo’s fight. One of them is her good friend. The other one is her mother figure. She cares about them both.

“Think of Bronya, Seele. What would she think if something bad happens to you?”

“..!”

“That will make her very sad.” A melancholic look appeared on Kiana. “So, experiments can come later.”

“...”

Cocolia did not say a word. She is testing out the few countermeasures she had left. Needless to say, none of them worked.

Just then, a person’s silhouette came from outside the woods.

Kiana anticipated his appearance and turned at him. He wore a black robe and a white half-mask resembling a skull. His footsteps left a trail on the sand.

The cadre of the World Serpent showed himself.

“Amazing. The power to see beyond yourself… and the strange force outside of honkai. How did you do it?”

“I won’t answer a fake person!”

Several shackles surrounded Gray Serpent. They are made of Kiana’s void constructs. Simultaneously, a strong force sent him kneeling down.

The [Taixu World Rendering Sutra] is about the control of the void. It possessed the same, if not greater capabilities to Kiana’s Second Herrscher Core.

As such, she can mimic the Core’s abilities with spiritual qi.

Boom-!

Gray Serpent’s head suddenly short-circuited. A wave of black smoke rose up.

“Oops…”

Kiana did not expect his self-destruction. She looked back and saw Seele with a firm expression. Cocolia, on the other hand, is the one conflicted.

She realized Gray Serpent must have foreseen this event. She got played unknowingly.

It made her doubt herself.

‘Am I doing the right thing..?’

Chapter 92: Humanity's Way Out

For well over a year, Su watched over Shi Tian. He gradually learned the full extent of immortal cultivation.

Unlike honkai, it relies on external resources and accumulation of time. Pursuing pure immortal cultivation for ten years will not grant the power to contend against the honkai.

A great example of it is the Project Soldier developed during his time. So long as the physical body can adapt to the honkai, they will be given strength comparable to Qi Refining at minimum.

What could be done, however, is to combine honkai and immortal cultivation together. Only then would the practice speed become extremely fast.

‘This feeling… It’s very similar to a Herrscher’s.’

Su observed the phenomenon caused by Shi Tian. 

Purple Mansion Realm dabbles on world laws (dao rhymes). Herrschers possess authority over world laws. 

In a sense, a Herrscher’s authority is akin to the Supernatural Powers held by high-ranking cultivators.

‘A power belonging to their own… If humanity is given a hundred, no, a thousand years…’

It is unimaginable what level they could reach.

Out of billions of humans, a fraction of them can possess Spirit Roots. A smaller fraction within that fraction possesses insane talents. It would not be difficult to reach the Golden Core Realm in a thousand years. 

By then, humanity will become a considerable force.

Su could only sigh at this possibility.

The Honkai will never let this possibility come true. There is less than five years remaining before the Herrscher of the End descends. That came from the rate at which the honkai energy concentration increases. 

The moment Earth reaches the peak of the Previous Era, that would be the time for the final confrontation.

‘Master… A being who cannot intervene…’

The disturbances nearby did not affect him. He is still at the peak of Qi Refining. Su can break through the Foundation Establishment Realm at any time. 

Only, Shi Tian asked him to wait until he returned. Things are different with Su’s MANTIS body, heavily skewed mental power, and his severe injuries.

Fortunately, the Jing dantian is fighting for its life—or rather, for Su’s life. It managed to extend his physical body’s lifespan to an entire year.

It took an entire week for Shi Tian to wake up. The turbulent spiritual qi calmed down.

All sorts of lights flashed in his eyes. It briefly revealed the Dao he understood from ten Supernatural Seeds.

Shi Tian’s feet stepped into the ground. He saw he was still wearing the same set of clothes from a year ago. This is what he asked Welt Yang to create. He almost experienced a generational aura debt when he got naked after a tribulation.

‘Commanding honkai energy to create an outfit…’

Shi Tian received that feedback.

Aside from the surging spiritual qi in his body, there is also the dormant Herrscher Core right at his chest.

With a mentality of trying, he created an outfit inside his mind.

Honkai energy came out of nowhere. His eyes possessed a glint of white light, showing the [True Form] in effect. Controlling the honkai energy with it is as easy as child’s play.

Soon, he watched as his casual outfit changed into an elegant black and blue themed hanfu. It has an inner wear akin to a white robe. The same went to the lower wear. 

A white feathered robe is attached on its shoulders.

Coupled with his overgrown black hair, it turned him into a proper immortal cultivator.

'...Nope. I am not used to long hair.'

Shi Tian arranged his current looks while greeting Su.

“I’m sorry. It took a while, didn’t it?”

“One week, to be precise.” Su replied.

That made Shi Tian pause.

“One week… It will only be longer later, huh…”

A few seconds later, his envisioned hairstyle was finished. The hair he cut off burned before turning into nothingness.

Shi Tian’s high cultivation affected both his appearance and physical age alike. Everybody would think of him as an eighteen-year-old. His appearance is enhanced to the heavens, pushing it towards the ‘most optimal’ state.

He walked beside Su. Shi Tian followed his gaze and saw an image of a white-haired man.

“My Master cannot intervene with Earth’s predicament. I have the knowledge to take down the honkai, however.”

“Isn’t it about time to explain it?”

Su did not look at Shi Tian like a twelve-year-old. The latter did not play out his hidden sect bullshit. At best, he left some things unexplained. Su has too many experiences to be able to see through lies and half-truths.

Moreover, to this Myrmydon who can sacrifice his life for the future of humanity, Shi Tian respected him highly. He is more than ready to give this world a helping hand. He will stick to his choices until the very end.

“The Cocoon of Finality is looking for a companion. An equal. It is the reason for going through various civilizations. As long as this era will bring someone who can fit into the Cocoon’s criteria, Earth… Humanity will be saved from the honkai.”

“...”

Su fell silent.

Shi Tian watched over his reaction. It was precisely because of this shocker did he choose to reveal it now.

During the past two hundred or so days, they worked on studying the complementary effects of honkai energy and spiritual qi. They cooked up a lot of theories, with some being put into practice. They tacitly agreed not to ask more personal things.

“Herrscher of Origin. Have you heard about it?”

“You know a lot of things.”

Hearing Su’s affirmation, Shi Tian continued to explain.

“Herrschers have a human ego, which your Previous Era did not have. This opens up another possibility. One that posits a human embracing the Cocoon. That will be humanity’s way out.”

Su looked at him. Never had he felt so estranged to Shi Tian than now. The two worked together for a long period. He saw through Shi Tian’s personality gradually. Su thought he learned enough about him.

Turns out…

He is just as unfathomable as their first meeting.

Chapter 91: Stacked Enlightenment

The Cocoon of Finality has the power to isolate the entire solar system from the other worlds on the Imaginary Tree. It could not be treaded by any other being. Only worlds previously afflicted by the honkai as well as high-dimensional powers can cross this overbearing imaginary barrier.

As such, the existence of high-dimensional wills is akin to fireflies in a dark room.

Hum-!

The Sea of Quanta ushered in a huge change. The act of Shi Tian dumping his half-garbage and half-treasure caused disturbances. He resided on a bubble world located on the Sea of Quanta.

Forming a connection with the imaginary space exacerbates the disturbance. It is now a long-ranged ballistic missile exploding on a dark night.

Sitting on the depths of Bikini Bottom is humanity’s greatest hero.

“...What did you see?”

Kevin did not show any fluctuations on his face. The act of tacitly agreeing to Su’s intent to trap him is the last time he showed one. He is aware that would be their final meeting.

Su will die. Kevin gave humanity the last chance. If they cannot find any solutions before he breaks out…

All that’s waiting is to enact their last-ditch plan, Project STIGMA.

He knew that time would not be long.

“An unfamiliar power contrasting the honkai…”

Kevin was surprised to see both the Void Refinement Realm mental power and IX’s influence. They can be sensed more clearly than a year ago.

At the same time, another being on the Sea of Quanta noticed the disturbance. Her current strength is a tenth of the Cocoon of Finality. That was something brought by taking advantage of the Sea of Quanta.

The moment Sa sensed the collision of IX and the mental power, she actively concealed herself. Although she is now a machine rather than a sentient being, she is not one to actively get herself in trouble.

That was how it was when she avoided Kevin in the Sea of Quanta. 

That was how it was when she hid from the Cocoon of Finality.

Two hidden masters are awakened today.

*****

The first thing that bombarded my senses is not the overly thick spiritual qi nor Su’s appearance.

It's Dao Rhymes.

As a Purple Mansion Realm, I have the capability to understand dao rhymes. It is different from before. It won’t give off the feeling of a forced sneeze interruption. 

My mind is previously cut off from my body and soul. 

The only thing I saw is IX’s true nature and pure attainments. Seeing the former is useless. The majority of the latter is pure gibberish. It is too high-level. I can only absorb these attainments honestly.

I ended up being bombarded by the dao rhymes.

My mind is sent to a daze. 

The coalescence of water…

The sparks of flames…

The perennial life of trees…

…

…

…

At some point, I woke up from my daze. 

The crystal dantian in my chest is changing rapidly. The two dots representing the mysterious spaces began to change. Several other dots appeared and transformed into a fingernail-sized spot.

Seeds of Supernatural Power.

I understood what was happening.

The techniques and spells I practice are turning into Seeds of Supernatural Power. It can be best understood as turning it into a special skill. It lessens consumption of spiritual qi, enhances understanding of a certain Dao, boosts cultivation speed, and so on.

Purple Mansion Realm enables their existence. Not all Purple Mansion Realm cultivators can have them, however.

My time inside the mental landscape is not for naught. I have more than ten thousand techniques, all pointing out to the highest level of immortal cultivation. The number of cross-referencing I did on a daily basis is so absurd even I could not believe it.

Studying techniques is one of the things I did aside from practicing the mind.

Today, it bore fruit.

Xiutian Yin-Yang Art.

Ten Directions Body Art.

Xinhai Wuji Heart Sutra.

The first seed is completed.

The [Xiutian Art], my qi cultivation technique, is related to the ten fundamental elements that make up a world. The Five Yin and Five Yang converge together, forming an unbreakable cycle containing the profundity of the world.

The sheer influence of my spiritual qi changed. Just by existing, it can influence its surroundings. It lessened the difficulty of manipulating the ten elements to a huge extent.

In my sight, there are three lines. All of them originated from me, extending beyond the edges of what I can see.

Karmic lines.

The moment I thought of it, the seed belonging to the [Xinhai Sutra] is formed next. It left my dantian as it headed straight to the top of my head.

My eyes started burning… literally. An invisible force descended onto it. My [Encompassing Eyes] are forced open.

This ability belonged to the [Xinhai Sutra] to begin with. It began to evolve under my sight. It began to permanently change my eyes.

The third seed is formed during this change. It belonged to the [Ten Directions Body Art].

A thin five-colored film emerged on my physical body. The seed left my dantian, touched the edges of my soul, and dissipated.

Hum-!

Rumble-!

A metaphysical five-colored light swept through my soul. The first bit of Tao Pattern I wrote using the [Clear Aperture Art] reacted. Its golden glow intensified as it continued to increase my comprehension.

An urge came to my mind. 

I began to carve more Tao Patterns in my soul. 

Unlike before, I did not feel very burdened. Qi cultivation is connected to the soul’s strength. It is the reason why the soul becomes tangible at the Nascent Soul Realm.

My focus is put into these three seeds. I am doing three things at once.

Hum-!

The fourth seed was formed. It belongs to the [Five Elements Dao Sutra]. It sped up the creation of the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth seeds.

They emitted a five-colored light before they began to merge. 

Hum-!

It shook as it formed a strange resonance with the [Xiutian Art]’s seed. I can feel them growing stronger as they do so. 

The roars of dragons, the overbearing nature of the mountain, the sharpness of metal…

Swoosh-!

That wasn’t the end.

The ninth seed akin to clouds emerged. It came from my [Cloud Seeking Steps].

The “clouds” mentioned in the technique popped in my mind.

Their contexts can be different.

They can be the clouds in the sky. They can also be the cosmic clouds in the universe. The changing context represented its highest limits.

The seed responded to my thoughts. It shifted from normal clouds into a starry nebula. The notion of an entire universe being a “cloud” emerged in my mind, though it did not cause any more changes.

Seeing these changes happen simultaneously is about to overwhelm my mind. The resonance and changes of these nine Supernatural Seeds is enough to send me to a state of enlightenment.

Just then…

Shiing-!

The tenth supernatural seed emerged. The [Daluo Sword Art] became exaggeratingly active.

Previously, it had two functions. One is the comprehension of things it destroys. The other is the stacking of perceptions—swords or not—into a single sword strike.

My increasingly dazed state showed me the changes in nature. All of them began to get stained with a sharp and unyielding aura.

Sword Heart. To polish one’s heart.

Sword Nurturing Pagoda. To nourish one’s intention.

Thunder-Like Sword. To showcase one’s determination, striking as fast as a thunderclap.

The accomplishments of my previous sword cultivations are laid bare.

On one side are the changes in nature. In the other is the sharpness and unyieldingness of a sword.

Turns out…

The colored-light can contain both nature and sword in one.

RUMBLE-!

The last thing I saw was a huge aurora before falling into my enlightenment.

*****

A/N: Bonus chapter. The stocked-up enlightenment he could not have broke out all at once. We'll be getting more character interactions next (and what happened to Cocolia's shenanigans).

Chapter 90: No Way Home? More Like Homecoming

It wasn’t just Kiana who progressed leaps and bounds. She is, however, the one with the greatest progress.

Middle stage body cultivation, early stage mental cultivation, and early stage qi cultivation. All of it belongs to the Purple Mansion Realm. 

The existence of honkai supplemented immortal cultivation, and as such, propelled her cultivation speed to the heavens.

Welt Yang follows next.

Hum-!

The underground level is filled with spiritual qi. It wasn’t as exaggerated as Kiana’s and Shi Tian’s, though it is enough for his current level.

The “Plus One Law” applies in spirit veins too. The maximum efficiency of a cultivator is one major realm above theirs. This applies to high grade Spirit Roots and below.

No matter how much concentration there is, benefits can be maximized with a spirit vein one major realm above theirs.

For Foundation Establishment, a third grade spirit vein suffices.

Welt Yang’s face looked uncomfortable. The pain he is feeling does not exist in his physical body.

It is in his soul.

“Forcing honkai energy inside the dantian…”

He could only praise Kiana’s boldness.

This discovery came a year ago. She noticed how honkai energy forged the physical body, which speeds up body cultivation. 

Kiana wondered if honkai energy can be directed to the dantian. She wanted to use the honkai’s destructiveness and spiritual qi’s restorative effect to forge the dantian. It will serve to speed up qi cultivation.

After a lot of twists and turns (and even Welt’s dissuasion), Kiana succeeded. 

As a Herrscher, they have a thorough control of honkai energy. They can transport honkai energy to the metaphysical body (soul) where the dantian lies.

What came next is the loosening of their control. Kiana gradually increased the destructiveness of honkai energy. 

She used herself—without Welt Yang’s knowledge—to enact this experiment.

The only downside to it is the recovery of Foundation Establishment.It did not cause hidden injuries. Honkai energy remained true to its nature, strengthening the dantian (soul) after destruction.

For every forging session using honkai energy, they have to rest for three days. They can still do the normal qi cultivation during their rest.

Like that, Kiana managed to complete Foundation Establishment in under a year.

“Her recklessness is worse than Siegfried’s…”

Thirty minutes later, Welt Yang emerged back to the surface. He is greeted by Tesla.

“Today’s the day. Will you come with her?” She asked.

“Yes.”

The two headed straight to one of the hangars.

A white-haired fairy waited for them. Her temperament, tainted with traces of dao and a certain solitude, made her look like a banished immortal.

“Will I be the main force?” 

Kiana asked with some eagerness.

“Yes. Their research base is located at the depths of Okhotsk, approximately 3,500 meters below.” Tesla explained. “Teleportation for infiltration is the most optimal choice.”

Shi Tian created contingencies like he’s Batman. On the off chance he could not escape the impending disaster, he hinted at a lot of things. Cocolia’s suspiciousness, which he attributed to his imaginary Master, is one.

It led them to investigate Cocolia’s dealings in a more in-depth manner. They weren’t able to find the exact location of Cocolia’s secret base at first. It took Kiana a few hours to find it using her spiritual consciousness at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Coupled with Seele’s message to Kiana three days ago, it brought Cocolia's judgement forward.

“...How about I search for it myself?”

Her words immediately prompted a question from Welt Yang.

“Have you…”

“I stepped into another realm.”

Kiana’s response made him nod.

“As expected…”

He did not doubt Kiana’s talents. Even though they are both high grade Spirit Roots, Kiana has a drive outclassing his. Her progress is bound to surpass his.

“You can’t use your Herrscher power. You can only use spiritual qi. Are you confident?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s carry it your way. Finding the research base and neutralizing Cocolia’s forces are the main objective. You, Kiana, will be responsible for striking down the base. We will take care of the majority of her forces on the surface.”

Welt Yang emitted a serious aura. It paralleled the Welt Yang in Kiana’s memories.

Her ocean-like pupils flickered.

‘Sword… No, Mister Yang’s Heart is different.’

The existence of [Heart] in cultivation is not limited to weapons. There are special variants of it. Welt Yang is showing the development of the latter case.

‘If he’s here, he would know what it is…’

Kiana stared at the aurora surrounding her Herrscher Core. She turned it into her sole hope. She cemented in her mind that its continued existence represented Shi Tian’s well-being—even if she is unsure if that was really the case.

‘Humph. I am uber strong now. Maybe I will protect him this time..?’

Unfortunately, she is destined for a huge disappointment.

*****

Nothing much changed in the bubble world held by Su. The concentration of spiritual qi grew further, though it did not cause a qualitative change.

His eyes stared intently at Shi Tian’s body.

For well over a year, his physical body received the infusion of honkai energy. It is constantly repaired by the surrounding spiritual qi. 

Currently, it is sitting at the late stage of Purple Mansion Realm. Only, Shi Tian himself could not enjoy its upgrades.

“Are you ready?”

Su’s voice traveled to his mental landscape. Shi Tian’s mind is still severed from his body and soul…

Until today.

To resolve a troublesome high-level problem, his progress on immortal cultivation does not suffice. It is honkai who became Shi Tian’s way out.

Ironically, it is also the one who placed him in this tribulation in the first place.

“Yeah. Let’s get this over with!”

“As soon as you establish a connection with the imaginary space, I will enter viewing mode.”

“Got it.”

A bright white light emerged in Shi Tian’s sight. It is far stronger compared to before.

Rumble-!

The [Thunder-Like Sword] and [Blade Mantra] combo kickstarted their plan.

The fifth level of [Blade Mantra], [True Form], is no longer limited to honkai energy control alone. It is a bonafide Stigma, unlike the Pseudo-Stigma formed by [Eminence] (Taixuan).

What does bonafide Stigma have compared to Pseudo-Stigmatas?

Stigma Spaces.

What does Shi Tian have other than [Blade Mantra]?

Herrscher Stigma.

Herrscher Stigmas are tied to Stigma Spaces. It is where Mei’s and Kiana’s Herrscher Egos reside. The said stigma spaces exist within the imaginary space. It can hold Herrscher personalities.

Similarly, [True Form] spawns another unique stigma space. If it is combined with the Herrscher Stigma Space, it creates a brand new stigma space, just enough to handle the half-garbage Shi Tian is about to throw away.

Rumble-!

The black and white space in Shi Tian’s mental landscape shook.

‘It’s really fucking working!’

He came up with this idea. With the help of Su’s knowledge, they managed to cook up a plan:

Throw the polluted mental power to the stigma space.

The Imaginary Tree exists within the Imaginary Space. It is also the place of the Cocoon of Finality’s true body. Only the imaginary space can house its high-dimensional level.

It is the proof that it can handle a Void Refinement Realm’s mental power—with IX’s pollution atop that. With the combined stigma spaces, it is more than enough to remove the polluted mental power on him.

By then, Shi Tian’s mind will be able to return to his body and cultivate properly. Dealing with things in the real world is also another priority.

Buzz-!

A strange fuzzy sound rang in his ears. The black and white colors began to dissipate.

Shi Tian could not tell whether the white color is actually dissipating. What he sensed is the “information” it carried—the realizations he used to absorb on a daily basis.

He could feel them disappearing bit by bit. Accompanying them is the meaninglessness brought by Nihility.

‘What if…’

Shi Tian looked at the disappearing mental power. Although it is a huge hassle to not be able to cultivate properly, his mental cultivation, sword cultivation, and [Blade Mantra] grew the most. It is a tenfold cultivation boost, at the very least.

His sword cultivation, in particular, is already at the pinnacle of the third grade. He can feel it is only lacking a push to the fourth grade, [Sword Light Refraction].

His [True Form] is also at the pinnacle of what it could achieve. It is simply waiting for the next level to be created.

'...Nope. I can try to benefit from it once I am stronger... or if I can further my control over the stigma space. Maybe I can filter the good stuff out of IX's garbage?'

Shi Tian resisted the urge to do something.

His mental landscape soon returned to normal.

The white space—the pure realizations—is the power Shi Tian used to sever his mind from his body and soul. 

It contained the power and attainment of a Void Refinement Realm cultivator. 

A small mobilization of its power can easily achieve that. Even if it was turned into pure mental power, Shi Tian can still borrow a part of its strength—granted it is actively merging to him.

If his body and qi cultivation was higher, he could have done a lot more things. Unfortunately, they are not, which led to the previous situation.

“Fu…”

Shi Tian opened his eyes to the perception of reality.

*****

A/N: I had to pass my papers to uni earlier, hence the lack of chapter. The good news, though, is our classes starting next week, not this week. I can sustain the two chapters a day update for another week ദ്ദി(｡•̀ ᗜ<)

Chapter 89: Grown-up Tuna

The Purple Mansion Realm is the third of the ten levels of immortal cultivation. It is the “transitionary phase” to the Golden Core Realm.

It is related to the development of the soul and spiritual qi. 

Qi Refining awakens the dantians. It has gaseous spiritual qi.

Foundation Establishment merges them into a flawless dantian. It has liquid spiritual qi.

Purple Mansion turns the flawless dantian into a crystal dantian. 

Spiritual qi is now stored in the crystal dantian. It is also crystallized. It can be said it is the crystal form of a true Golden Core.

At this point, Spirit Roots no longer just attract and absorb spiritual qi. It is partially combined into the crystal dantian. It then gives birth to the first Dao Rhymes needed by the Purple Mansion Realm.

The goal of this realm is to thoroughly saturate the crystal dantian with spiritual qi and Dao Rhymes alike.

Starting from Foundation Establishment, Qi is the main path of cultivation, and as such, tribulations only occur in Qi breakthroughs. The Body and Mind are exempt from tribulations. 

Shi Tian vaguely sensed the changes of his Qi realm.

Then, he shifted his focus on the breakthrough of his mental cultivation. The breakthrough of Qi cultivation stimulated his mind, causing him to break the last barrier of the Early Purple Mansion Realm.

Soon, his spiritual consciousness range expanded to five hundred miles.

Shi Tian opened his eyes.

“Cultivating to this realm…”

He admits.

The tribulation they faced sucked. At the same time, it also brought countless opportunities for growth. The positive effects of honkai are maximized.

“Fu…”

He calmed down.

Now that his Body, Mind, and Qi are all in the Purple Mansion Realm, he felt very complicated.

A single disaster outweighed his seven months of progress.

There is a good reason why the Sons of Destiny preferred life and death struggles. Along with dangers are opportunities. Acquiring an opportunity is akin to soaring to the sky.

Shi Tian’s opportunity is the honkai itself. Without its presence, he would have been stuck on the standard cultivation speeds.

Foundation Establishment takes several years to be perfected as a high grade Spirit Root. Purple Mansion is longer than that.

Now, he has achieved years of progress in less than a hundred days.

“Without external disasters, stable cultivation is much better…”

*****

The world experienced a period of peace.

There are no major disasters that occurred ever since the false alarm of a major eruption. The smaller honkai eruptions are handled by Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, respectively.

When it comes to the said organizations, things are anything but peaceful.

The Kaslana Family Head who had gone AWOL appeared last year. Internally, the Kaslana Family wanted to capture him. There are rumors afloat that Siegfried Kaslana cooperated with Anti-Entropy. Political reasons prompted them to issue a capture order for him. 

After years of absence, Siegfried appeared and clashed with a Valkyrie Squad in Shenzhou. He managed to throw their pursuit off. Even the former S Rank Valkyrie, Theresa Apocalypse, was alarmed.

That appearance triggered a wave of overt and covert battles between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.

“I must be hit by karma or something…”

Siegfried sighed as he sat on the couch. Opposite him is Raiden Ryoma. The latter threw a bottle of beer at him.

“You deserve it.”

“Maybe I do.”

“Remove the maybe. You really do.”

The Kaslana Family did not know that Siegfried lived right under their noses. This mansion is located in the Far East.

“Now, it’s my baby girl’s turn to run off somewhere.”

Ryoma let out a laugh. Fate is truly ironic.

After Siegfried got saved by Kiana last year, she disappeared for long periods of time. It is now Siegfried’s turn to experience what Kiana did.

“Heh. She saved your sorry ass. She has grown up already.”

Siegfried fell silent.

Every time he thinks of the events of last year, he still feels a little surreal.

Kiana managed to defeat Sirin. She now possessed complete control over the Second Herrscher Core.

All of it occurred during her journey.

She is now similar to the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, a Herrscher who sides with humanity.

Such an achievement is nothing short of unbelievable. As such, Siegfried wanted to know the full story. That was the least he could do.

“She even met a boy he likes!”

“You deserve all of that.” Ryoma laughed for the nth time. “I pamper my daughter all the time. I let her learn new lessons, but I won’t neglect her.”

“Wouldn’t she let you pamper her anymore?”

“That’s a different story. She has grown up too.”

“...”

No matter how Siegfried argued, he lost. It made him realize his shortcomings more and more. His failure to the two Kianas made up a big regret.

“That boy… Did Welt say anything about him?” Siegfried asked.

“No. You know he disappeared at some point.”

He looked at Ryoma and saw nothing unusual.

‘For an entire year… they did not talk about him. Not even to Ryoma…’

Kiana met a boy she "likes". He helped her deal with the problems she faced.

Siegfried once tried to ask Welt Yang about the boy. He was then pushed to ask Kiana, who looked gloomy at the mention of him. He has not asked her anymore since then. Siegfried had a hunch something bad happened during Sirin's reawakening.

This continued for an entire year.

“The boy’s name… Shi Tian. I looked it up in the registry. Nothing of such appeared.” Ryoma explained. “It’s not surprising. There are too many undocumented people due to honkai. Maybe the boy and your daughter parted ways?”

“Did you find his traces?”

“No. He disappeared out of thin air.”

It was Ryoma’s turn to sense something unusual.

“...I tried to ask other sources. I even brought it up to Doctor Tesla. The thing is… he knows her personally.”

Kiana’s supposed “crush” turned more mysterious in Siegfried’s eyes.

*****

A fairyland is created within the imaginary space.

The place where all physical laws collide has an energy. It is the source of honkai energy. It is the very same energy that sustains the existence of the Imaginary Tree and its mechanisms.

Kiana abused the [Two Phase Art] very well. It created a peak fourth grade spirit vein. The imaginary space thus turned into a place filled with spiritual qi. All sorts of dao rhymes are contained within the spiritual qi.

Rumble-!

A thunder tribulation brewed atop her head. Kiana opened her eyes. Her battlesuit remained the same as the Herrscher of the Void. Her loose hair swayed.

Honkai energy began to surge out of nowhere. Her Herrscher Core is put into action.

After a year of studying, she can use it to perform the higher-level spells in the [Taixu World Rendering Sutra].

Kiana’s right hand made a grabbing motion. 

Crackle-!

Hum-!

An invisible force began to compress the tribulation cloud. Lines of white crack appeared on its body.

Twelve seconds later, the cloud dissipated into spots of light. These are all attracted to Kiana. Each light spot she touched represented an increase of her Qi cultivation.

“Purple Mansion…” She muttered. “Is it enough?”

Kiana did not receive a response.

She did not mind it. Her eyes moved towards her Herrscher Core. It is surrounded by a faint aurora curtain. It is the [Sword Light Refraction] left behind by Shi Tian.

It trapped Sirin inside the Herrscher Core. At the same time, it allowed Kiana to access the Core’s power without restraints. She became the sole controller of the Core.

“It’s enough.”

Kiana ended up answering her own question. 

It is her form of self-affirmation.

“It’s… enough.”

Her figure set out for yet another search.

Chapter 88: Purple Mansion Realm

A/N: I did several minor revisions from chapters 85 to 87. I felt like they were a bit too complex. I made them way simpler without changing the plotline much. There are also some unreasonable parts.

The following are the changes:

1. Better background/explanation of the mental cultivation poisoned by IX’s will.

2. One hundred eighty days is changed to a hundred days. It feels more reasonable with all the upgrades he received (3rd realm sword cultivation and Blade Mantra)

Feel free to read them again. Sorry for the inconvenience.

PS: The term for [Sword Moves Like Thunder] is changed to [Thunder-Like Sword].

*****

A body surrounded by a thick blue mist. Droplets of clear liquid gathered on the ground, forming a small lake. Different colored lights flashed within the mist. Each one of them contained the trace of Dao—the so-called Dao Rhymes.

A body is surrounded by it like a cocoon. The majority of the spiritual qi is concentrated on him.

Like a heart, the cocoon went through ups and downs. A part of the spiritual qi is absorbed with every turn.

Contrasting the blue mist are the flickers of purple light. It did not mix with spiritual qi. It existed as an entirely different energy. The honkai energy is as such. Its current state made it to be unconvertible to spiritual qi.

It steadily poured onto the body. It caused waves of destruction, attempting to deprive the body of its functions. 

The fluctuations of the spiritual qi cocoon responded. It began to pour into the body to repair what was broken. This resulted in the tempering of the body, leading to the increase of the spiritual qi it could hold.

The destructive and restorative forces continued to do their duties.

“A different energy… Ingenious.”

The continuous usage of the Second Divine Key wore down even the most special psyche-type MANTIS. Su continued to observe parallel universes and bubble worlds. It brought his body down the road of collapse.

His saving grace is the increasing capabilities of his mind. It eventually leads him to meeting the existence in the higher dimension.

Despite not having any background in immortal cultivation, he managed to gather a ball of spiritual qi on his palm. The middle grade spiritual qi did not resist his control. 

“Spiritual qi. Had we gone down this path…”

He shook his head.

Su can see the complexities of spiritual qi. It is an entirely different system from the honkai. Developing it will take thousands, if not millions of years. By then, humanity is long gone.

His gaze shifted to the body surrounded by it.

It is none other than Shi Tian.

Unknown to him, his body cultivation reached the middle stage of Purple Mansion Realm. A thin film of five-colored light gave off an ethereal glow. His body far surpassed his previous self.

Part of the credit belongs to Su. 

The moment he brought Shi Tian out of the imaginary space, he was surprised to see the surrounding energies turn into spiritual qi. This continued until Su brought him inside a bubble world.

The [Two Phase Art] did not touch the energy required to sustain the bubble world. Although, it was different on the floating energy outside.

It continued to attract the energy made from the Sea of Quanta. It pierced through the barriers of this bubble world before being turned into spiritual qi.

Shockingly, the existence of spiritual qi enhanced the ether anchor of the bubble world. It turned more solid, allowing it to further withstand the erosion of the Sea of Quanta. It strengthened the “rules” of this world, allowing it to exist longer within the Sea of Quanta.

Since then, this entire bubble world has turned into a paradise on earth. Spiritual veins of first to third grade appeared all over its continental surface area. The closer it is to Shi Tian, the greater the concentration of spiritual qi.

The place where he is situated already has a peak fourth grade spiritual vein. Even now, it is increasing.

It is foreseeable that it would reach the fifth grade in a year at most. It is the practice dojo of Nascent Soul cultivators.

Back then, Shi Tian did not use this attraction function. He is afraid of being seen on Earth. Kiana’s mobile spirit vein is enough. The current crisis he faced forced him to use it.

Su did not speak. He recalled the technique passed onto him verbally by Shi Tian.

A few minutes later, a soft blue glow appeared on him. He began to take in minimal amounts of spiritual qi.

Then, he saw his dantians appear one by one.

“...A compelling power.” He muttered. “Had I not seen it, or it only existed now?”

Su focused next on its practical effects.

Although very minimal, he could feel his body being repaired. It was recently damaged by his exertion of the Second Divine Key. He bore the burden of the missing key. It sped up his demise.

Su can only live for a month or two at most. The presence of Jing extended it by a few days. As long as there are spiritual qi, it will attempt to recover his injuries.

“A new future.”

The final convincing factor struck him.

Now he understood the future brought by Shi Tian.

*****

The next day came.

My sword cultivation and [Blade Mantra] did not break through another level. They continued to become stronger.

The continued strengthening of [Blade Mantra] fed back to my [Sword Moves Like Thunder]. It then fueled the increase of my qi and mental cultivation.

Relying on the improvements of my sword cultivation, my mental cultivation neared the middle stage of Purple Mansion Realm.

The biggest breakthrough came from my qi cultivation.

From the middle to late stage of Foundation Establishment, it takes a year or two of my previous configuration.

Things changed with [Thunder-Like Sword] and [True Form]. Their improvements passively increased my qi cultivation. 

Despite not doing anything, I went through the late and peak stage of Foundation Establishment.

Naturally, the Purple Mansion Realm came next. A tribulation is coming.

Worse, I severed my mind from my body. I don’t know how I will resolve this.

“Hm…”

I waited until the green leaf appeared in front of me.

“Is this your so-called tribulation?”

Su’s voice resounded from it.

“Yeah. It will continue to exist until it runs out of power… or it is directly destroyed.”

“I see. Can I interfere with it?”

“Yes…”

I awaited his response.

I don’t know the situation of the outside world at this point.

Only now did I realize the dead end I am into. I will be pushed into another corner with the upcoming tribulation.

I don’t want to think about the future.

I readied myself. 

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

“Is this… how it works?”

“What happened?” I asked.

“It’s gone. I dealt with it.”

As he spoke, I vaguely felt a slight resonance. Qi cultivation is the cultivation of the soul. It has a strong connection with the mind, unlike the body.

The world in my eyes began to change…

Chapter 87: Tian's Prison Realm Arc

A/N: This sums up what happened in the last three chapters.

Shi Tian: Creates an arrangement for his next reincarnation

Will of Honkai: Screws around the said arrangement

Shi Tian: You dare?!

Will of Honkai: Yeah.

Shi Tian: Courting death!

*****

Contrary to the shitty experience from before, things are much better now.

With each use of [Sword Moves Like Thunder], it is getting stronger. I am learning new things out of thin air, too.

The same goes to the [Blade Mantra]. Its main function is to gain control over honkai energy. Later on, I felt its capability to control the rawest imaginary energy. It has a lot of potential for growth. All that’s needed is to create higher levels.

My [Xinhai Sutra] also showed a huge amount of feedback. My current mental realm is at the Peak Stage of Foundation Establishment. It might be the first of the three to break through the Purple Mansion Realm.

Unlike Qi Refining, the realms above can be developed disproportionately. The most optimal way lies in the “Plus One Rule”. I can raise my mental realm to the Purple Mansion Realm without damaging my body and spiritual qi. 

Anything higher than one major realm will start to cause self-inflicted injuries, much like what happened with my poisoned high-level mental state. That's why cultivators are all-arounders, unlike the crazy yet possible minmaxxing honkai does.

The [Encompassing Eyes] grew as my mental realm progressed, too. 

Heck, all of my stats are going to INT and WIS. That’s how absurd this poisonous mental cultivation is.

The sense of progress removed any bit of meaninglessness inside this space. Simultaneously, the leaves appeared in front of me on a daily basis. It is helping me digest the pure attainments better.

Most importantly…

What the fuck.

That was my only thought when I managed to enter the golden orb space.

I sighed.

It shouldn’t have been surprising. Its power, based on what I saw, surpassed Aeons by a large margin. It won’t spit out techniques up to the True Immortal Realm if it wasn’t that strong.

I also have a vague feeling about it throwing me out to IX. It’s a major tribulation for sure. That sounds like the things related to the [Tribulation Transcendence] Realm.

What if its greatest novice gift lies not in this shitty mental state, but that?

I put these thoughts aside and tried to use its usual functions.

It works.

The gacha took six days of wait.

I am surprised to be able to draw spiritual qi from my physical body.

Before I lost consciousness, I used the [Two Phase Art] to convert the surrounding energies into spiritual qi. The center of it lies on my body. Wherever I went, I converted stuff around into spiritual qi. The automatic circulation took care of recovery.

I estimated my body to have recovered. The same goes to my dantian.

Anyways, the gacha resulted in late second grade apples. The amount of qi I utilized is already on the late stage.

I tried to send them outside.

Lo and behold, it fucking worked.

I don’t know if Su is outside. I don’t know what he’s thinking. Let this apple cause him confusion.

Since then, my daily routine has been set in stone.

My mind kept track of time. I received new techniques every day. The gacha worked on the sixth day. The rest of the time was spent on cultivation. I also slept whenever I felt fatigued. 

This is the biggest difference compared to before. Nihility’s influence is far weaker. I can enjoy moments of peaceful silence, not the crazy-inducing ones.

Thirty days later, my proper mental realm reached the Purple Mansion Realm. I should have seen and understood the dao rhyme in my surroundings.

Unfortunately, all I am seeing is this space of black and white. I can’t really test it out.

I tried to analyze the black space and received a scary warning. 

Nope.

I am not doing that again.

I focused on scaling my spiritual consciousness range instead.

If I use my feet as a scale…

Around 528,000 feet. That’s a hundred miles or so. This is within the standards of early Purple Mansion Realms.

For reference, peak Purple Mansion Realms are twenty times that—two thousand miles.

That’s how I surmised they can shatter continents. 

Once it reaches early Golden Core, it expands to ten thousand miles. That’s the truly terrifying powerhouse of immortal cultivation.

This thought motivated me more.

One hundred days passed in total. My mental realm is raised to the middle Purple Mansion Realm. My sword cultivation and Blade Mantra remains on the same level.

This progress…

It’s insane.

The timeline I estimated required years of cultivation in Foundation Establishment. I am speedrunning the mental realm in months!

In a sense, trapping my mind with this flawed mental state accelerated my mental cultivation speed by tenfold.

My qi cultivation is upgraded to the Peak Stage of Foundation Establishment. I estimate I will break through soon.

As for my physical body, I have no clue.

The honkai screwed around by injecting huge amounts of honkai energy to it. I gained a Herrscher’s Stigma and a Herrscher Core. 

If the honkai’s destruction is supplemented by spiritual qi’s repairing effect, it should have grown stronger.

Swoosh.

A familiar leaf appeared in my sight. 

This time, I did not touch it immediately. Su’s voice did not appear either.

Ever since he spoke during the first day, I never heard from him.

I placed the [Encompassing Eyes] to work. A bright gold line appeared on the green leaf. 

Contrary to my expectations, it looked less like an artifact and more like mental strength. Its intensity is far stronger than mine.

An idea struck me.

Using my middle stage Purple Mansion Realm mental cultivation, I let my spiritual consciousness cover the entire leaf. I wanted to find a way to contact Su.

I expected it to be difficult. 

Out of the cast, Su’s ending is the most mysterious. After death, he transcended dimensions and met a mysterious will. That mysterious will wasn’t explained up until my death.

“Hm…”

“So you can speak.”

Hearing his response made me relieved.

“Thank god.”

That was the first few words I muttered out.

“Thank you too.” I said.

“...You’re welcome.” Su paused before asking, “You really are a human?”

“I have ten toes, two arms, a pair of eyes, nose, a pair of ears, and a mouth… Yes, I am human.”

“...I see.”

I called it.

Su is the intellectual type who says something like that.

“Uhm… do you have my body?” I asked.

“I fished it out. Yes, I have it.”

I could see the semblances of my joke here.

It’s just…

Something’s bothering my mind.

The Second Divine Key is an observation tool at its base form. It can observe countless bubbles within the Sea of Quanta.

A “beacon” is needed to orient its zeroth power. It unlocks the capability to open a door to the imaginary tree—by extension, the imaginary space.

That thing should be with Kevin, and as of now, he’s at Bikini Bottom…

Well, at the bottom of the Sea of Quanta.

I have a hunch.

Su paid a certain price.

“I haven’t even asked for your name. I am surnamed Shi, with the first name Tian. Shi Tian.”

“You are free to call me Su.”

My proper conversation with another Flamechaser began.

Chapter 86: Bodhisattva Su?

The existence of a high-dimensional will is akin to fireflies in a dark room. There were two people who noticed it immediately.

Swoosh-!

The leaves rustled along the wind. They, who have fallen to the ground, have no hopes of coming back up.

A huge tree stood behind the gray-haired man. Like a Buddhist contemplating life’s lessons, the man emitted nothing but calmness.

“...It’s the Honkai and…”

The man…

The enforcer of Project Valuka became confused. 

The gray-haired man, Su is the Flamechaser given the role of searching for the perfect solution to defeat the honkai. 

In his possession is the Second Divine Key, a masterpiece of the Previous Era that can utilize the authority of the void. It can be used to observe the Imaginary Space and the Sea of Quanta alike. 

Although, its functions are focused more on the Sea of Quanta.

Observing the Imaginary Space is its limit. Interacting with it or the Imaginary Tree requires a "beacon" which was lost one thousand five hundred years ago.

What's more, he had already separated with the Second Divine Key years ago. He is currently remotely controlling it now. Observation is fine, but doing everything else will force him to take back the Divine Key to his possession.

His years of planning will turn to nothing.

“What is this?”

The Imaginary Space is the dimension where the world’s laws collide. Its energy is contaminated by information and higher-dimensional traces alike. It is the place where the Imaginary Tree [exists].

Even then…

All Su sees is absolute nothingness.

The projection in front of him tracked and reflected the source of interference. It is slowly but steadily streaking through the imaginary space.

The human-like silhouette was reflected in his pink irises. The silhouette bears the appearance of a man, yet he showed as a godly force in his eyes.

“Someone with zero singularities… It should not exist.”

The disbelief he experienced today is enough to shake his thousands of years of lifetime. The other high-dimensional will besides the Will of Honkai exists purely as a “being” into the world.

The Will of Honkai…

Rather, the Cocoon of Finality could not step into the three-dimensional world. The moment it does, it will cause an untold scale of destruction. The only way to send down their influence is to limit their level of existence.

Herrschers are the result of the Cocoon of Finality doing so.

The will of nothingness is an exact copy of the Will of Honkai. Yet, its true form exists within the three dimensional world.

How could Su know about the capabilities of immortal cultivators?

Swoosh.

A gust of wind blew on the grassland. He watched as his surveillance over this “will” got cut off.

Crack-!

Buzz-!

An insignia appeared behind him. Its light became dimmer compared to before. A noticeable vertical mark appeared on it.

Rumble-!

The ground beneath his feet shook several times before stabilizing. The world bubble he resides in experienced a massive impact. All of that was caused by Su’s peeking.

“A being who cannot be observed…”

The surroundings turned from a prairie into a starry sky. Each star represented a world bubble. Some of them are still nurtured by the imaginary tree. Some of them had already fallen to the Sea of Quanta.

Su wanted to verify a conjecture… which led to a new discovery.

“What…”

For four thousand five hundred years, he saw countless possibilities. The parallel universes showed the effect of each choice. The most perfect one he could find required 32,874 unique singularities for humanity to defeat the honkai.

The “karma” within that singular possibility is so huge and complex it could not be perfectly enacted.

Now…

The stars had shifted.

Up until now, he did not notice the chances within the parallel universes. It remained hidden until the huge disturbance within the imaginary space prompted him to check thoroughly.

“...A chance.”

The singularities in Su’s eyes fluctuated. Numerous new universes are born by the brand new variable. 

Most of them showed new possibilities.

The process itself is vague, but he saw the images of humanity’s victory. Countless new parallel universes sprang like mushrooms. His pursuit over the past 4,500 years is now in sight.

All of that lies within the transcendent will he saw.

Su made a choice.

At the risk of everything he has…

“I will lend a hand.”

…he moved towards the place where Shi Tian fell.

*****

A sword cuts all false and true.

The poem-like line does not end there.

No matter the tribulations it faces;

Its unbreakable might resurfaces;

Even if it is broken to pieces.

The sound of a thunderstorm rang.

Rumble-!

I stared at the endless expanse black and white space. They are split equally like a yin and yang symbol. I am standing on the white space.

Beneath my feet is a small circle of golden light. It symbolizes the mental power I can mobilize.

Once the golden light covers the entire white space, I have completely digested the pure attainments. By then, I might be able to use Nihility's influence to benefit myself.

Ah.

A familiar jian appeared on my right hand. It is the sword that accompanied me since the beginning. 

Swooosh-!

Rumble-!

A swing of my blade produced a corresponding thunderclap.

Swooosh-!

Rumble-!

Swoosh-!

Rumble-!

…

I snapped out of my daze. I looked at the sword in my hand before looking down. The golden space grew slightly bigger compared to before.

At the same time…

Swoosh-!

Rumble-!

The sound of thunderclap grew stronger. The sword-related techniques I learned flashed in my mind. Numerous cross-references popped up, in turn increasing my attainments of the sword way.

My current sword realm is the [Sword Moves Like Thunder]. Each strike brings forth the rumbling of a tribulation. It is the beginning of sword cultivation bearing dao rhymes.

I sighed.

I succeeded in dealing with that problematic mental state. Experiencing the mental culltivation of a Void Refinement Realm in advance is an unimaginable gift. Even if I need to cut it off, I can slowly digest the huge mental power.

Unfortunately, I got screwed up by two things.

One, the way of power in the world of Honkai is flawed. Even I can tell it is problematic. What do you mean you are tied to your concept? Your will being assimilated into that concept is the equivalent of throwing away your everything to the Dao.

That is wrong.

The Aeons of this world are dead wrong. They throw away their “futures” by being tied to their concepts. It should be the Dao following the cultivator’s will, not the other way around.

It’s like learning one plus one equals three. Since I learned from a flawed teacher, I end up being a flawed student.

Two, my experience as a mortal. 

Without any form of growth, I am forced to face Nihility’s influence. Adding the first reason (i.e., Aeons’ flaws) present, it turned into an entire shitshow. 

Nihility has a will. It is a concept combined with a will.

Facing a concept, it would have been fine. At most, I will walk away scot free.

Facing a will, I have to face its influence.

Think of it like this.

I am looking at a tree. If I am asked to understand its water, sunlight, and other needs, it would have been fine whether or not I finish a job. The tree belongs to nature. It doesn’t care about what I do.

Nihility is like a tree who grows arms and barrages you with punches forever. It doesn’t matter whether I understand its basic needs or not. I will end up being beaten nonetheless.

The Dao of this world is that poisonous. It (Nihility) will continue to beat me up while it's active.

In short…

The golden orb threw me to a six-feet grave, buried me under, and did a breakdance to spite me.

What’s even more frustrating is that it doesn't possess a will!

This is nature pushing me off a cliff!

How can I get angry with nature?

…

“Fuck you.”

I did not suppress my slight agitation. This makes me feel alive compared to whatever I experienced back then.

For now…

I must let this golden space grow to a certain extent. It's different from before. I have the protection of the golden orb back then. I can unscrupously use that high-level mental cultivation to its fullest extent.

Now that I have a physical body, I can't freely exert its power. I don't have the golden orb's protection either.

I can only use a part of it to avoid my body's collapse. Once it does, I might die for real. I don't want to test out any chances.

With that limited power, I ended up severing my mind out of my body altogether. Both me and this shitty mental state became separate from my soul and physical body. I went into a coma to save myself.

I won't awaken until my body or mental cultivation grows strong enough.

Only then can I leave this mental landscape.

Only then can I return back to Earth.

Just then, a small piece of leaf magically appeared in front of me. I did not hesitate to use my [Encompassing Eyes]. A string representing the leaf emerged out of it.

Once it entered my grasp, an intermittent voice rang in my ears.

“...need…help…”

The voice belongs to a man.

Strangely enough, I have a recollection of it.

No shit.

Isn’t this Su?

Chapter 85: Novice Gift Experience

Welt Yang processed what happened in the past hour.

Tesla first received a pre-recorded video from Shi Tian. It mainly talked about what happened during their absence—the reawakening of the Second Herrscher. It is followed by new information, such as Cocolia’s shady dealings. It is placed under the guise of his non-existent Master.

What follows next is Kiana’s phone call. She talked to Tesla for a while before arriving on the Salt Lake Base. The Anti-Entropy trio readily agreed to her arrival. It is much better to closely monitor Kiana’s current condition.

That was how she came across Siegfried’s troubles.

“Mister Yang. My father is in Shenzhou, right? Which city is it?”

“Sovereign. How did…”

Welt Yang cut off Ryoma first.

“It’s a long story. I will tell you the details later.”

“...Understood.”

Ryoma knew it was his turn to hang up, and so he did.

“Please don’t be reckless.” He said as he faced her. “I will not prevent you from going.”

“...What should I do?”

Contrary to expectations, Kiana did not recklessly storm off the lounge.

Welt Yang looked at Einstein. He saw from the latter’s face that she had already cooked up a plan.

“We need to use the quantum gateway today.”

Soon, a feasible plan was cooked up. The capabilities they displayed gave more hope to Kiana.

‘I will definitely find you..!’

*****

Three days ago.

“...No.”

Shi Tian pressed the wound on his left arm. His groggy consciousness became wide-awake.

His current situation is bad. He could have beaten back Sirin with less trouble… but that posed greater risks. He aimed for an overkill—to have a sure-fire way of damaging Sirin’s ego.

The Golden Core equivalent of sword cultivation, [Sword Light Refraction], ensured that. Shi Tian struck her unguarded. That gave out better results.

Either way, twenty years of lifespan is too cheap. His current lifespan is at least 250 years. 

Except for physical injuries, his dantian, mind, and soul are merely overexerted. There are no issues that hindered his future cultivation. Once he gets over this weakened state, he can return to his previous stable cultivation life. 

That is the ideal plan.

Shi Tian looked upwards.

“Was this it? Mei described it as a vague connection… that she cut off.”

Every fiber of his being is telling him: Someone’s watching.

He instinctively felt he could deal with this peering gaze with his usual strength. The [Sword Light Refraction] is enough to cut it off.

Unfortunately, he is not in the right condition.

Shi Tian keenly sensed the surroundings. He is looking out for the sudden changes that might occur.

“A disaster in making…” He muttered.

The signs were there from the beginning.

The nightmares that drained his dantians? His mind and body rejected the Will of Honkai’s influence.

The dream he could not recall? It foreshadowed his future.

Finally…

“My previous life.”

Shi Tian disregarded it. He treated his past life as a journey fulfilled. Yet, his dreams about it accounted for the majority.

Something is wrong.

Something.

…

“Taixuan.”.

Grand Void… or better known as Eminence.

Shi Tian mastered the [Blade Mantra] to the highest level in three minutes. He previously thought it was caused by his comprehension and [Sword Nurturing Pagoda].

He is only half right.

What did Fu Hua experience to be able to stand at the top of [Blade Mantra]?

Thousands of years of memories.

Shi Tian did not have that.

What did he rely on, then?

“Eighty six thousand… four hundred…”

A vague whisper passed by Shi Tian. He stood up with shaky knees and looked around. He found no one except the unconscious Kiana.

“One hundred… seventy-two thousand… eight hundred.”

The whisper appeared again. He looked around and found nothing. He did not remain idle. A high-tech looking pistol appeared in his right hand. It is one of Welt Yang’s creations.

Instead of requiring spiritual qi, all that’s needed is a spirit stone. It can function as a proper spiritual qi fueled gun.

Hum-!

The blue lines on the pistol lit up. It gave off a gentle blue glow.

Click.

“Six hundred four thousand… eight hundred…”

Bang-!

A streak of red appeared on the bullet’s trajectory. A miniature flame dragon headed straight to its path.

Rumble-!

It struck one of the rocks and created a cloud of dust. Apart from that, there was nothing else.

“Wu… character for boundless.”

The voice is shakier compared to before.

Bang-!

“Shi… charac… fo… ti...”

Bang-!

It was the voice’s breaking point.

“One.”

The count restarted again. The voice returned to normal…

Bang-!

Bang-!

…

Each time Shi Tian pulled the trigger, the voice spoke.

“Thirty one million…five hundred fifty… eight hundred… seconds.”

The voice broke down again. The count was reset back to one.

“Huh?”

Click.

Shi Tian became absent-minded. He looked at the gun’s nozzle that is about to melt. He did not care about it.

A swathe of memories began to return. His entire life flashed into his eyes. He no longer saw the imaginary space. Instead, he saw his viewpoint at birth.

He can vividly recall the masked doctors and nurses. Then came his boring childhood life. He is raised in a well-off family. He had no worries except for studies.

Elementary…

Highschool…

College…

The fateful day soon came.

Shi Tian’s lost memories returned. It was not something covered by his Foundation Establishment.

He is sound asleep on his comfortable bed. His eyes shot open when a dizzying tinnitus came to his ears.

Shi Tian could not breathe. He instinctively clutched his chest. His heart became constricted.

“Why…”

He took care of medication. He had a heart surgery. He did everything he could.

Yet, he was destined for death.

It was a painful five minutes of struggle. Shi Tian tried to reach out for his phone, only to see it on his desk meters away. He had no one when he died. He did not die in his sleep.

Surprisingly… death did not spell the end of everything.

“Huff..!”

Shi Tian felt as if he drowned. He heaved for air.

“Where am…”

He looked around and saw a vast expense of darkness. Strangely, he could see his own body. It is not darkness that is caused by lack of light. It is something else.

In his first hour, he walked around aimlessly. His body did not get tired. He did not feel hungry either. Everything was strange to his eyes.

In his second hour, he felt more uneasy.

In his third hour, the silence drove him crazy.

“What kind of… Is this purgatory? Hell? Reincarnation?”

Shi Tian began talking to himself.

Four hours.

Five hours.

Six hours.

…

One day had passed.

Nobody responded to Shi Tian’s calls.

“Others reincarnate with a golden finger. I am sent to the backrooms… or should I say, black rooms?”

His dry humor gave him life.

Two days.

Three days.

Four days.

…

Shi Tian is walking aimlessly for several weeks straight. Every time he turned silent, he started going crazy. The endless expanse of nothingness has pushed his mind to its utmost limits.

“Am I being played by an omniscient being? Hello? Can you send me to another world? I don’t care even if I have no cheats!”

Nothing but silence greeted him back.

That split second of silence made him pause. His eyes started turning red. The silence drove him crazy. He could not stop speaking. That is the only way to hold onto his will.

“Fuck. This shit made me crazy. My British accent is obliterated. Can I speak… wo neng… Shit. My accent turned normal?!”

Weeks turned into months; months into years.

Shi Tian became a bonafide crazy. His dry humor no longer bore any meaning. The years of existence into this black space exhausted all his possible jokes.

He resorted to reusing his old jokes.

Unfortunately, they did not feel the same.

One time.

Ten times.

A hundred times.

Shi Tian grew numb. He could no longer feel anything whenever he spat out his jokes. Each time his jokes got reused, he slowly sank into despair. Something is pushing him towards that feeling.

Shi Tian relied next on counting each second of his existence. That turned into his sole purpose in life.

Even then…

It did not work forever.

His mental state collapsed. Every time he reached the one thousandth mark, he started counting back from one. The influence insists on pushing him to the depths of abyss.

Along the way, he gave himself countless titles. Shi Tian played around with his name. 

Shi stands for time.

Tian stands for heaven.

Wushi. Beginningless.

Tianzun. Venerable.

It made up for some cool nicknames.

Unfortunately…

It was all for naught.

Shi Tian broke down completely after what seemed endless years. His eyes remained dazed by the endless darkness. The influence started to consume him thoroughly.

Everything turned meaningless.

But then, it was not all meaningless. Accompanying meaninglessness is void. It is a mental state attained by high-level taoists... or in other terms, immortal cultivators.

Those who have nothing no longer has anything to attain. Their minds transcends dimensions. They are free from the karma of the world itself.

Shi Tian experienced the mental cultivation of the Void Refinement in advance!

It gave insights to the highest level of dao; of the world. Things he could not begin to comprehend came to his mind. His very existence began to sublimate into something higher.

However, it posed a big problem. The beings of this world is born flawed.

Meaninglessness.... Nihility is flawed.

If it was a normal concept of nature, it would have been fine. It has no will, and as such, it brings no harm. The Dao of Void, a more complex application of the Dao of Space, helps future breakthroughs.

The "nature" of this world is different.

Nihility has an unconscious will. It exerts the influence of meaninglessness to its surroundings. It is polluted nature (concept) that harms whoever sees it.

As such, the mental state Shi Tian experienced is flawed. It is not the true mental state of a Void Refinement Realm. It is riddled with holes due to Nihility's influence.

The conflicting meaninglessness and Void Refinement's realizations continued to clash. What seemed like an endless stalemate of confrontation was forcibly halted.

A small sphere of golden light glowed in his chest. It shone brightly and blinded his eyes.

The golden orb began dragging him upwards. He broke free from his daze. He regained the sanity he lost over the countless years.

Shi Tian saw the true form of the darkness that trapped him.

A black sun.

One word came out of his mind: Nihility.

Had the golden orb not intervened, he would have continued to fight against Nihility for the long years to come.

Nihility…

IX did not care about Shi Tian's departure. It is nonchalance incarnate. It cares about nothing.

It knew there was someone that fell into it. That is all. It never cared about him in the first place.

The golden orb soon acted.

It gave Shi Tian the biggest opportunity of this world. The beginner's package in cultivation.

With a proper experience with void, one’s future cultivation path becomes extremely smooth. Receiving the mental state of a Void Refinement Realm in advance makes cultivation before that realm extremely easy.

It is the novice gift it granted to Shi Tian.

The golden orb did not care... rather, it intended to let him experience a tribulation.

Only when Shi Tian is on a long stalemate did it act.

He is merely a human. Forcing him to comprehend Nihility's influence gave him a Void Refinement mental cultivation poisoned with external will. Just using it will awaken IX's leftover influence. It has to be fought back by Shi Tian himself.

Being able to contend against an Aeon as a former mortal is completely insane. It highlighted his uniqueness; the reason the golden orb came to him.

Finally, he began to instinctively deal with this poisonous mental cultivation. His transcendent will started to act unto itself.

Shi Tian wanted to reduce the flawed mental state's impact to the barest minimum. Since this mental cultivation is riddled with poison and flaws, it is much better to sever this cultivation... and so he did.

His mental cultivation started to drop.

Void Refinement...

Divine Transformation...

Nascent Soul...

Golden Core...

Purple Mansion...

Foundation Establishment...

The mind borne by his soul dropped to Qi Refining. The severed mental cultivation turned into a form of mental energy. Inside it, white and black lights clashed. The former symbolized the pure realizations attained as an immortal cultivator. The latter is IX's influence.

With the last bit of power remaining, Shi Tian contained it in a seal and placed it unto his soul. It is akin to putting a small box inside a bigger box. There won't be any problems as long as the small box remains intact.

Even, its aura will gradually improve Shi Tian's mental cultivation speed. It avoided the risk of Nihility's flaws while retaining its advantages.

All of this happened with the golden orb protecting his soul. It ensured it won't break down due to his use of high-leveled power.

The golden orb followed his instincts. It began to search for the solar system. Once it did, it brought him to Earth.

A familiar place… the regrets of not being able to attend the Glastonbury field trip.

Once a proper physical body is formed, his long years’ of memories are sealed up.

The clueless Shi Tian woke up to an unfamiliar place.

“...Shit.”

…

…

…

“So that’s how it was.”

His dull eyes began to scan his surroundings. A single thought was all it needed for the imaginary space to buzz. From the hospital, to the schools, to their family home, to the college dormitory...

The world changed as he willed. Like a lock being opened, this polluted mental power started to merge back to himself.

The mental strength of a Void Refinement Realm began to seep out... until his body showed signs of disintegration. Blood did not come out of him. Instead, his crumbling body turned into dots of five-colored light.

His physical body is starting to show cracks. Once it worsens, his physical body will turn into dust.

Whether or not Nihility's presence is there, Shi Tian is bound to cut off that mental cultivation. This is the correct answer out of all. An extremely high mental cultivation without the corresponding body and qi realm harms oneself.

Without the protection of the golden orb, his body and soul will break.

He began to thoroughly cut it off again.

The sound of a thunderstrike rang in his ears. It is followed by a blinding white light.

Shi Tian’s accomplishments with swords began to fight back the poisoned mental cultivation. The effects of the [Sword Moves Like Thunder] and Blade Mantra’s [True Form] are small, though they began to grow.

They are akin to invincible weapons hitting a level 999 boss. Each damage they deal to the polluted mental power, they grow stronger.

Only, it is not realistic. The best way to deal with this polluted mental power is to cut it off again. Getting stronger in this method will result in his body's and soul's collapse.

'The mind. I can cut it off from the body and soul.'

Isolation.

He cannot do it as thoroughly and delicately as before. He does not have the golden orb's protection. The best he can do is to isolate his mind from the body and soul. That was also the limits of what he can do.

A tinge of hope briefly returned Shi Tian’s sentience.

He looked at his chest. Honkai energy began to surge from his surroundings. A brand new connection between him and the Will of Honkai. A bright blue crystal emerged inside his chest. A huge marking is drawn on his back.

The polluted mental power is sealed tightly within his soul.

However...

The Will of Honkai planned to take advantage of his misfortune. It wanted him to merge with this mental power. It broke the small box (seal) and caused its contents to leak to the container (soul).

The moment it laid its eyes on Shi Tian, he turned into the most perfect vessel to destroy humanity. So long as it could bring out the "immense darkness" inside him, it will succeed.

It wasn't a dark personality.

Instead, it is pure mental power tainted with an Aeon's influence. It was never the "immense darkness" it awakened. It is IX's shitshow plaguing Shi Tian's novice gift!

Everything it gave, be it the Metamorphosis of honkai energy or the Herrscher Authority...

It made a wedding dress for someone else!

“No… Not here.”

His last bit of will led him to walk at the rock’s edge. He took off the storage ring in his finger and dropped it to the ground. In doing so, the gun fell down to the imaginary space. Its fate remains unknown.

“I can see it.”

Shi Tian saw the way out. He can severe his mind from the body and soul. He can revert back to his former state, even emerging stronger than before.

Now, his sole wish is to get away from Kiana to prevent any accidents. Although the honkai failed to turn him into a controlled Herrscher, who knows if it chooses to affect Kiana.

There is also the fact that the honkai wanted him to merge with the mental power and Nihility alike. The Will of Honkai or the Aeons' influence...

He does not want her to get affected by them.

“I will come… back.”

Just like that, Shi Tian’s free-falling body signified his long drop amidst the imaginary space.

*****

A/N: I hope this answers everything. I spread out the hints since the early chapters. It’s mainly the random consumption of his dantians plus the dreams/nightmares. I wanted to make the Taixuan (Blade Mantra) part more obvious but chose not to do it. I wanted to make it so that things only make sense when the reveal drops… which is now.

Anyways, it will be a timeskip and a powerspike next. It won’t be as absurd as facing the Cocoon in one go.

I do hope I executed it right. All sorts of opinions and comments are encouraged. I want to make this fic better ^.^

Chapter 84: Set Tomorrow Ablaze

After three days of fruitless search, Kiana felt extremely depressed. She did not eat during those three days. She used the [Two Phase Art] to convert the surrounding energies into spiritual qi.

The moment she did so, her surroundings got turned into a place filled with thick spiritual qi. Hints of dao rhymes swam across the blue mist that turns liquid at every turn.

The middle fourth grade spirit vein could accommodate a Golden Core cultivator. It posed no problem to sustain Kiana’s needs. She can even actively attract the external energies to further increase the vein’s grade.

This discovery did not dispel her depression. Kiana searched the boundless imaginary space and found nothing. It only worsened her mood.

That was when she went back to Earth. She wanted to ask for help. She chose not to resurface on Shenzhou, but on North America. She heard from Shi Tian about Anti-Entropy’s base.

Recalling Sirin’s impression of Welt Yang is enough to seal the deal. She would rather work with Welt Yang than a bastard like Otto Apocalypse.

“Hm…”

Kiana discarded some ordinary items from the storage ring. It happened when she took them out inside the imaginary space. Be it clothes or a baseball bat, it randomly broke. Only the ones with spiritual qi survived.

On her hand is her phone. The moment she turned it on, a lot of notifications rang. The storage ring freezes and isolates inorganic things from the outside world. The phone’s battery was retained.

The corn farm surrounding her did not make up for a good place to settle things. It did not affect her mood, however.

Kiana silently opened her phone. She wanted to go through the gallery when she noticed something.

“A message..?”

Her heart dropped. The sender is none other than Shi Tian.

Kiana swiftly opened it to take a look. It consisted of a ten minute video.

She immediately saw Shi Tian in the middle of a forest. She could tell it was during their time in Shenzhou. The camera angle indicates the phone is floating.

“Ahem. This is a timed video. It is scheduled to be sent two days later. It means nothing if I am here by then.”

“..!”

Kiana was startled at his words. Shi Tian knew he might disappear during those two days!

“Anyways, listen carefully, Kiana. The things I am about to say are important." He stared. "There's a good chance you will recover your memories. Foundation Establishment can bring back a damaged mind. We should have fought against the Herrscher inside you by then."

As if predicting her wide eyes, the Shi Tian inside the video showed off.

“Surprised? I can feel your stupefied look across the screen.”

“How did he…”

“Ahem. I predicted something bad would happen. Don’t worry, I can handle the Herrscher. She should be sleeping peacefully now. If not, eh, this video loses all meaning.”

Shi Tian’s face changed between coolness to a slight fluster. The price of this aura farming session is high. One wrong prediction is all it takes. It shows his confidence to resolve things.

Fortunately, he succeeded.

“Nope. I won’t record this again.” He muttered to himself. “Back to the topic. The Herrscher inside you is no trouble. We can throw that off the window. The next important thing is… if I am gone… in any form.”

Kiana had a feeling he was talking about death. Her heart tightened at the thought of it.

“This world is not simple. The presence of honkai subverts everything. The more terrifying fact is… there is a will above that controls such force. It intends to destroy humanity.”

“God…”

Kiana possessed Sirin’s memories. The most vague of them all is her encounters with God. Sirin believed in God strongly, yet she could not recall much about their meetings.

“That is when Herrschers come to play. They are the chosen apostles who will destroy humanity on the Will’s behalf. Earth’s civilization fifty thousand years ago was destroyed because of them. However, it also brought a change. Herrschers are given a chance to betray the Will… to fight for humanity.”

The more Shi Tian talked, the more surprised Kiana became. His knowledge regarding the honkai is off the charts. It is not something he should know.

“His Master… Why didn’t she help him?”

Kiana’s resentment towards his nonexistent Master grew.

“...given a criteria to select from. People with insane honkai adaptability have a chance of being chosen as a Herrscher. Experiencing the dark side… having a dark mentality is another huge plus…”

Shi Tian did not dilly dally and went straight to the point.

“In short, I might be chosen as one. This feeling grew stronger when it emerged eleven days ago. Us immortal cultivators… We have a vague sense of danger. It’s just that… mine felt so tangible. I can feel a disaster coming.”

Those were his true thoughts. This impending danger manifested in the form of heavy worries. Shi Tian resolved the worries when he created the fifth level of [Blade Mantra], yet he still felt uneasy. His mind is warning him about something bad.

“I realized I cannot delay things. I have to help you resolve your biggest problem before this disaster strikes.” He explained before continuing, “I hope it was resolved. I hope this video can be canceled by me later… that everything goes back to normal. Those are the best seven months of my life.”

“...”

“But if it doesn’t… Let’s proceed with things for the future. First, you can ask for help on Anti-Entropy. This is Doctor Tesla’s contact number. Use it to connect with them. They are good allies when it comes to fighting the honkai.”

Everything else that followed is reminiscent of a last will. Shi Tian talked about things that will help Kiana fight against the honkai. 

It also contained a bit of his “willfulness” that prevents the known tragedies from occurring. The X-10 Experiment and Himeko are one of the few examples.

Unknowingly, Kiana reached the end of the video. These ten minutes felt like a good minute. It brought back the feeling of casual talks with Shi Tian.

“...Well. I don’t know how to end this. Just be you. Do what you think is right. Fight for it when necessary." He paused before adding, "Destiny can be shaped by our hands.”

That marked the end of the video. Drops of liquid began to rain on the screen. 

“Hick… You trust me… Hick… too much…”

Nobody heard her sobs.

It does not matter.

Kiana knows what she needs to do now.

“To become uber strong… to protect others..!”

Her footsteps began to parallel Durandal’s.

*****

A/N: Shi Tian’s PoV will come next. Kiana’s character development is done...

Chapter 83: Sea of Regrets

Kiana’s entire experience is akin to a lucid dream. She is aware and conscious, yet when it comes to recalling what happened, everything feels surreal.

“Hngh…”

She woke up with a killer headache. The first thing that surprised Kiana is her current outfit.

“I… did this.”

Memories surged in her mind. Sirin’s memories, her birth inside Otto’s laboratory, Sirin’s re-awakening, Siegfried’s severed arm…

Her mood sank to the bottom. The only thing holding herself is Sirin. She will not allow her to cause harm.

Kiana stood up on the floating rock. Grayish-pink clouds extended to as far as she can see. This entire place gave off a desolate feeling.

“Hm?”

It was then she realized.

She is alone.

“Shi Tian?”

…

No one responded back to her.

Kiana can still recall those final moments. Shi Tian baited Sirin into becoming overconfident. He struck her down with that uber powered rainbow light. Sirin has been silent since then.

After that, she lost consciousness too.

Kiana did not say another word. She used her spiritual consciousness to scan her surroundings.

“Hum? This shouldn’t be…”

She did not care about her exaggerated range of spiritual consciousness. It grew from early to late stage when she woke up. She cared more about the fact that Shi Tian wasn’t anywhere near.

Her only clue is the bloodstains on the floating rock. It led up to the edge. 

Kiana first came across his sword. It gave off a distinct aura of sharpness. She continued moving onto the bloodstains. Along the way, she saw the discarded glass bottle he treasured. It was thrown into the ground. 

She picked it up and saw it was completely empty. Traces of Shi Tian’s dried blood could be seen on its nose.

Kiana did not find anything else… until she reached the end.

The rock did not conform to usual physics. It remained floating due to a weird mechanism. It is resulted by the laws of the world converging.

“...”

Kiana fell silent when she saw the thing at the end of the blood trail.

It is Shi Tian’s prized storage ring.

Her entire body turned cold. She stood still for a good minute or so.

“...”

Kiana bit her lower lip. She picked up his storage ring and held it tightly. She did the same with the glass bottle and the sword Shi Tian left. She learned to use the storage ring and placed all of them inside.

Then, Kiana’s frantic search began.

Her late Foundation Establishment mental strength covered thirty miles of her radius. She did not need her [Cloud Seeking Steps] to fly. Her Herrscher Core took care of it.

Honkai energy and spiritual qi formed a delicate balance inside her body. Without exceeding the threshold of her honkai adaptability, the honkai energy will not cause physical damage; spiritual qi won’t react without any injuries.

Her honkai energy can be freely exerted, whether it is the usage of Herrscher Authority or other simpler things.

For example, utilizing the [Taixu World Rendering Sutra]. 

Kiana could not cast it with her Herrscher Core, though she can copy the technique’s mechanisms. 

Her body disappeared before reappearing thirty miles ahead. Her spiritual consciousness acted as a scanner. Kiana kept on doing this for two hours but to no avail.

Shi Tian is gone.

“If I knew this would happen..!”

She is on the verge of tears. Her chest felt very congested. She lost count the number of times she said the quote above.

Kiana regretted being too eager for a breakthrough. If it meant losing Shi Tian, then she would rather not have it!

Unfortunately, regrets could not create a miracle. The entirety of humanity has too many regrets, enough to fill up an entire ocean.

To this, Kiana’s current realm did not offer any real solution. She flew aimlessly inside the vast imaginary space. There are no longer any rocks. The grayish-pink clouds remained unchanged.

She reached the 'edge' of the subspace they were into. The entirety of the arena where Shi Tian and Sirin fought is constructed by the latter using her Herrscher authority. There is a space beyond this subspace.

Hum-!

It posed no trouble for Kiana to explore the imaginary space. Ordinary humans could not sustain prolonged existence here, but not her. She is the Herrscher of the Void. Part of her authority lies in controlling the imaginary space.

The imaginary space lied beyond the typical three dimensions. Her authority naturally extended to this higher dimension.

Kiana broke out of the subspace. New sights entered her vision as her flight continued.

Soon, it came to a point she exhausted herself. Kiana’s long white hair swayed as she flew. The person who did her braids is gone.

All because of her.

“Ugh…”

Kiana broke down. Tears fell uncontrollably. The weight on her chest continued to grow.

“Hick… It’s all my fault!”

Her cries were met with nothing but silence.

No one came to her side.

No one.

*****

Three days had passed.

Sirin’s reawakening caused an alarming concentration of honkai energy to surge. It is way beyond the scale of minor honkai eruptions, basically a signboard of a major honkai eruption.

Along with that is the most feared enemy of mankind: Herrschers.

The first one to respond is Schicksal’s Far East branch. They crossed the Far East and arrived at Shenzhou the fastest.

Due to the eruption’s intermittent nature, they sent a squad of valkyries to investigate. Had the readings been consistent, they would have sent Hyperion here and then.

Except for the broken trees, they found nothing.

As for Anti-Entropy, Shenzhou is Schicksal’s territory. They could not do much except to send several people covertly. They did not find anything, either.

The presumed Herrscher is missing. It caused fear to the higher-ups, prompting them to raise their alert and send all the available valkyrie squadrons to investigate.

Anti-Entropy had to stop their search due to it.

“Oh no. No, no…”

Raiden Ryoma had to pause his business during these past three days. The moment Siegfried learned about the major honkai eruption and Kiana’s whereabouts being lost for an entire day, he rushed straight to Shenzhou. 

He managed to lay low during the second day, but it was inevitable to clash with Schicksal’s valkyries.

Ryoma tapped the crown of his classical watch thrice. A dark blue light swept on its glass before a holographic projection came up. Using it, he dialed Welt Yang’s number. The other side did not answer until a while later. The holographic screen showed Welt Yang sitting in a lounge.

“Sovereign. I might need some help.”

“What happened?”

“Ziggy… He got into trouble.”

He began to narrate the sequence of events.

Little did he know, someone would interrupt him.

“My old man?”

A voice rang on the other side of the call. It is not Tesla’s nor Einstein’s. It carried a hint of tiredness.

Soon, a white-haired girl came to the screen. Her flat expression alone reveals her depressing vibe.

Raiden Ryoma could not speak. He recognized who she was.

“What did my old man do?”

It is none other than Kiana.

*****

A/N: More explanation on what happened in the next two chapters.

Chapter 82: Befall, the Sword of Rebellion

Bam-!

A huge firework appeared inside the imaginary space. The flaming dragon entered a portal created by Sirin. It was redirected to one of the rocks behind her.

Shi Tian did not use his [Five Elements Dao Sutra] much. His sheer sword intent could not damage Sirin’s void constructs. His spells would end up the same.

In terms of authority, he is far outclassed by Herrscher.

Shi Tian’s eyes gazed upon her intangible line.

Sirin. First will. One soul. Herrscher of the Void. Dao authority above Purple Mansion Realm. Severely injured will, suspected to be in Purple Mansion Realm. Transcendent being connected to the Herrscher Core. Unknown realm…

Bits of information appeared in his mind.

Swoosh-!

Bang-!

Shi Tian’s will moved the surrounding honkai energy. It coalesced into an arc of white light.

Everywhere it went, it caused destruction. 

Sirin’s physical body moved through spatial displacement. The distance between the two became farther.

In gaming terms, Shi Tian is being kited.

‘Purple Mansion Realm mental strength… No wonder my mental attack only destabilized her.’

He bid his time. The more his [Encompassing Eyes] analyze things, the greater his information. 

It will serve as his guide towards the decisive strike!

Bam-!

Shatter-!

Shi Tian’s body was sent to another rock. Two cubes came together and attempted to smash him to death. A sense of danger rang on his ears. 

Without any choice, he used [Blade Eminence] for the second time.

Boom-!

Just as he crushed these building-sized cubes, he saw several spiral helixes behind Sirin. Their impending target is obvious.

His spiritual consciousness quickly locked onto a nearby rock. He was about to perform [Taiji Inversion] when his body got pressed down.

Looking from afar, Shi Tian’s eyes met the pair of golden pupils. She is wearing the outfit belonging to the Herrscher of the Void.



The world in his eyes slowed down. His mental capacity worked to a maximum.

“Huff…”

Two strikes of [Blade Eminence] left.

That’s all he could do. The mental burden it brings is insane. Fu Hua could only unleash its power once during the second eruption. He can do four.

Shi Tian did it two times already. Each one of them could inflict untold damage to Sirin, but he chose not to do so. He wanted to make sure that the attack is a sure-win, even if it is overkill.

Siegfried managed to awaken Kiana and only lost an arm. Shi Tian wanted to replicate his victory and deal with Sirin properly!

‘One strike to break it down. The final one…’

It will judge his life and death.

He did not fear it.

‘She thinks distance is enough. She hasn’t seen this yet.’

[Blade Eminence] is the ultimate attack of [Blade Mantra]’s [Eminence] mental state. Correspondingly, [True Form] also has an ultimate attack. Shi Tian did not think a name for it yet.

[Blade mEinence] uses honkai energy and mixes it with one’s will, turning it into a destructive attack that leaves nothing. [True Form]’s ultimate attack bears the same aspects as it, but far stronger. 

Its impact can be controlled, something absent from [Blade Eminence]. It can be used to strike purely at the mind and leave the physical body intact. This level of control is what differentiated [True Form] from [Eminence]. The sword is under Shi Tian's absolute control.

Its shortcoming is its consumption. Shi Tian can only use it twice before falling unconscious—a conservative estimate of his.

In his current state, it can only be used once.

‘I’m going all in!’

The same white light flashed in his sight. Honkai energy began to gather into his blade, staining it with pure white light. 

Hum-!

His blade vibrated. The pure white light mixed with the hazy silver light it emitted. The [Sword Nurturing Pagoda] responded to his will. A technique followed next. Spiritual qi disappeared from his dantian. In return, it embued a mysterious aura into the sword.

All sorts of perception is fed into the [Daluo Sword Art]. Its mysterious attribute that enabled him to cut an emperor-class in half began to emerge. 

Buzz-!

Bright red flames emerged from his body. The forbidden technique of burning lifespan, [Nine Lives Burning Samsara Art], is activated!

Shi Tian’s realm did not rise. The power it produced is all sent to the blade—to the [Daluo Sword Art].

Soon, its mysterious attribute surpassed the [Sword Nurturing Pagoda] and [Blade Mantra]. It began to encompass these two powers to form a higher-leveled power. The honkai energy was resistant at first.

Under his [True Form]'s fine control, however, it soon complied. It began to merge with spiritual qi, something Shi Tian hasn't seen before!

Unfortunately…

Swoosh-!

Swooosh-!

Psshk-!

The helixes from before arrived at their target. It did not wait for him to finish his technique.

One of them nailed his left hand to the rock. The other one went straight through Shi Tian’s chest.

Blood trickled down his mouth. The light on his jian began to disappear. The sword’s humming dissipated. The intangible flames died down.

Psshk-!

Shi Tian’s right hand got nailed to the rock. He lost grasp of his jian. It swiftly fell downwards—to nothingness.

Tap.

Tap.

…

The sound of clear footsteps ensued.

Sirin, who watched him from afar, came close. The strike to his chest sealed the deal. She can kill him anytime.

A subspace lace pointed towards his forehead. The moment he attacks will spell his doom.

Sirin felt the struggling ego inside her become desperate. It did not bring Kiana strength, but rather, more flaws. Sirin regained more control of her body.

Seeing Shi Tian's miserable state is enough to destroy Kiana's morale... and Sirin wanted to see just that.

“No braids… is better.”

Sirin heard his words. His bloody face looked menacing. She merely sent a contemptuous gaze.

“Is that your final words?”

To that, Shi Tian’s response is brief.

“You didn’t learn.”

“..!”

The sword is not merely a weapon; for the heart is the sword.

The moment she met his eyes, Sirin’s vision changed. She could not even use the subspace lance when she was brought to a blank white space. A five-colored light appeared above. It is akin to an aurora…

One filled with the world’s truth.

What could a genius’ twenty years of lifespan bring?

It may be different to others, but to Shi Tian, it is the fourth realm of sword cultivation:

Sword Light Refraction.

The rainbow sword light soon filled her vision.

This time…

There is no God to save her.

*****

Sirin and Kiana…

They are two sides of the same coin. I can still vividly recall that revelation prior to Kiana’s awakening as the Herrscher of Flamescion. They are two personalities in one person.

Sirin is the evil side who wanted nothing but revenge on humanity.

Kiana is the good side who longed for a human experience—to feel the love given to her by Cecilia.

In a sense, Sirin cannot be killed without killing Kiana... at least with my current means.

What could be done, however, is to damage the “Sirin” personality. That way, Kiana’s “shares” over her physical body and Second Herrscher Core surpasses Sirin’s—thus gaining complete control over it.

 She will no longer have to worry even if Sirin is awake.

The subspace lance pointed at my forehead dissipated. The gamble succeeded.

The moment Kiana lost consciousness, I tried to catch her. I failed. My arms did not respond to my will.

Oh.

That’s right.

My body…

The two of us began falling down. Her braids were undone for quite some time. Her long white hair touched my fingertips.

A sense of weakness and hollowness emerged from my body. The forbidden art, [Nine Lives Burning Samsara Art], consumed my lifespan. The power it brought is a huge burden to my current realm. My body, qi, and mind are negatively impacted.

I started to lose consciousness. 

Kiana…

Rumble-!

The sound of thunder tried to keep me awake. The [Sword Nurturing Pagoda]... No. It's a higher realm now, the [Sword Moves Like Thunder]. It gave another level of sharpness and control to swords.

At the last moment, my will connected to something.

Swoosh-!

It is my jian. It flew straight in my direction. It is shining with dazzling five-colored light. I separated a bit of [Sword Light Refraction] for this exact scenario.

Hum-!

Its entire body shook when it came to my right hand. I sent my thoughts to it before it responded with another vibration.

With its help, I managed to barely catch onto Kiana’s collar. The sword in my right hand flew upwards until we reached a floating rock.

“Huff… Thanks.”

Hum-!

The sword vibrated before stabbing itself on the ground. As soon as it lost its five-colored brilliance, it stopped vibrating. My sword returned to its usual form with no intelligence.

While I am still awake, I used the last bit of my strength to access my storage ring. I took out the glass bottle. I uncapped it with my fingers and drank the remaining spiritual milk in one go.

Like a land of drought experiencing rain, my dantian turned active. The sluggish flow of spiritual qi began to return to its previous smoothness.

I did not use the forbidden technique to raise my realm, else I would have been far more injured than now.

It did not take long before I could cast a spell. The [Life Extending Heavy Water] covered the bloody hole on my chest. The clear blue water soaked the blood coming out of my chest.

My entire body feels like it’s burning. My barely awake consciousness began to fall asleep. I tried my best to fend it off… but to no avail.

Just then, something tried to form a connection with me. My entire body shook. My breathing turned uneven. A strong pressure descended upon me. The recovering spiritual qi circulation turned stagnant once more.

I did my best to look upwards.

It is nothing but the same grayish-pink sky.

But…

I can feel it.

Something is looking at me.

My consciousness…

…

…

…

Chapter 81: Courting Death!

The shattering of the Shen dantian brings a challenge to the mind. It is the third and final step to step into Foundation Establishment. It is nothing to me with a Sword Heart. My thoughts and worries are sorted out well. 

It is different from Kiana.

If I must say, it is her weakest point. Sirin is her biggest trouble when it comes to the mind. 

Fortunately, Kiana’s mental strength is steadily increasing during her Qi Refining Realm. Sirin will have less and less room to move. It will continue until Kiana is able to deal with her.

The more Kiana’s realm grows, the lesser her chances of a comeback. It is a timer that will spell Sirin’s doom.

Without Otto’s interference, she can only affect Kiana mentally. Her moves are limited.

…

Kiana’s mental state started to get better.

In an instant, she completed the process of sublimating her Shen dantian. All three dantians are broken. The next step is to integrate them all in one dantian and the creation of spiritual qi veins.

Her talent shines in this regard. Her high grade Void Spirit Root made things very simple. 

Rumble-!

Her surroundings got struck by a miniature earthquake. Some of the trees are leaning sideways. Some of them have their roots torn off the ground. It is a huge mess, just like my breakthrough.

I decided to activate my [Encompassing Eyes] for precaution. Numerous lines appeared on every item in my sight. It is so densely packed it gave me a headache.

One adjustment later, Kiana’s string is the one left.

Kiana Kaslana. Best friend. 155 centimeters tall. Foundation Establishment. Early stage. Undergoing mental shock.

“Shi Tian.”

..!

Kiana’s voice cracked. It is my first time hearing her this vulnerable.

“I… I remember...”

The operation of my spiritual qi began. The target is none other than the small rock beside her feet.
I also canceled my [Two Phase Art]. She can't take the tribulation at this rate.

The dark clouds above slowly cleared up.

“Shi Tian.”

Kiana’s voice whispered. I can see her rapidly deteriorating mental state with my bare eyes.

The jian appeared in my grasp. It is smelted with the early second grade metal ruler, causing its grade to become early second grade as well. The [Sword Nurturing Pagoda] began to operate as well.

“Shi Ti—”

Before she could finish her words, an unprecedented amount of pressure descended. The spiritual qi within our surroundings began to co-exist with the honkai energy that started spawning out of nowhere.

Kiana…

She fell silent.

Buzz-!

The position switch between me and the rock worked. I stomped the ground, causing it to crack.

Rumble-!

My jian is directed towards Kiana. The distance between us is less than a meter apart. 

Just then…

Crack-!

Two sets of black spears blocked my jian. The sword intent it held naturally got dissipated into the spears.

Aside from a few cracks, it did nothing else.

Time slowed down… literally.

My body is held to a pause. My [Encompassing Eyes] worked. 

There are only two significant strings present. One from Kiana and the other came from thin air.

I scanned the blackened surroundings.

Time dilution. Light particles are suppressed. An artificial curvature in space and time.

My eyes moved towards Kiana.

Two traces of teardrops are visible on her face. She is still the same Kiana I knew… except for her golden eyes.

“She” contemptuously looked down on me.

Our eyes met.

…

Just as planned.

I entered the state of [True Form]. A blinding white light appeared in my vision. The [Sword Nurturing Pagoda] responded as well.

The sound of bell chimes and the white light converged into a single point. It turned into an attack that aimed at the mind!

Cling-!

I regained my vision. 

“Kuk..!”

Kiana… no, Sirin started to fall backwards. Her golden pupils briefly regained its ocean colors before reverting back.

The time dilution I was subjected to got broken.

“Worm..!”

Her voice sounded different. It sounded more childish.

Before I could react, a cross-shaped orange light appeared in front. It set off a blinding light, affecting even my spiritual consciousness.

I found myself in a grayish-pink world. There is nothing to it except huge rocks.

I cut off the rocks’ strings and focused on the string belonging to thin air.

Imaginary space.

Two words woke me up completely.

The time I have left is not long. That unease becomes stronger with each passing day. I have like, what? A month or two at most?

That intuitive guess appeared after the [True Form] came. It is strange, yet I find myself believing in it.

Although this is what I planned…

Nothing is certain in this world.

The best I can do is to help Kiana…

…before that disaster strikes me down.

*****

“Keuk..! Damn it!”

Sirin remained back on Earth. Her current ability to interfere with Kiana Kaslana, or rather, K-423 lies on her recollection of memories.

K-423 could not bear the memories of killing an entire valkyrie squad. She could not bear the thought of her hurting Siegfried. Her memories went as far as to see her true identity as a lab-born child and Sirin’s experience in Babel.

The sublimation to Foundation Establishment pushes the mind to another level. Her forgotten memories came back due to its nature.

Sirin used this mental shock to take control of K-423’s body.

Unfortunately, she underestimated the impact of immortal cultivation. Sirin’s remnant soul resided inside the broken second herrscher core. She naturally experienced everything Kiana did.

It was for such a reason did she feel a crisis. Once Kiana becomes stronger, she will not have a chance for a comeback.

“This is a futile struggle!”

Nobody else responded to her. Sirin tried to control her body. It felt extremely heavy. She tried to control the spiritual qi Kiana has. It did not work either.

K-423…

Kiana’s ego strongly resisted her.

“You like that worm, right?!”

Sirin cannot move Kiana’s body much. 

She can’t control Kiana’s spiritual qi either.

All she has is the Herrscher Core. Even so, the honkai energy she can mobilize is limited. The best she can absorb is the honkai energy from the Core… which is not much.

In desperation, she began to flood her body with it. Only the familiar presence of God can calm her down.

To her surprise, as soon as it reached a certain threshold, the unmovable spiritual qi began to automatically circulate. It began to fix the damage caused by the honkai energy.

The loss of spiritual qi allowed Sirin to move her body better. Still, it is very constricted.

“You… cannot!”

A voice rang inside her mind. It is Kiana’s voice.

“Since you like him so much..!”

A portal appeared beneath Sirin. It swallowed her whole, transporting her to the imaginary space.

Not far from her is Shi Tian. The strong fluctuations of spiritual qi caused his hair and t-shirt to sway. He held his jian in front of him.

“I will kill this worm!”

“No!”

Sirin’s subspace lances began to appear one by one. Consequently, her body shook and got frozen in place.

Still…

It could not stop her.

The dense subspace lances all headed towards Shi Tian’s direction. Sirin struggled to raise her right hand. Her golden eyes glowed. It pulled him towards the direction of the lances.

What follows next is a huge black cube surrounding him. Each lance headed to a portal that is connected to the inside of the cube. It left him no room to dodge things. Every single inch of space got pierced by the subspace lances.

“No—!”

Sirin continued her scornful words.

“He is dead. Just like the others. An end befitting lowly worms.”

The restraints over her physical body got loosened. Kiana is still holding on to her mind and spiritual qi. 

She refuses to believe Shi Tian is gone just like that!

As if to respond to her wishes…

Cling-!

BOOM-!

A bright white light cut open the black cube. Countless subspace lances disintegrated the moment it touched the light. It is none other than [Blade Eminence]. The light is filled with compressed honkai energy capable of destroying anything.

What Shi Tian used before is its mental attack, merely half of its true capabilities. Honkai energy is needed to maximize its damage.

In the midst of chaos, Shi Tian stood with two lances piercing through his torso. They did not go through his body.

One by one, he pulled them out using his free left hand. His right hand held his sword tightly. Blood came out of the bloody holes. Shi Tian took out the glass bottle. Its cap floated as he drank a huge amount of spiritual milk in one go.

With the input of spiritual qi and the [Life Extending Heavy Water], his wounds began to close.

Sirin did not attack him at this juncture. She is keenly observing him. The white light he sent out…

It scares her.

“Did it surprise you?”

A cold, mocking voice came out of him. His eyes emitted sharpness enough to make one flinch. His aura is overbearing, clashing with Sirin’s Herrscher aura. His [Sword Nurturing Pagoda] falls short, but if combined with Blade Mantra's [True Form], it is capable of contending against it.

Sirin gritted her teeth. She could not forget the sensation of that white light. Fu Hua’s Blade Eminence is etched on her mind.

If not for God, she would have died!

“You stupid worm. You will die!”

Shi Tian did not reply. 

Swoosh-!

He flew towards Sirin. Her expression changed as she swatted him down with gravity.

Much to her surprise, he wasn’t affected much by it. He resisted her pushing force and continued flying towards her.

Today, Shi Tian swore to court death!

Chapter 80: Tuna's Breakthrough

A/N: Term for Edge of Taixuan is swapped to Blade Eminence.

*****

The creation of [Blade Mantra]’s next level, [True Form], is completely unexpected.

[Eminence] allowed for the usage of [Blade Eminence]. It is a powerful intangible attack that destroys both physical and intangible things. Fu Hua used it to strike a blow at Sirin’s mental form, only to get intercepted by the Will of Honkai.

The last slash I did at the clouds is pure [Blade Eminence]. 

What if I use [Sword Nurturing Pagoda]’s sword intent with it? 

What if I add [Daluo Sword Art] on top of that?

I have a feeling it will reach the Purple Mansion Realm at least. It is my strongest ace in the hole.

Now that my [Blade Mantra] has leveled up, its power can only be stronger.

The changes did not end there.

I viewed the changes inside my body. My [Sword Nurturing Pagoda] exceeded its previous aura. An unparalleled sharpness is sheathed inside of me. The clear ringing of bells and vague rumbling indicated it stands at the top of second grade.

With an opportunity, it can break into the next realm, the sword realm of [Sword Moves Like Thunder].

Since the [Sword Nurturing Pagoda] grew, it affected my qi and mental realm.

My dantian frantically absorbed the surrounding spiritual qi. The hazy blue mist gathered on me.

It did not take long for the vibrance of my five-colored spiritual qi to reach its peak. It began to turn into a transparent five-colored spiritual qi.

Swoosh-!

A shockwave originated from my body. It is enough to disrupt Kiana, who is meditating not far from me.

Fortunately, she did not sustain any injuries from abruptly stopping a cultivation session.

While my spiritual qi caused chaos, my mental processes began to grow clearer. The range of my spiritual consciousness began to expand.

Thirteen miles.

Fifteen miles.

Seventeen miles.

It gradually stabilized at twenty miles.

Just like this, my qi and mental cultivation reached the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. The improvements did not stop.

Kiana…

I have to explain to her later.

For now, I focused my attention on this unexpected breakthrough.

*****

Kiana’s mouth remained open.

She watched as Shi Tian continued to suck in the surrounding spiritual qi. The middle second grade spirit vein they have could not withstand it. 

Shi Tian had to take out the middle grade spirit stones and the late second grade spiritual milk from his storage ring. Only then did the needs of his breakthrough be met.

For an hour, Kiana stared at his changes.

‘His Master… Is this why he was chosen as a disciple?’

She could not help but recall their seven months of journey. She watched him grow up from a clueless and homeless boy into someone she can rely on. Whether it was Siegfried’s matter or Kiana’s daily needs, she can rely on him.

Kiana also felt complex about it. Seven months is all that’s needed to overpower her. Her bad habits such as laziness and procrastination got removed with sheer motivation. She wanted to help him, too.

Unfortunately, Kiana became serious too late. She only has the [Taixu True Spirit Sutra], [Taixu World Rendering Art], [Taixu True Spirit Raising Art], [Cloud Seeking Steps], and the cultivation variant of their [Kaslana Gun Arts].

She is not like Shi Tian who has full memory of countless techniques. She could not cross-reference things as easily as him. She could not even get the [Gun Heart], the counterpart of [Sword Heart] in guns.

For the first time, she felt useless.

Her burning motivation could not catch up to Shi Tian’s progress. Kiana does not know where she got it wrong.

Until Shi Tian’s breakthrough ended, Kiana remained silent.

He opened his eyes to the obviously downcast Kiana. His mental realm that reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment noticed it at a glance. 

He waited until the spiritual qi inside him stabilized in the pinnacle of middle stage.

Soon, the subconscious pressure he emitted was retracted.

“I have a gift.”

“Hum?”

“You can break through tomorrow.”

“Ah?!”

He explained the Gift of Tao he accumulated. The progress of leaping from the early to middle stage of Foundation Establishment is huge.  Add to that his early to late stage of mental realm, the “experience potions” gathered inside Shi Tian’s mysterious space is huge.

“That should be enough to push you to the next realm. It will still have excess.”

“Tomorrow…”

“I also tested honkai energy and spiritual qi…”

Shi Tian explained for some time. The more Kiana listened, the more she saw the work he did…

All for her.

“Hey? Why are you crying?”

“C-crying? Hick… No…”

Kiana refused to say anything else and sat on the corner of the room facing the wall. Shi Tian could easily spy on her expressions, but he chose not to.

‘She’s still the unreadable Tuna…’

*****

August 28, 2012.

The day of Kiana’s breakthrough came.

“Remember what I told you. If you can’t proceed, use the [Critical Lock Method]. If you can’t withstand the tribulation, use the artifact…”

I can’t help but remind her. Kiana could only nod with every instruction.

I pointed to the red paper umbrella on her grasp. It is a late second grade spiritual artifact from the draws a week ago. It is the strongest product I received as of the moment.

“...and use the [Taixu World Rendering Art] to tear up the clouds.”

“Um.”

I stopped at this point. I sounded like a worried parent or something.

“You can do it.”

“...Yeah. I will.”

We parted. I flew upwards, just half a kilometer away from her. I will be the one casting the [Two Phase Art]. I can cancel it anytime to make her tribulations disappear.

Just like before, we chose an uninhabited place. Using the fifth level of [Blade Mantra], I easily gathered honkai energy, cut off my control, and turned it into spiritual qi. It sits at a peak second grade spirit vein.

I also made sure to slip past the class rep before settling here. I can teach her the Sword Heart, but not the rest. At least not when she’s still allied with Otto.

I went back and forth inside the mysterious space. There are three huge golden clouds, each denoting the Gift of Tao I can give to Kiana, Bronya, and Seele. They all have equal sizes.

I sent them all to the trio.

I...

After resolving the doubts, I did not calm down. A sense of unease still existed. It was then I knew my current situation isn't simple. I am not afraid of the Will of Honkai. I am afraid of something else.

That something will come back once a drastic change happens. The Will of Honkai triggers that change. It is very frustrating. I don't know what I am afraid of. Only, there is a looming feeling it will happen soon.

I don't know if it is my cultivator senses. A Foundation Establishment cultivator doesn't have that strong of a danger sense. It's as if... I know what exactly I am afraid of. It's like the sneeze interruption all over again.

My senses came back to reality.

Hum-!

Rumble-!

The ground shook slightly. The spiritual qi floating around started to become chaotic. They became attracted to Kiana.

The clothes she is wearing started to get stained with blood. Her body is under the pressure of the skill check. It is testing whether she can bear the spiritual qi of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Fortunately, she passed it. The spiritual qi continued to gather in her direction. Her body is growing stronger.

Next is her Qi dantian.

I kept a close watch on her. Whenever I see Kiana struggling, I am readying myself to interfere. I can also use the [Critical Lock Method] on her, though it will cause injuries. It is different with Kiana using it herself.

Soon, the second skill check ended. She successfully went through the shattering of her Qi dantian.

Hum-!

Rumble-!

The physical disturbances grew. The ground’s shaking became stronger. The gusts of wind blew some weaker trees away. A dark cloud is starting to form in the skies.

Under my spiritual consciousness, I can vaguely perceive Kiana’s mental state. I can feel her anxiety, restlessness, and regrets.

…

I bit my lower lip.

Kiana’s mental state started to get worse.

Chapter 79: True Form

A/N: Apologies for the mistakes. I noticed an error while writing the part where Kiana is forecasted to reach Peak Qi Refining in two weeks. It should have been one month, not two weeks. The progress she made out of thin air does not make sense. Sword/Spear Heart is required to boost progress at the cost of mental fatigue, and Kiana does not have that. 

It (Chapter 69) has been changed to a progress to her spell mastery (Entry>Small Success).

******

Cooked.

This has been the verdict ringing inside my mind.

…

I shook my head as I opened the hotel room. There, Kiana is meditating. For ten days, she focused on raising her realm. Her realm rose visibly with the spiritual milk and my Gift of Tao.

As expected, the upgraded Gift of Tao cut off half of her needed time. The progress of my breakthrough is included on that It went from two months to less than one month. That computation includes the spiritual milk.

We had to book an entire month to the AirBnB equivalent of this Earth. Kiana does not come out except for eating. She chose to stay in Shenzhou City for a month. She even postponed her search for Siegfried.

Kiana made another surprising argument at that time. 

Once she’s stronger, it will be easier to find her old man… or so she says.

I complied. In the meantime, I spent time cultivating and learning about forbidden techniques.

That’s right.

They are the techniques that, at the cost of overdrawing yourself, grants you unprecedented power. I chose not the strongest, but the one with the best cost-effect ratio.

[Nine Lives Burning Samsara Art] is a forbidden technique that burns lifespan in exchange of power. The more lifespan consumed, the greater the power gained. It essentially uses lifespan as a fuel to bring one's "potential self".

A Foundation Establishment might have the power of a Golden Core; a more talented Foundation Establishment might reach the Nascent Soul Realm.

Its final level talks about burning nine lives' worth of lifespan, wiping out one's existence from the past, present, and future.

My fight with Parvati spawned that need.

Everything’s fine up to the templars. They mostly do physical attacks. Their variants can spew out elemental attacks. 

They don’t have Dao Rhymes.

That’s the crucial point. As long as they do not have Dao Rhymes, I can fight dozens of them. Everything changes with emperor-classes. Parvati possessed one.

Thankfully, they have a flaw. 

A standard Dao Rhyme cannot be affected by Foundation Establishment attacks… Yet I did. It showed that they are not sitting at the Purple Mansion Realm, which I feared.

If I can describe them…

They are fake cultivators.

The ones with unstable foundation, hastily done cultivation, usage of forbidden techniques...

Parvati is a fake Purple Mansion Realm. 

I struck Parvati with a physical attack first. That’s with the help of twenty minutes’ worth of momentum from [Cloud Seeking Steps]. That physical blow should be at the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment.

Unfortunately, Parvati can turn into an elemental state. It avoided death by changing from its physical form. Ultimately, the [Daluo Sword Art] that temporarily pushed my sword cultivation to the third realm dealt with it.

Parvati's vulnerability showed its weakness.

It has a physical body belonging to a Foundation Establishment Realm.

Its authority (qi) belongs to the Purple Mansion Realm.

Its mind belongs to Foundation Establishment Realm.

The biggest caveat is its authority. It is a Purple Mansion Realm authority that can be broken by spiritual qi and mental attacks.

If this is how the honkai does things…

Honkai is a minmaxxer. It pushes its points to one attribute while leaving the rest out.

Immortal cultivation is the opposite. It advocates all-around improvement. Meaning, a cultivator reaching 100 INT has every other stat at 100 too. 

They will crush the one who focused on minmaxing. Moreover, the minmaxxer's skills will have flaws that can be beaten by people with lower levels than them.

Honkai is a minmaxer; Immortal cultivation is an all-arounder.

I reached my limits on Parvati. The [Daluo Sword Art] consumed eighty percent of my spiritual qi to bring it down. Herrschers outclass them.

Fortunately, Herrschers’ bodies are not as tough as I thought. Welt Yang confirmed it.

They can live in vacuums like Golden Core Realm cultivators, but their physical strength is absurdly lower than that. They rely more on their Herrscher Authorities to bring devastating destruction.

As for their limits, I don’t know.

Their ability to exert influence in higher dimensions already belongs to the Golden Core Realm… but that would be too absurd. I am more inclined to think that their authorities have drawbacks.

They can exert authorities of Purple Mansion to the Golden Core. This weird scaling exists since their true power belongs to the Cocoon of Finality; it is bestowed, not truly their own.

Meaning, they can be faced by cultivators with lower realm than them due to their minmaxxing weaknesses.

Their bodies is weaker than a Foundation Establishment Realm. Only their authorities are important.

They are cultivators whose foundation is filled with holes, mostly resulted by borrowing power from external forces (i.e., Cocoon).

My biggest worry did not lie on them, however.

I took out a folded paper inside my storage ring. These are the test results of the samples I sent over to Anti-Entropy. My eyes fell to a line of text regarding my honkai adaptability.

They conducted two types of tests on my samples: with and without spiritual qi.

In the tests without spiritual qi, one thing stood out from the rest.

My honkai adaptability is insanely high.

The live experiment we did earlier is related to it. Honkai energy is inserted into my body. I… no, we wanted to see how my body would react.

Surprisingly, the two energies did not conflict. The honkai energy simply flowed in my body, remaining dormant in the molecular levels.

It changed when the concentration reached three hundred honkai welt. The dormant honkai energy began to react. It became active. 

At the cost of destroying my bodily functions, it tried to raise my physical limits higher. My body began to cascade.

That was when spiritual qi began to act. It did not clash directly with honkai energy. It chose to repair the damages caused.

Once enough destruction ensued, the honkai energy calmed down. My spiritual qi worked to repair its damages. 

With one destroying and one repairing, my physical cultivation skyrocketed. The concentration my body holds is stronger than before.

Although, it left me weak. I have to rest for a day to restore my peak state.

Honkai turned out to be another cheat to immortal cultivation. Using two different power systems gave this result. The destruction caused by honkai can be healed with spiritual qi, in turn making me stronger.

Still…

My nightmares from before.

Every effect has a cause. My previous nightmares and inexplicable tiredness have a cause.

With my high compatibility with honkai, it spells out one thing.

The Will of Honkai…

It might be interested on me. My biggest confusion lies in the absence of weak mentality. I did not experience shitty things like Sirin and Mei.

This missing point is the one making me uneasy. It also happened whenever I enter the [Eminence] state of [Blade Mantra]. I can feel something is about to go wrong... that my days of peace are numbered.

For the first time, my mental state got shaken to this extent. My [Sword Nurturing Pagoda] could not grow under a weak mental state. It might even regress in realm.

The special nature of this uneasy feeling no longer exists within internal doubts. Something is affecting my mind to this great extent.

The other things, I am unsure. Only, this will involve my death.

If left unattended, I will die!

…

Courting death.

I am bound to do this at some point.

Why am I backing out now?

Everything I did since the beginning is not useless!

I won’t back down.

That uneasy feeling... I will deal with it once it comes.

No matter how it turns up.

Cling-!

A bell’s chime responded to my thoughts.

My sight shifted to endless darkness. The transcendental, rational, and emotionless mental state of Taixuan/Eminence (Grand Void). I am brought inside my mental landscape. It happened without reciting the Blade Mantra.

The sense of unease appeared for the nth time. My instincts are afraid of entering this space... but I don't know why.

Nevertheless, it did not impede me from using [Blade Mantra]. I didn't face any drawbacks too.

My worries started to turn into nothingness. I can feel nothing. I am an unfeeling god of this world.

This feeling worsened. I am starting to go beyond the limits of what human cognition can achieve.

I looked down. It is an endless chasm of darkness.

Emptiness…

How can it be borne by one person?

A strange thought appeared inside my mind.

Fu Hua’s words inside the game rang.

“I do not regret the shattering of my Eminence.”

The breakage of her [Eminence] liberated her from the subconscious need to show no mercy to honkai. To that, she is grateful.

Taixuan (Eminence) is the same. I received it without any drawbacks. Except for that uneasy feeling, of course.

However…

Is Eminence truly right?

Can you only gain power when your mind is as still as water?

Immortal Cultivation answers that.

No.

Immortal cultivators are not unfeeling gods. Their will equates to their agenda. They have their needs and wants. Mimicking the objectivity and equalness of Dao (nature) erases one's free will..!

Crack-!

At this moment, I felt liberated. The uneasy feeling it brings started to dissipate to the sidelines.

A line of white crack appeared in the darkness beneath me.

Crack-!

Crack-!

…

The cracks completely shattered the darkness. It revealed the same white light I saw the moment I acquired Blade Mantra.

Taixuan is the emptiness of oneself. It is cutting off one’s emotions, tuning the mind to an extreme mental state.

Immortal Cultivators are not like that. Their will takes priority over the Dao. It is their will that is eternal.

Taixuan is not the end. The [Eminence] mental state is flawed. Every fiber of my being is sure of it.

The fifth and new realm represents the purity of thoughts. The unchanging will to go against all enemies.

Just like a sword.

Hum-!

The first excerpt of Heart Sutra popped up in my head.

In emptiness, there is form.

The level beyond [Taixuan]...

[True Form].

That’s what it will be called.

*****

A/N: An upcoming timeskip next. The scaling between honkai and immortal cultivation is something we'll need later...

Chapter 78: Artificial Offscreen

Emperor-class honkai beasts.

They are different from the other honkai beasts. The templars, chariots, and seraphs are mostly physical. Their variants possess an elemental attack, but that was it. 

Even if they can spew out fire, create ice, do electric shocks, their powers are similar to the superficial elemental control of Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Things are different with emperor-classes.

On paper, they possess a nerfed authority similar to a Herrscher’s.

Facing them now…

“Shit.”

A line of blue ice appeared on the ground. It rapidly extended to the sky—right in my position.

My [Encompassing Eye] is put to work. A tinge of gold appeared on my irises. The world slowed down a bit. Intangible lines appeared on everything. Upon looking at them, all sorts of information popped up in my mind. 

The wind velocity is around fifteen kilometers per hour.

The dormant temperature lies in twenty-four degrees celsius.

…

The [Encompassing Eye] uses my knowledge as a base. It is similar to the [Appraisal] skill. I don’t need to analyze things; their information appears straight to my head.

My inadequacy results in irrelevant results, however.

I shut down these thoughts. The intangible lines of the irrelevant things disappeared, returning my sight to normal. Only the blue-colored intangible line remained.

A thick cluster of blue lights emerged in my vision. They possessed the same “unintelligibleness” of dao rhymes, the type where your sneeze gets forcefully stopped.

Dao Rhyme. Presumed third grade or higher in cultivation terms.

I immediately made a choice. This is a simulation… and my purpose is to see my limits.

The silver-bladed jian appeared out of my right hand. 

Ring-!

It let out a chime akin to a bell’s. The sword light contained on its blade became thicker.

Seeing the pillar of ice with less than two hundred meters of distance, I raised my blade.

With one downward swing…

Fwoosh-!

A whistling sound descended. The hazy silver light flew out of the blade’s tip. It went straight ahead to the ice pillar.

Crack-!

The silver light swam across the sharp ice pillar. Except for cracks, it served nothing. The ice pillar is rapidly approaching me.

There..!

My spiritual consciousness locked onto a rock.

A swift chant and operation later, I found myself standing on the ground. The rock I switched places with got frozen solid by the ice pillar.

It stopped as it did that. It has enough awareness to notice my escape.

I did not mind its reaction for the time being. I stared at the light blue string in the sky. 

Sword will. Second grade. Affecting a suspected third grade power.

…

This is impossible.

I expected my attack to do nothing. A major realm worth of difference cannot be crossed like this. Purple Mansion Realm cultivates with Dao Rhymes. Without Dao Rhymes, lower-leveled attacks have a ridiculously low effect.

It’s like Raiden hitting Senator Armstrong countless times. 

It does zero shit.

This disbelief turned into confusion. I want to know why this happens.

The grip on my jian’s handle became tighter.

*****

The establishment of Anti-Entropy after the Manhattan Incident (First Eruption) showed the gap between them and the gigantic Schicksal. Tesla and Einstein had to work hard to resolve these problems one by one.

The simulation room is a product of that initiative. It aims to place Titans into a more-realistic battle scenario. It is a test they undergo after completing the virtual simulations—the equivalent of flight simulators.

Its basis lies in their study on the Sea of Quanta. The way it holds information could be used to “store” information and recall them. 

To date, the room is powered by a strong honkai reactor located underground. Its output could go as high as five hundred Honkai Welt. Anything higher has to be made in a more isolated area.

Now, the area for testing military-grade Titans is being used by a single boy.

Boom-!

Shi Tian did not attack frequently against Parvati. The best way to describe his current situation is a game of tag, just that the one chasing him is a huge emperor-class honkai beast. 

Without proper knowledge, the best thing to do is to prolong battles before dealing a decisive strike. He employed this strategy to learn more about Parvati.

Twenty minutes later, Parvati became visibly weaker. Shi Tian agilely avoided its attacks with [Cloud Seeking Steps]. The gathered momentum on his body is now far beyond his current realm.

Tesla watched him turn back to Parvati. Shi Tian is now facing Parvati head-on.

Ripple-!

“That is…”

She felt something strange. She began to experience sounds of water drops rippling. Next came the cackling of flames. Then the stiff movement of wood branches, before turning into a bell’s ringing.

Tesla wore the glasses Welt built. She can use the artifact to sense the surroundings with an artificial spiritual consciousness at the cost of her spiritual qi.

In her sight, nothing changed. It was still Shi Tian flying straight to Parvati.

“His sword..!”

Her pupils narrowed. She did not understand anything about the [Daluo Sword Art]. It is a move he never used.

It only has two functions. One is to break down the opponent's move to increase the understanding of swords. The other is to stack all sword-related perceptions into a single strike, encompassing them 'all' and creating a higher-level attack.

In Shi Tian's case, he has the support of hundreds of sword techniques as cross-references. When all of them are stacked together, it allows him to briefly upgrade his sword cultivation by a major realm!

The moment Tesla tried to look at his jian, a blinding white light flashed her vision. The mysteries and dao rhymes it held is immediately transferred to her eyes; the glasses she is wearing.

“Ow!”

Crack-!

The glasses cracked. A strange and destructive aura seeped out of its cracks before dissipating.

“What’s that—?!”

Nobody answered her question.

It took Tesla half a minute to regain her normal vision.

“He…”

She could not finish her words.

Inside the simulation room, she saw the tall Parvati split in half. A fog of ice surrounded Shi Tian. He is visibly fine except for the extreme fatigue on his face. His breathing is heavy. He could only stab his jian to the ground. 

The spiritual qi floating around became disordered and chaotic.

The attack that brought down Parvati, a genuine emperor-class honkai beast, caused it.

“What was that?”

Tesla canceled the simulation altogether. The room returned to its previous white state.

Using his remaining strength, Shi Tian placed his jian inside him. It magically did not injure him as it became smaller inside his dantian.

“My secret move. How was it?”

“You didn’t use it before.”

“Yeah.”

She went out of the observation deck and walked beside him. Shi Tian remained standing with a middle grade spirit stone in hand. It came from Anti-Entropy. He is absorbing the huge amounts of spiritual qi inside it, boosting his automatic recovery.

“Are you fine?” 

“Yeah.” Shi Tian replied before continuing, “Let’s proceed with the practical experiment, Doctor Tesla.”

She paused.

For months, they respected Shi Tian. They did not ask him for samples and the likes. It changed more than a week ago. He actively sought for means to use spiritual qi against honkai corruption.

“Will you be alright?”

“It’s nothing too big. You should have seen my samples.”

“Yes. It is undeniably abnormal.”

From the perspective of science, Shi Tian’s Foundation Establishment physique is akin to superhumans. It is free of destructive forces like honkai and only has spiritual qi as its requirement. 

What’s even surprising is his body’s retention of spiritual qi. The blood and tissue samples he sent over still have his spiritual qi. Months alone do not suffice in researching it.

Strangely enough, Shi Tian wants more progress to it—even at the cost of his body.

The sudden changes baffled the trio.

Tesla wanted to ask about it but chose not to. 

She swallowed her words and started leading him towards their underground lab.

‘What could have caused a big change?’

*****

A/N: There are hints of what is about to happen. No worries if you did not see it. It will all be the same once the reveal comes. There are also minor changes in chapter 75 to better suit the current plot build-up.

Chapter 77: Battle Simulations

Ten days later.

A huge, five-storey tall honkai beast greeted my sight. It wielded a lance as a right arm and a twenty to thirty meter tall shield.

Bam-!

Its entire body charged in a straight line. The simulated urban city has its ground trembling. The huge templar crashed onto a sky-high condominium. 

Rumble-!

BAM-!

The upper half of the condominium came crashing to the ground. The dust cloud it sent up reminded me of my previous world’s 2001 incident. A bunch of rubbles came flying in all directions.

My feet floated above the ground. My momentum swiftly grew. I circumvented the area where these rubbles fell. My speed continued to increase, showcasing the characteristics of [Cloud Seeking Steps]. The gathered speed can be turned into a huge momentum that is transferable through physical attacks.

Flying for ten seconds gathered a considerable amount. I kept on gathering them, however.

My spiritual consciousness is fully active. It pointed out the direction of the templar. It is located under a bunch of rubbles.

Seeing it lose track of me, I no longer held back.

A spark of flames appeared atop my palm. In three seconds, it grew to an exaggerated size of a half kilometer-long flame dragon. The flames carved details of its scales, tail, arms, and whiskers.

A tinge of purple could be seen swimming on its flame body.

I did not release it, causing it to grow larger. The spiritual qi inside my body decreased in proportion to its growth. The vast reserves of a Foundation Establishment cultivator is incomparable to my Qi Refining self.

Ten percent should be enough.

By the time it reached three kilometers, it stopped circling above my palm. It agilely located its target as marked by my spiritual consciousness.

BOOM-!

Crackle-!

A sea of flames swept the fallen rubbles, and then the templar. Under my spiritual consciousness, I saw blocks of concrete turn red before being melted into magma. Even the iron rebars are no exceptions.

The white shell of the templar turned black. The flames that struck it contained the purple qi of the [Nine Dragons Purple Qi]. It is the most concentrated essence capable of burning down things.

In the face of the templar beast, it left nothing.

“Fu…”

The scarlet flames are reflected in my eyes. One attack caused damages to a quarter of this city. It is something I can never use in real life.

The templar…

This is a complete overkill, too. I could gather around a dozen templars and strike them down with the same attack.

I snapped out of my thoughts when my wishes got fulfilled. Ten templars appeared across the border of this urban city. They are all rapidly converging into my position.

I decided on which spell to use.

The [Life Extending Heavy Water] appeared in front of me. I poured five percent of my spiritual qi reserves on it. 

Instead of releasing it as an attack, I started the generative phase of the [Five Elements Dao Sutra].

The [Life Extending Heavy Water] dispersed into thin air. Replacing it is a bunch of seeds. It split apart instantly, turning into dozens of floating trees around me.

This consumed ten percent of my spiritual qi reserves.

I didn’t stop here.

I want to see the destructiveness of this attack.

Crackle-!

Fwoosh-!

The sea of trees turned into a sea of flames. A familiar nine kilometer long flame dragon is converged by the flames. It circled around my body agilely.

The ten templars almost reached my position at this point. The momentum of this flame dragon surpassed my previous attack. Another fifteen percent of my spiritual qi reserves disappeared. 

The next move becomes crucial.

Bam-!

Like fireworks, the flame dragon exploded. Its strands of flames turned into a potent brown light. It shot into the ground beneath me. It continued seeping until it reached a certain limit.

I gestured my right hand upward.

Rumble-!

A large chunk of the ground below floated up. The buildings atop it began to fall off, causing untold destruction on the city beneath me.

Once it reached my height, it turned into a mountain-like shape. Its size is reduced to my palm, yet the strength it emitted increased. 

The momentum it emitted suppresses the outside world. The flight speed of the ten templars slowed down visibly.

It is another overkill at this point. A single flame dragon is enough to deal with these templars. My excitement is to blame. 

I want to unleash the full capabilities of my current realm.

The spiritual qi inside me flowed rapidly. My dantian is under a state of excitement. It is eager to recover with the spiritual qi in the outside world.

With Anti-Entropy’s capabilities, the entire simulation room contained a peak second grade spirit vein. I saw several honkai reactors that fell under places with [Two Phase Art] activated. It costs nothing to activate and remains permanent in the place casted. They turned parts of this building into places with [Two Phase Art].

The spiritual qi continued to riot. Part of it went to the small mountain in my palm. Most of it went inside my dantian.

Still, this

“Fu…”

I exhaled.

The final move is yet to come.

The final generative phase of the five elements. Water strengthens wood; wood feeds flames; flames reinforce the earth.

Finally, the earth bears metal.

Hum-!

The small mountain in my hand shot to the sky. It dissipated into dots of golden light before turning silver. A connection to the surroundings is established in my mind.

With the wave of my hand…

BAM-!

Boom-!

RUMBLE-!

The entire city shook. The ten templars got swatted down like flies, deeply embedded into the ground. Their shells did not last three seconds before being torn apart. Their purple juices seeped into the ground. Their entire body turned into a smashed patty.

It wasn’t only them.

The entire city experienced a high magnitude earthquake. The establishments fell to the cracks on the ground. Nothing was spared.

Nothing.

In exchange for it, seventy-five percent of my spiritual qi is gone. Add the ten percent from earlier, I am down to fifteen percent.

A sense of fatigue appeared on my body. It is further amplified by my metaphysical dantian and spiritual qi flow. Everything feels very congested.

Only silence remained around me… which got broken soon.

“If I knew you are this excited, I would have brought out the emperors sooner.”

“Give me fifteen minutes. I can fully recover in fifteen minutes.”

“...Okay.”

With Tesla’s words, I stood still three thousand meters above the ground. Spiritual qi kept on coming towards me.

Fifteen minutes later, the fatigue in my body, mind, and soul is gone.

Tesla must have seen my recovery. A huge silhouette made of dark blue light appeared on the ruined city below. The light dissipated soon after, revealing its true appearance.

It is in the shape of a bull with tusks on its front. It has a tail on its back. Its black shell coupled with blue light pointed out its identity.

The very source of Kaslana genes, the emperor-class honkai beast who got abused the most.

Parvati.

Chapter 76: A Step Towards...

Anti-Entropy, Salt Lake Base.

The existence of honkai is spread throughout this base. Laboratories experimenting with it have to be built in deep earth layers for precaution. In case something goes wrong, its impact can be isolated. It won’t trigger the satellites placed by their rival organization, Schicksal.

Unbeknownst to all, a brand new energy introduced infinite possibilities with the honkai.

“This reminds me of that time. The reconstruction of your body.”

“It does…”

Welt was asked by Tesla to conduct weekly tests of his Herrscher Power. The recreation of his physical body during the second eruption pushed his Herrscher Power to a brand new level.

The three hundred thousand souls housed within the Herrscher Core collectively helped him to reconstruct every single detail of his body. Welt Yang’s will to protect humanity triggered that change.

Unfortunately, his improved Herrscher Core compatibility came with a price. His body bears injuries every time he uses the First Core’s power.

Immortal Cultivation changed that.

The metaphysical Jing (body dantian) puts the body in an optimal state. It rapidly healed the injuries his body sustained throughout the years. All of that with the cost of spiritual qi.

“Aside from reconstructing more complicated things, can you use that again?”

Welt Yang knew what she talked about. The most special state of the First Herrscher Core is to utilize the support of three hundred thousand souls to construct extremely complicated things. 

Above that would be to become the Herrscher of Truth, which was achieved by Bronya.

“I am not sure.”

“Well, it’s alright.” 

Tesla was reminded of something.

“About the kid… he sent a blood and tissue sample.”

He was slightly startled. Shi Tian made Welt Yang feel like he was talking to a mature adult, not a child. There must have been serious circumstances which forced him to mature. Perhaps it was the reason for being chosen by his Master.

“What did he say?”

“He wants to research its effects on people infected with honkai corruption. Einstein is already doing the starter work. No one else could work on it except for us.”

“Why?”

“It emits a sense of intimidation. His samples have a factor missing in ordinary humans. Only Valkyries… and you Herrschers have it.”

Welt Yang’s time wasn’t completely wasted. The three hundred thousand souls have various knowledge for him to study from. It wasn’t hard to have the foundation of biological science.

“Evolution?” He asked.

“Right. It’s the same attribute that sets you apart from humans.”

Anti-Entropy knew about the existence of the Honkai Gestalt, the so-called Will of Honkai. It is the mastermind and pushing force behind the movements of honkai on Earth.

Its dimensionality level is far higher than humans. That is the same gap Tesla and Einstein saw on Shi Tian’s samples, albeit far weaker.

Welt Yang sighed before speaking, “He mentioned the evolution of life with each realm progression. He must have reached the next realm.”

“Foundation Establishment? It’s theoretically comparable to the strongest A Rank Valkyries.”

The trio at Anti-Entropy studied the equivalents of immortal cultivators to Schicksal’s Valkyries. 

Early Stage Qi Refining Realm has physical strength comparable to B Rank Valkyries.

Middle Stage Qi Refining Realm did not differ much from B Rank Valkyries who fully utilized their Battlesuits.

Things change at the Late Stage. With a specific Cultivation Heart (Sword Heart; Spear Heart), spiritual consciousness can be used to mentally attack others. It can only be defended with mental-type honkai weapons and those with special practices (Blade Mantra).

A cultivator’s advantage reaches another level in Peak Stage. Shi Tian demonstrated how to beat a simulated Templar-class honkai beast with proper planning.

If it extends to their variants or multiple of them, Shi Tian can only run. Their strong outer shell, huge shield, and mobility is off the charts.

With Foundation Establishment, they theorized its capability to easily defeat Templar-classes.

“Oops! I should have invited him for another simulation!” 

Tesla faced Welt Yang as he placed his half-built Star of Eden inside a case.

“How’s your progress?”

“I am somewhere in the middle stage.”

“That fast?! I’m still in the early stage!”

*****

There are seven and a half cultivators including me. Fu Hua can be considered as half. She got her Sword Heart without being able to cultivate qi.

There are many reasons not to teach her for now. Her reliance on Otto is the biggest problem.

…

She’s here again.

Kiana is busy eating her food. We found a burger joint and she craved burgers. The numbers of trays stacked on our table covered the two of us.

My spiritual consciousness exited from the soles of my feet. It swiftly extended on the ground, taking up more than half of this city.

The vast spiritual consciousness of Foundation Establishment silently scanned everything.

Soon, I found the source of our gaze. The gray-haired, blue eyes, future Class Rep of St. Freya: Fu Hua. She is literally sitting in a cafe across from us.

Since we came across her in that village, I knew things would be like this. I am more than confident she, or rather, Otto would leave Kiana untouched. 

He said it himself in the game. He is a reasonable villain. The plans of these villains are somewhat predictable, more so when I knew Otto Apocalypse’s goal.

He wouldn’t make a move unless there is a certain chance. He hasn’t come in contact with the Second Divine Key. The world bubble inside Durandal is still a work-in-progress.

My best bet is him assigning someone to keep a track on Kiana’s movements.

I retracted my spiritual consciousness. The information I got using it turned into rapidly-flashing images. 

My daze lasted for three seconds before recovering.

I should have used the [Encompassing Eyes].

I wouldn’t need to recover like this with it active. 

What a rookie mistake.

“What’s wwong?”

“Swallow your food before speaking.”

“Um.”

A second later, a huge chunk of meat went to Kiana’s stomach.

“Is there something? You used your spiritual consciousness just now.”

“Nothing. I thought I detected a sign of honkai eruption or something.”

With some reassurance, Kiana carried on eating.

“How are Seele and Bronya? The things given by your technique increased by a lot. I feel like I’d only need three more weeks to break through!”

“They made progress in the late stage.”

“That fast?!”

Bronya and Seele took a month and a half to reach the middle stage; two months to complete it. Their cultivation experience is smoother than our early days. The late second grade spiritual milk plus my “Gift of Tao” helped them greatly.

I can only wait until Kiana, Bronya, and Seele reach Foundation Establishment for their “Gift of Tao” to be more effective.

“That’s it! Let’s not go out for strolls until I reach the next realm!”

Looking at her burning eyes, I can already foresee the upcoming days.

Chapter 75: Sword's Sparks

It is more tiring than I thought.

The engraving of Tao Patterns into the soul burdens the mind. One session of it is heavier compared to a session of [Xinhai Sutra]. 

I opened my eyes. The entire room is dark. I leaned up from the couch. Across the room, Kiana is already sleeping on the bed.

The time…

1:15 AM.

…

I spent more than three hours in one session. I examined the state of my soul. Aside from the extremely tiny golden patterns, there is nothing else.

I might need to wait until the burden wears off before I can see the improvements.

For now…

I will continue cultivation.

Foundation Establishment makes numerous things convenient. The [Ten Directions Body Art], for instance, requires two hours of continuous movements to complete a session.

There is a new operation in this new realm. The spiritual qi circulation within my body can be sped up and be done in bursts to create physical strain. It is basically tiring one's physical body and letting it recover through spiritual qi.

The best part about [Ten Directions Body Art] is that once my body's accustomed to it, my physical recovery will be altered to be able to increase body cultivation realm, thus achieving the effect above. With that, two hours’ worth of work is shortened to fifteen minutes.

Truly a broken technique.

The same goes to the other two techniques. There’s nothing to say with [Xiutian Art]’s cultivation while in a sleeping posture. [Xinhai Sutra] is no longer limited to puzzles. The usage of [Encompassing Eyes] to analyze things has the same effect in tempering the mind.

The [Toushen Manual]’s physical movements are completely removed. I can do it in whatever position I like. Its time is also shortened from six to three minutes.

Of course, I abused these improvements very well. I open my [Encompassing Eyes] during the training of [Ten Directions Body Art] or [Toushen Manual]. It turned a session into a two-in-one deal.

Unfortunately, my mind is too fatigued by the [Clear Apertures Manual]. I can’t operate [Xinhai Sutra] today.

I started operating [Toushen Manual] while sitting. I figured it is the best for warm ups.

Three minutes later, a gust of wind originated from my body. It spread out to the surroundings.

Fwoosh-!

My mind felt a bit lighter. This is one of the hacks I discovered months ago. [Toushen Manual] has a refreshing effect on the body and mind. If I use it while resting, I can recover faster than just sleeping.

Spamming it is my new strategy. I can recover while strengthening my high grade Spirit Roots.

Once I recovered, I started off with the [Ten Directions Body Art]. It has no requirements for physical postures. I did it while sitting.

By the time I finished my routine, it was already 4:00 AM. My mind is very active. I did not need to sleep at all—another perk of Foundation Establishment.

Nevertheless, I can cultivate qi while sleeping.

Operating my qi cultivation technique…

Choosing a comfortable posture…

My mind is soon engulfed by darkness.

*****

“Tsk. #%@^ ^ 2@!$# %!#@#&1.”

I am greeted by a voice in a foreign language.

Confusion swept through my very being. I put it under my mind swiftly. Not much time passed, around a second or two.

My thought processes are exceedingly fast.

An extremely cold place. The ground is filled with snow. Broken buildings could be seen everywhere. What’s strange is they are… blurred. It is not a problem with my eyes.

I tried to use my spiritual consciousness but to no avail.

Hm…

I stood up from the ground.

“@#% 7%6’& %9 #@4!?”

The same voice rang out, as if asking something.

My eyes focused at its source: a huge middle-aged man. His body is very bulky, only falling short on Baki and the likes. He wore a mask on his face. I can feel his anger seeping from his eyes.

My mind fell silent.

…

What?

That person… he’s more than familiar.

The snarky and impatient Flamechaser, Kalpas!

While I stood in shock, his entire body blitzed straight to me. His movements are quite hard to follow. I urged my body to move, but to no avail. I felt glued in place.

A lot of things… questions popped up.

Why the hell am I dreaming about Kalpas?

BAM-!

The strike sent out by his right arm caused everything to turn dark. 

*****

I woke up to the familiar hotel ceiling.

The dream from before...

What the fuck was that?

Why did I dream of fighting Kalpas? He's deader than dead. Even the language he spoke of... it's something I never heard.

What is wrong with me..?

I decided to check my body using spiritual consciousness.

My body is fatigued. My mind feels a bit heavy, too.

This tiredness prompted my spiritual qi to operate. It began to supplement the fatigue. It is being consumed at a steady rate.

My soul… 

The golden Tao Patterns glowed slightly brighter than last night. My mind is tired, yet some inspirations are appearing now and then. It is the feeling of realizing something.

Soon, I figured out what happened.

My soul became stronger. The limits of my singular dantian increased. My [Sword Nurturing Pagoda] became stronger as well.

What the hell…

“You’re already awake!”

“Hum?”

I snapped out. Kiana is staring at me curiously. She is wearing a brand new set of clothes. The towel on her head suggests she finished taking a shower.

The time…

8:30 AM.

“You’re the only one who overslept this time. That’s new!”

I cast a cleaning spell on my entire body. When I walked over to her, she sat down on the bed. Kiana took off the towel on her head.

I sat behind her and began styling her braids.

Swoosh-!

One tap from my finger caused her wet hair to dry. Water droplets floated before dissipating.

“Where should we go to breakfast?” I asked her.

“Remember the breakfast place we saw along the way?”

“The place with fried dough sticks?”

“Yes!”

*****

The legend of the Celestial has been widely spread in Shenzhou. The passage of time is enough to propagate history as mere legends. There are some who went as far as differentiating the Celestial from Jingwei, which is completely untrue.

Its origins, Mount Taixuan, has been turned into an enclosed scenic spot. The government of Shenzhou prohibited any hikers and trespassers… except for official personnel.

Who could have known that one of these officials is the Celestial herself?

“The sword array is stronger. The mind seals…”

Fu Hua was very conflicted about her experience. She ended up telling Otto about the  mysterious swordsman and Kiana Kaslana. Fu Hua saw her appearance during Otto's experiments.

As for the experience of regaining [Eminence], she did not.

That’s how she treated Otto. He is both a friend and an enemy. The number of unethical things he did numbered hundreds, if not thousands. Fu Hua kept a blind eye to it.

Since the betrayal of her disciples, she changed her plans. The appearance of Chi You and the betrayal convinced her that sharing advanced knowledge would only lead to the pre-mature appearance of the Final Herrscher.

Fu Hua took Otto’s help. She followed his orders in exchange for Shenzhou's protection against the honkai. She is better suited to follow orders. 

It was once like that; and it is like that now.

She turned a blind eye on Fire MOTH’s flaws; she did it again with Otto.

Nothing has changed.

Nothing.

In search of everything, she gained nothing. 

Time had proven her helplessness again and again.

She can’t do anything right. It is far better to follow the orders of someone more capable—to disregard her very own morality and thoughts.

Such an act could bring a better chance against the honkai. Otto Apocalypse is simply a replacement for Doctor MEI. All she had to do was to follow orders and fight against the honkai.

“...Why is it different now?”

Fu Hua could not understand the Sword Heart’s intentions. Its core purpose is to light up the strongest feeling within oneself—to rouse a sharp and indomitable spirit that will never lose sight of its goal.

Unfortunately, time dealt a huge blow to her. Fu Hua could not gain the same pure impulse as Shi Tian. She could not recall her memories beyond the second eruption, but it did nothing to her worn-out mind and body.

The Sword Heart is merely a spark. Turning it into a blazing flame depends on its holder.

Fu Hua stood still on a mountain path. The ‘sword arrays’ she updated flew towards the sky. They will serve as the sentries to protect the vicinity of Mount Taixuan.

“Am I doing everything right..?”