Eugene and Czeslaw stepped through the purple portal and into the Dawn and Dusk Sect. They floated up towards an enormous central orb positioned in the center of the entire sect, Czeslaw noting with pride that his “son” had already figured out Hibiscan flying.
In order to be ordained as a Sect Elder, one first had to ascend to the Purple Realm. Following that, the cultivator would have to pass a few basic tests, including a check to make sure no demonic cultivation methods had been used. The main event was a trial by combat, to make sure the cultivator’s abilities were on par with what was expected from an Elder.
The demonic cultivation screening was the only part that concerned Eugene. He was more than powerful enough to prove himself in the required fight, and in fact the main issue was making sure not to reveal his true strength.
Eugene’s Hibiscan soul was thoroughly tainted by demonic cultivation. He had killed billions to gain enough energy to create Kevin’s License Plate. Even ignoring that, the foul cultivation techniques he had used to reach Eugene rank stained his soul. He was lucky that the enchanted hibiscuses around the Bielszowicki clan’s estate weren’t able to detect that, because otherwise he would have been found out. No, the ritual to detect demonic cultivators was costly to set up and took hours.
But Eugene had already begun the process of cleansing his soul. In the years leading up to his traveling through time, he realized that he actually had a distaste for demonic cultivation, almost wishing that he had never done so. That was when he began to purify his soul, but the process was slow, and he had accomplished little.
Right now, Eugene needed to fully cleanse his soul or else be exposed as a demon cultivator. There was no easy way to do this. His first thought was to enter the timeless realm and take what would be years if not decades of time in there. And even then, that might not fully finish the process. No, there was only one way to do it. And that was to burn some of Kevin’s License Plate.
He slipped into the timeless realm and took hold of the artifact. Eugene had stored the plate there so that he didn’t have to keep it on his person at all times. He pulled on its energy, coaxing the power out of it. There was only 4% left, and Eugene drained a full percent of it to finish the purification process. Left with only 3% of the artifact, Eugene left the timeless realm.
3% was not very much. It was enough for traveling a few years backwards or forwards in time. If used as a weapon, it would probably kill a Eugene-rank cultivator but merely severely weaken one of Kambili rank. The limited power in the plate left Eugene with few options. Still, it was better than nothing, and would likely end up saving his life at some point.
Eugene and Czeslaw flew into the floating sphere, a hole appearing in it for them and closing back up once they were through. A group of Sect Elders were there, wearing cloaks and shrouded in shadow. Apparently Czeslaw had already called upon them.
He clasped Eugene’s shoulder.
“I never thought this day would be so soon. Make me proud.”
He turned and walked away.
Eugene faced the panel of Elders. The one in the middle spoke.
“Grzegorz Bielszowicki. After your sudden ascendance to the Purple Realm, you stand eligible for admittance as a Sect Elder. Your soul will be tested for any impurities caused by demonic cultivation. Do you consent?”
“I do,” said Eugene.
He still needed to remove Grzegorz’s soul. He had taken care of that cultivator’s mind, but his soul lay intact in case it needed to be used further. Quickly, Eugene dissipated the other man’s soul, and absorbed its paltry energy into his much stronger and more vibrant soul.
All at once, the Elders and the table they were seated at vanished. Eugene could make out a stone plinth that had appeared behind where the Elders used to be. He walked there, and with a moment of hesitation, lay atop it. He let himself succumb to the overwhelming drowsiness that fell upon him once he laid down.
Eugene opened his eyes to find himself in a desolate, flat plain of stone. He turned around and was momentarily blinded by the light of the Dawn Sun crawling past the horizon. In that brief moment of incapacitation, Eugene was attacked by a masked assassin.
He just barely rolled out of the way and got up as another assassin swung a blade at him. Eugene materialized his own sword out of Hibiscan energy and blocked the attack. The two assassins circled around him, looking for any weakness in his stance. Eugene chose to form a second blade in his left hand.
The assassins, one in a blue shroud and one in a red one, charged. Eugene blocked and parried, not even bothering to try to go on the offensive. They were simply too fast. Both of them had absurdly fast reflexes and fought with a wild frenzy. Eugene could only barely hold them at bay.
He was losing ground to them, in fact. He would eventually slip and make a mistake under their combined assault. And after that happened, it would be over. Eugene mentally locked in.
Eugene was so focused he almost didn’t notice the third. As the sun reached its zenith, a purple-cloaked assassin fell from the sky, sword pointed down at Eugene’s head. Eugene waited for just the right moment, when the blue and red fighters were interlocked with both his blades and the purple’s sword was inches away from his head.
“Dimension Expulsion,” said Eugene.
All four were encased in a sphere. Within it, the stone ground turned vantablack and the sky became a dusty gray. The three attackers were frozen in place. Or, not quite. They were moving, just extremely slowly. Such was their speed that they were only partially affected by the effect of his Dimension.
The purple-cloaked made a feeble attempt to swing its sword at Eugene, but he merely stepped to the side to avoid it. Eugene reached up and threw off the mask. Its skin was made of stone.
Eugene delivered a flurry of blows to each stone assassin until they crumbled. He let his Dimension Expulsion crack and break apart.
Eugene felt a tinge of pain. Glancing down at his left hand, he saw a small cut. Huh, so one of them had nicked him, he just didn’t notice it in the heat of combat.
He looked to the horizon. The sun was only half visible, its light dimming every second.
When its last light winked out, the world dissipated into smoke.
The smoke dispersed, revealing several masked and shrouded Sect Elders surrounding Eugene in a circle.
“Impressive,” one remarked.
“To have already learned the basic Dimension Expulsion,” another said.
“Proven not to be a fraud after all,” commented a third voice.
They turned into smoke and vanished.
Eugene woke up. He was alone, in a plain bed in a room made entirely out of stone, with a door facing the bed.. He got up and glanced at his left hand. The cut was there. So it had been real, at least in some capacity. He let Hibiscan energy flow through his skin, healing the cut. He felt his reserves of Hibiscan energy were noticeably lower than before the ritual. His Dimension Expulsion must have been real, for what else could have caused that?
Eugene had made the correct decision in holding back. He had only used the basic Dimension Expulsion, called a Vantablack Dimension, the one that was the same for all Purple Realm cultivators. It sent the user and anyone within a ten foot radius into another dimension, which allowed the user to apply an effect to anyone within it, of which slowing their movements was one of them. It was easily countered, though. Any skilled cultivator would respond with their own Vantablack Dimension, which would cause them to cancel out and break apart.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Eugene had refrained from using his real Dimension Expulsion.
Every cultivator, once advanced enough, could tinge the Vantablack Dimension with his own flavor of Hibiscan essence. This was what created a true Dimension.
During the dream test, he had been very careful to keep himself to only a standard Vantablack Dimension because using his real Dimension Expulsion would have revealed his true power level.
Even given the fact that it was known that “Grzegorz” had discovered a Hibiscan secret that caused him to advance in cultivation so quickly, it would be suspicious if he pulled out advanced techniques that he supposedly would only have had hours to develop. He couldn’t use his true Dimension Expulsion until a few weeks had passed and it would be plausible that he had developed one.
Some might call this extreme cautiousness paranoia. But Eugene’s main concern was simply not being found out as Eugene. A cultivator climbing six ranks in a day was highly suspicious. There were countless whispers of Eugene’s return, and what if someone had the idea that Grzegorz became so powerful because he had been taken over by Eugene?
It was the talk of the entire Hibiscan world that the Seven Sevens had aligned. That theory had first been born in the aftermath of Eugene's sixth fight with Bartłomiej Mroczek, leader of the Dawn and Dusk Sect. It had been yet another draw. As the two cultivators parted ways, Eugene shouted “I will return for the seventh, and be victorious!”.
Eugene’s actions and their aftermath further supported the theory. Firstly, Eugene won that seventh fight. Secondly, patterns of seven continued to appear. Seven billion that died to create Kevin’s License Plate. Seven Holy Hibiscan Sects in alliance against Eugene. Seven thousand killed by Eugene’s artifact. Seven students of Eugene, each of whom led each of the seven Sleeper Sects set up by Eugene that wreaked havoc in his absence.
And lastly, seven hundred years since Eugene vanished. The Hibiscan world was watching and waiting. It was all based on a schizophrenic theory that Eugene would return after the seventh seventh, but such was their fear of him that they thought it might be true anyways.
Eugene had to be very careful indeed.
All this he thought while still in the stone room. He opened the door and walked out.
The door turned out to be hundreds of feet off the ground, in an enormous chamber. Eugene slowed his speed and greeted the three people waiting for him. Firstly, his “father”.
“Congratulations,” said Czeslaw.
He was holding the traditional Sect Elder robes, and walked behind Eugene to put them on him.
Czeslaw was wearing the ceremonial robes of the Dusk subsect. The Dawn and Dusk Sect had three leaders for each of the Dawn, Dusk, and Moon subsects.
“Thank you,” replied Eugene.
“We’ll reveal the Hibiscan secret to them now,” he whispered.
Eugene understood Czeslaw’s decision. It was necessary to tell the other sect leaders about Eugene’s discovery, else they would have conspired against them. Still, Eugene was frustrated that he had let the situation develop to this point. His monopoly on the solution to the Kevinian Conjectures had disappeared.
A stone round table with four seats surrounding it rose from the ground. Eugene and the subsect leaders sat down.
“Congratulations on becoming a sect elder,” said the leader in a cloak with the rising dawn sun emblazoned on it.
“I give you my compliments too. I believe you’re the youngest person to ever become such in Hibiscan history,” said the leader in a black cloak with a symbol of a moon on it.
The Dawn and Dusk Sect contained the moon subsect, though it didn’t have it in the name. The reason was that the Moon subsect operated purely in the shadows, and outsiders knew nearly nothing about it.
“Grzegorz,” said Czesław, “explain the solution to the Kevinian conjectures.”
Well, he was getting straight to the point.
“It’s surprisingly simple,” said Eugene.
“Despite the ancient demon cultivator” (Eugene typically was not referred to by name) “ripping a piece of the Holy Book out, I pieced together what it was. Kevin’s main duties for Eugene were all related to transportation. He was Eugene’s driver, after all. But, of course, he couldn’t carry out those duties unless he was identified as such. I realized it was odd that the very thing that affirmed his status as a legal driver was missing.”
“Kevin’s License Plate,” said Eugene, though of course he didn’t put any power of Kevin’s License Plate into his statement.
The sect leaders were frozen in place. Finally, the Moon Leader spoke.
“Astonishing.”
“A once in a generation talent,” said the Dawn Leader.
“Explain further,” said Czeslaw.
“Yes, well, the license plate number is ENU-506OB. I stumbled across it during a fractal dive. I then proved the Kevinian Conjectures. It was trivial to do so, even.”
The Dawn and Moon leaders were clearly not fully there, their minds too occupied with thoughts of how this would impact cultivation.
“We’ll have to leave to think about this. But know this: The Dawn and Dusk Sect owes you a great debt.” said the Dawn Leader as he got up and left. The Moon Leader followed.
Czeslaw walked out too, Eugene close behind.
“I, too, will retreat to my meditation cave. I have much to think about regarding Kevin’s License Plate. It is likely that either myself or one of the other Leaders will obtain the Blue Dragon within a few days. I trust you to handle the affairs of the Bielszowicki Clan. Oh, and I advise that you test your mettle in the fighting rings. You need some real combat experience.”
Eugene gave a curt nod.
The wide hole they were in had a large opening leading out of it. As Eugene and Czeslaw left, Eugene turned around to see that it was a floating orb of stone that vanished as soon as Eugene stepped off it. Czeslaw flew like a bullet towards the Bielszowicki Clan house, while Eugene drifted down to the massive sphere that was the central hub of the Dawn and Dusk clan.
Eugene’s thoughts moved to the dragons. Czeslaw was correct in his assessment, one of the leaders probably would soon attain the Blue Dragon.
Oh, how he missed their circling around his body, filling him with wisdom and strength. The Three Celestial Dragons were gifts from the gods. The Blue Dragon would go to the wisest Hibiscan cultivator, and grant them with vastly greater speed of thought and degree of memory recall, significantly increasing one’s intelligence. The Red Dragon would go to the strongest Hibsican cultivator, and greatly increase the quantity and power of their Hibiscan energy. If a cultivator possessed both dragons, then a third would appear.
The Purple Dragon granted the ability to see the future. It had perfect accuracy within five seconds, which essentially meant that any cultivator with it would always win a fight against any other lone cultivator. However, the accuracy of the foresight rapidly fell off as one looked further into the future. Motions got blurrier, and beyond a few hours, seeing the movements and locations of other entities was nearly impossible. At that point, the precognition offered only vague hints as to what would happen.
When Eugene had all three dragons seven hundred years ago, he had peeked into the far future on a number of occasions. The furthest he ever tried to look was five hundred years. It was incomprehensible. After days in a meditative state, he could just begin to make out a few events. He saw wars against demon cultivators, corresponding to what were called the Dark Age and Demon Age. He saw the Five-Headed Tortoise dominate the world, in what he learned was called the Tortoise Age. Next, he saw war to break that hegemony. And finally, he saw peace. But not just peace. The general concept of stagnation was the furthest out thing he could see before the visions were completely reduced to smoke.
Was the current Hibiscan world in a state of stagnation? It could be argued so. The rate of advancements in Purple Hibiscology had slowed. Several cultivators had reached the pinnacle of cultivation, peak tier of Kambili rank of the Purple Realm. And yet, no one had managed to go beyond that. Many suspected that true immortality lay beyond that barrier, for the lifespans of Kambilis were measured in hundreds of years but still finite.
Eugene was jolted out of his thinking by Grzegorz’ old friends.
“Eugene, over here!” yelled Wang.
Him and Mieszko were waving at him.
“I can’t believe it’s true!” exclaimed Mieszko.
Both stared in astonishment at Eugene’s Sect Elder robes.
“I discovered a Hibiscan secret in the Holy Book,” said Eugene, “one that will revolutionize the world. My ascension to the Purple Realm is just the beginning.”
“Walk with me,” Eugene said, “to the training rooms near the fighting pits. We’ll spar, and I’ll show you some tips.”
Overcome with gratitude, Wang and Mieszko could not speak, but only follow Eugene, crossing bridge after bridge to reach an enormous sphere, one of the largest in the entire sect.
It was orbited by hundreds of smaller orbs, each of which was an individual fighting arena. As a Sect Elder, Eugene would have privileges in deciding which arena to use. He could pick a premium arena to take Wang and Mieszko to.
They crossed onto the large fighting sphere, walking onto the central area where people converged. There were massive screens displaying ongoing spars and others that tallied up wins and losses of certain combatants.
However, the most powerful Sect Elders tended to fight without a corresponding livestream to avoid exposing their abilities.
Eugene smelled energy in the air.
Lightning arced, penetrating the night bubble around the sect and landing in the center of the courtyard. The electricity was withdrawn in and then dissipated, revealing an imposing figure whose Hibiscan energy indicated he was of Kambili rank.
He wore white robes and had electric blue hair with two buns. He was unmistakably Kash, the leader of the Boiling Water Sect! Kash’s sect was among the most powerful of the Fourth Jade Alliance, and centered around the study of Eugene (Achike, from the Holy Book).
“Hey, Grzegorz!” Kash of the Imo Clan shouted.
“Let’s spar!”