Emerging from his wormhole, Samuel appeared in front of a giant tear-like distortion in space. The distortion was in the myriad colors, spanning the entire spectrum for color, and even a little further.
“Indeed, all realms are different in appearance and origin, but look the same. There is virtually no visual difference between this realm and my Shattered Realm, only that the Shattered Realm is clearly a mere fragment of what it used to be. Let me not waste any time on this place, I still have lots of tests to conduct.”
Samuel approached the realm before him, before he attempted to enter. He was met with fierce resistance, however. The realm would not let just anyone enter. Unless one had its presence or something with it on their person, it would not allow them to pass.
“It is a powerful restriction indeed, but not powerful enough that I can’t breach it. The only problem is the repercussions this would have for the realm, and that it doesn’t really help me in my endeavor of entering the higher realm. The restrictions of the lower realms are presumably all at a high level of the Transcendence stage, meaning the possibility of me having a power sufficient to forcefully enter the higher realms will be near zero. Let me try something else.”
Method upon method were soon utilized in his attempt to enter the realm without forcing his way in. Yet, nothing he was doing had any effect. Not even the slightest of ripples emerged from the realm.
“This is too difficult. I might have to stay here for thousands of years at this rate before being allowed in. Potentially, if I bathe in the realm’s aura for long enough, I should be able to enter. This is still useless for my entry into the higher realm, as any of the passers by would be strong enough to erase me from existence. Theoretically, even with my time distortion, the risk would be too great. No, I need something else. A key of sorts. Maybe those clowns I encountered earlier have something like that, or I might be able to use the girl to enter directly. If this doesn’t work out, I’ll go back and cultivate.”
…
Voyaging through space in a giant pagoda-like building was Mortia. After experiencing defeat at the hands, or rather the tentacles, of the Chaoticas, she was exhausted. Who knew sealing your power would be so tiring? More so than the actual combat, the most tiring part was the fact she miscalculated how much she needed to seal her power. There is a power limit on the people descending to the lower dimensions from the higher ones, meaning you can’t surpass it without proper reason. She had wiggle room, but decided to play it safe with the rules and it caused her to be treated as a helpless child by that annoying bastard who helped her. She was infuriated at the thought of someone, who was not even at the stage which she was born at, had to help her because of her lack of insight. hehe
“His expression is stuck in my head! He looked at me as if he was a superior creature, but he is far from it!”
“Stop sulking, Mortia. Afterall, it was your fault he had to help you in the first place. Plus, with his talent and power, when he transcends, they will both improve by leaps and bounds, potentially making him a superior being to you. You should get used to the notion before that time comes.”
“You heard the geezer, I’m superior. And as your superior, I need something from you.”
Samuel, from a tiny distortion in space, emerged inside Mortia’s flying treasure. He managed to hear most of the conversation between the master and disciple from his spatial tunnel, creating this amazing entrance. Just because he was on a quest for revenge, doesn’t mean he would stop posturing when he can.
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“Boy, your back! You remembered my greatness and wanted to enter my tutelage, didn’t you? I nearly forgot how amazing I am. Great! You passed the entrance exam, and are now officially my, the Overlord of Time’s, newest disciple! Bow to your greatest master.”
Samuel was shocked at these shameless rambles coming from the Overlord of Time as he called himself. When did he express the intention to become his student? How come he can’t remember?
“What are you talking about, old man? I am here because I want something for entering the higher realms, not to become your disciple. What even gave you that impression? So, Mortia right? Do you have a key of sorts that can allow me to enter a higher realm?”
“A key to enter the higher realms? Yes, I do indeed have one, but it is extraordinarily precious. How can I just give it away to someone? This entire dimension might only be worth one or two of them. You don’t have anything to offer me in trade either. So, no. I won’t give you the key! Find your own!”
In a whispering tone similar to that of an enticing demon, the Overlord of Time started to goad Samuel.
“Psst! Samuel, I have a few of those keys you want just laying around here. They can all be yours if you choose to become my disciple. What do you say?”
“I would recommend not using this type of tone and volume when talking to people in the future, lest people think less of you. You sound…creepy. Also, you don’t have anything to teach me that I can’t teach myself.”
“Are you dense! Even if he is a little weird and annoying, this is the Overlord of Time you are talking to! Do you think you are superior to him? He is one of the most revered, respected and powerful people in the entire universe. The balls on you to insinuate he has nothing to teach you!”
“My comprehension of time is not shallow and is not something I need help improving. Seeing as this geezer is the Overlord of Time, time should be his focus. If I don’t need his help with this aspect, why would I impose his ridiculous morals and ideals upon myself for nothing? He can teach me lots, but I can do it better myself. Just because you can’t doesn’t mean I am the same as you, got it?”
“Now, now. Kids should be friendly with each other. Boy, even though you might have an understanding of time, it is definitely thousands of times lower than mine. Although you could succeed on your own, having me teach you would increase your progress by many folds, not to mention the techniques and other things I can teach you.”
“Do you want me to die of boredom and lack of stimulation? How can I just be babied into power? I need to do things myself, or there would be no point to cultivation.”
“Is that so? Not even the revenge you seek? The power you used earlier is that of the law of revenge; the purest I have ever witnessed. Do you not wish to take revenge more quickly?”
“Tell me this, is time distorted between the lower dimensions and the higher dimensions? Depending on your answer to this question, I will become your disciple or not.”
“There is indeed a distortion. About 100,000:1. Time passes much slower in the higher dimensions than here. Why should that matter?”
Samuel was not sure how he knew, but his instincts told him Earth was placed in a higher dimension. A dimension higher than where the higher realms are located, as magic and abilities seem almost nonexistent there. However not fully, because of the Sangulian. This indicates that the time distortion is going to be enormous. Even if he spends hundreds of thousands of years cultivating in the higher realm, no more than a few seconds might pass on Earth. Was it really worth throwing away all his happiness for rapid growth, when the speed of improvement did not matter much?
“Then, I am afraid I will have to decline your offer. Since you do not have any keys to spare, then I will take my leave. Goodbye”
Samuel, upon discovering his path, left as fast as he could to go and, ironically, cultivate. He would need to have adventures, fun and challenges on his path, or his existence after his revenge would be unenjoyable. Revenge was important, he was even willing to die for it, but he was unwilling to destroy his life for it. Dying was no big deal to Samuel, but living in eternal misery was.
“I feel that all I need to do in the True Cultivation stage is to strengthen and condense my core further. That is all. It will naturally require a lot of energy and time, but it is rather simple. I can feel that my hair has increased greatly in grade after unlocking my revenge rune. It should be possible for me to finish the entire stage in, at most, 10,000 years, or ten years Shattered Realm time. No time to lose then.”
Entering the time sphere, picking up the calendar and selecting a date exactly 10,000 years in the future, Samuel got ready to break through. Upon his awakening, it would be the time for his advancing to the Enlightenment stage. Apparently, that realm is special in its way to achieve it. He would need to acquire knowledge about the breakthrough, meaning that asking Mike was his best shot.
“Hopefully, in another 40,000 years, my time to ascend will be upon me. Wait. Now that I think about it, my slit-like rune is gone, replaced with that eye. Which was annoying since it caused me to hastily craft a wider blindfold. Now, my body can cultivate autonomously because of my hair, but will my time sphere not be able to improve without the rune? Looks like I need to figure out how the eye works before I continue to cultivate.”