“You were injured, so..." Her voice trailed off. This situation was too bizarre.
“So, I’m covered in flowers because I was injured? First of all, I feel fine. Second of all, what do flowers have to do with any of what you just said? I need you to be transparent with me. Have I been kidnapped? Because if so, I need you to know that I have no money whatsoever, and neither does my family.”
“No, no, no, Sylvia brought you here for me to heal your soul.”
“My soul? How come my soul was injured?”
“Apparently you suffered from the backlash of heavy mental manipulation. You needed immediate assistance. The flowers are a part of the healing process I put you through.
“Right, right, the mental manipulation—how could I forget about being forced against my will to wreak havoc in the Lokola Empire? That definitely happened, and I feel very bad about it!” Samuel was panicking! Things did not seem to be how they were the last time, making his situation and future uncertain. Not only that, but he was also feeling odd, both mentally and physically. He was experiencing slight whispers and a tingling in his body unlike any he had ever experienced before. “The whispers I can attribute to the Mortal’s Ascent technique since it is imprinted in my mind, but what is wrong with my body? It's sort of similar to the effect of the Wheel of Pain and Happiness, I guess? Oh, is that it? That guy did say that all of those spins would be distributed at the same time. Wait, I had 99 spins remaining; then how powerful is my body now?"
Unlike his normal self, who was capable of thinking at thousands of times the speed of normal cultivators, he was stuck thinking at the speed of a mortal. Or certain mortals. That is to say, this tiny inner monologue took way longer than it should, making Lilly both freaked out and worried about him. “Are you okay?" she asked carefully.
“Hmm? Oh, yes, of course I am. I was simply reflecting on what had happened. Although I was forced, it is still no excuse for my actions. You know what? I feel so bad that I think I should probably go and leave you out of the wake of destruction that follows me. Thank you for healing me; I really appreciate it."Samuel was off. Off into a world of inexperienced interactions and mysteries. His cultivation journey begins—cough, let’s not say that again. Once was more than enough.
After about 20 minutes of walking, however, Samuel realized a problem with his plan: they were in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing but plants and shit all around him. How was he, a mortal state cultivator, supposed to get away?
“This was not a great plan, was it? Is my new body worthless or what?” The ability to think is the most powerful and important tool known to man. His thoughts were made into reality the second he thought about the new body he presumably should have.
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“Boom!”
A region of unknown size erupted into a massive explosion, sending all the greenery far into the air. The center of the explosion? You guessed it; it was Samuel. His feet, from out of nowhere, erupted with an ungodly amount of power. It was so ungodly, in fact, that it launched him thousands of kilometers into the air. Samuel was clueless about what just happened, but one thing he knew for certain was that what goes up must also come down. His plummet was inevitable.
“At least it’s not an ocean this time.” There was no happiness after discovering his new power, only melancholy at his dreadful fate. Do not ask how he knew, but he was certain he would not get away with destroying this place. From his vantage point, he could tell he blew up an entire island, Lilly’s Island. A healer as powerful as her must possess both tangible and intangible power. According to his haphazard estimates, his power now lay at the bottom of the Enlightenment stage, making him a lamb waiting to be slaughtered by the big, tall, strong, talented, and very handsome wolves roaming the land. At least, that’s what he’ll say when begging becomes his only option.
And indeed, his thoughts were spot on. From the distance, moving through matter like fish in water, there were hundreds, nay, thousands of auras reaching the peak of the enlightenment stage, and one surpassing it. A pressure so suffocating it stopped Samuel’s fall covered him, making his slow trail of thoughts even slower. This bunch of ants, all of whom he could have instantly annihilated in his hayday, were now humiliating him. He, Samuel, the greatest or second-greatest being to ever exist, will not stand for this.
“Detain him now! How dare this miscreant defy the land of the Overlord Sect!?”
"Of course it’s the Overlord Sect who shows up.” Samuel became even more upset. This backwater sect that held itself so far above the rest of the realm dared to show up at this moment. What about all of the shadow organizations and cults present in the Shattered Realm? Yet, instead of dealing with them, they rather opt to send thousands of apax cultivators to detain a little and lost boy. He was disgusted, to say the least. Definitely not afraid, though, only disgusted.
A grid of chains moved to cover the air around him in the form of a sphere, separating him from the Heavens and their energy. Had this been a normal cultivator, then it would have crippled them, but Samuel was no normie. Hell, he was not technically a cultivator! If anything, this separation from the Heavens felt liberating, like returning home from a long trip. His path was never one of the Heavens, yet it did not share his view. It wanted him, and it wanted him badly. It could sense traces of his potential, causing it to apply its goading power upon him. Or, as normal people would say, it was threatening him. But now, this threat is gone. His not really ladened back straightened out as bits and pieces of energy unknown began to surge in the chain sphere. It was not long before it found its target; the ignorant figure stood still in the center of its vortex. In massive amounts, it rushed towards Samuel’s body. It was moving with such speed that the entire Shattered Realm began to tremble. Cracks were forming in its very origin, hurting all the living creatures sharing its origins. This naturally applied to the assailants of the Overlord Sect as well.
The seal began to crumble while the Heavens tried to exert its influence over its domain to control the energy. Yet, it was to no avail. Instead, the formation of energy only increased the more the Heavens attempted to interfere, and it was not long before its range covered more than a million of the Shattered Realm. As the energy was about to surge in the direction of Samuel, erasing everything in its way, it and Samuel both vanished into thin air, leaving nary a trace.