There were few things that were as exciting as the tomb when he first made his way into it, but the glamour had faded after his third visit. The most hateful creature that he knew resided within the damp cave that resided underneath a river, after all. It’d be difficult to say he liked visiting the place, but he often had to do just that.

Keeping the expensive ring on his person proved to be a problem, as he could easily get robbed of it and it could possibly be flashy.

Thus, anytime he wanted to practice the third Qi Technique, he had to come to the tomb.

“Don’t bother. It’s impossible to learn that as you are now,” said the Shadow, floating next to him with arms crossed as Adrian held the Jade Slip in his hand.

It was very much like a scroll made of jade, foldable due to masterful craftsmanship that let it act like chainmail. The text upon it was a magnificent golden color and they let out a warm glow.

“I’ll never know until I try,” said Adria and focused his eyes on the scroll, but was halted by the Shadow’s hand slipping between him and the slip.

“Do you desire to be a cripple so much? The information held within this slip is a hundred times greater than the previous two combined. Your head will explode,” grumbled the Shadow, and by the time it was out of his way, the Jade Slip was gone from his hand.

How did it-

“Give it back,” hissed Adrian.

“I’m telling you that your brain will melt if you do that,” grumbled the Shadow and threw the Jade Slip back at him, “I don’t care if you die or live, but I’d rather see through your eyes until the moment you die in the hands of a worthy foe rather than rot in this cave until your demise that will come in a century.”

His brain would melt.

“Stubborn brat, your mother is alive and well within me. So why bother, if it is revenge you want?” it asked and raised a finger. Atop his fingertip manifested a smoky, dark sphere the size of a glass ball used by fake clairvoyants, “Look.”

Within the ball, Adrian could see the visage of his mother sitting in a dark street amid the mud as it rained, a torn blanket over her. She shuddered and the lively look that she always donned in life was gone, only an empty gaze that stared down at the ground present on her face.

“If you join her, then she wouldn’t be in such a pathetic state,” said the Shadow and let the ball dissipate.

“If that was your attempt at persuading me, then I’ll have to say that you’re bad at it,” said Adrian and gave him a thumbs-down.

“What’s wrong with you?!” roared the Shadow as its size grew larger, enough to match a house, and then almost touched his nose with its face. It poured out its Killing Instinct, and despite the massive difference between Tristan and it, the Shadow’s Killing Intent did nothing to Adrian.

He wasn’t afraid of it.

But more importantly, the Shadow’s tone was different from before.

While it had been full of pride and a mocking attitude before, it almost seemed desperate now: it was music to Adrian’s ears.

“I want to become immortal,” said Adrian and stuck out his tongue, “Too bad. You’re never coming back to life.”

“I swear I’ll tear your mother limb from limb!” shouted the Shadow, “And I’ll let you hear her as she pleads for mercy. But she’ll get none. All because of you!”

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“She’s dead,” said Adrian, a small frown on his face.

“She’s inside me. You saw her!” hissed the Shadow.

“But she’s dead,” he said.

“I’ll-” it started but it lost its motivation halfway through, let out a deep sigh, and slunk back down to its original size, which was that of a regular human, and its tone become weaker, almost frail, “It’s impossible to become Perpetual. Many have tried before you, and all of them failed.”

“Even so, I’ll become Perpetual. I told you, didn’t I?” he asked.

“Why?” it asked, almost a moan compared to its tone before.

“Because I don’t want to die,” said Adrian, “I know that even if I become a part of you and join my mother in that world, I’ll die at some point. I’ll die and become nothing. I’ll never think again and I’ll just be… gone. Doesn’t that terrify you? The fact that you’ll simply stop existing, once and for all after you die. Even if I reincarnate, that person won’t be me. If I die, Adrian Anderson will cease to exist.”

An uneasy silence choked all the sound in the cavern for a few moments.

“And I get a feeling that cultivating out here gives me more of a chance to reach Perpetuity than being stuck inside you,” said Adrian and shrugged, “That’s all there is to it. I don’t want to die.”

“That’s absurd. All men are fated to die,” said the Shadow.

“Yet we go against the heavens and try to achieve both immortality and martial prowess, do we not? We push on, despite the Heavenly Tribulations threatening to strike us down. Isn’t that because all Cultivators are stubborn?” asked Adrian and sat down on a nearby pile of gold and crystals, “Didn’t you achieve that fake immortality of yours by being stubborn as well?”

“Stubbornness and idiocy aren’t one and the same!” shouted the Shadow, “To dream of immortality is a goal, but to dream of Perpetuity is nothing but audacity!”

“Where do you draw the line?” asked Adrian.

The Shadow didn’t give him an answer.

“Where do you draw the line between the possible and the impossible?” he clarified, but got no answer again, “Just a year ago, I dreamed of becoming a Cultivator. My father had all the riches in the world, and yet he couldn’t buy me that. It was impossible. For someone without talent like me, it wasn’t even in the realm of possibility.”

Adrian paused for a bit, waiting for its input, and continued after he heard none.

“When I was on the verge of dying after being beaten up by Cultivators and half of my spine was gone, even the greatest physicians in the city said that I wouldn’t survive for more than a week. Yet here I am, alive and a Cultivator. Both things were supposedly impossible. Isn’t it funny?” he asked, “That’s why I believe in the impossible. Because I know that it’s possible.”

“You’re a fool,” said the Shadow after the speech.

“Father called me a fool for wishing to become a Cultivator as well,” said Adrian.

“This is not the same,” grumbled the Shadow.

“But it is,” said Adrian.

“Bah, hateful brat. There’s no reasoning with you!” shouted the Shadow and it flew away.

It was ignoring him now.

Good for him.

The treasure trove was indeed massive, and he could put all the crystals within it into his Spatial Ring if he wished to, but that would cause problems. The volume here was massive and there were crystals of colors that he didn’t know, possibly far more expensive than the colors that he knew.

After all, the Shadow was from the Central Continent and they most probably used more expensive crystals.

But his eyes were on the single Spatial Ring that he’d never opened before: the one that contained weapons.

It was pitch black save for a red ruby, which made it special from among all the rings. While all the others were simple signet rings, this one alone had a precious gem on it.

He slid it onto his hands and closed his eyes, instantly accessing the space within. He could feel everything inside it, as if he had put a hand into his pockets and was looking for something inside it.

The Shadow’s words were true.

There was no sword save for one, all the others daggers. He didn’t bother to unload the daggers and simply chose the sword, and then had it manifest.

The rich Qi in the atmosphere shot away from him, causing a gust of wind to blow as the weapon formed within his hand: it was a longsword with a dim red handle with a pommel that looked like a red crystal.

It was unusually simple-looking.

“That’s just a slightly durable sword. You’d do better if you buy your own,” said the Shadow from one corner of the room.

“I like it,” said Adrian as he looked at the sword that gleamed within his hand.

It was most definitely an Aural Weapon, as it looked magical, and it was modest enough to not draw the attention of others.

“Then take it. It’s just a trinket,” said the Shadow, still from afar.

“I was going to take it anyways,” thought Adrian, and unlike before, the Shadow didn’t answer his thoughts.

Now, he had a sword.

So now, all he had to do was to learn it…

Which was the hardest part, even with Emma coaching him.