“People truly are fickle sometimes.”
Walking through the wide corridors of the First Blank Citadel once more, Theresa noticed how almost every person she passed by looked at her with either scorn or arrogance written all over their faces. Some of them even went as far as to take delight in her current situation, prompting the woman to remind herself that she had done nothing wrong.
As far as she knew, she had done her job while sticking to the rules and regulations she had been given as much as possible, not even making use of technical loopholes in said rules to speed up the completion of her tasks even once. In fact, she was also confident that many of those that knew her would be able to vouch the same thing she was currently thinking.
Yet, that still did not answer the question why she was being called for.
And by the Director of the First Blank Citadel at that.
‘Did I accidentally do something wrong?’ asked Theresa to herself as seeds of doubt began to creep into her mind. Then again, those doubts disappeared as quickly as they appeared, slightly shaking her head to and fro as she hastened her pace.
Looking at the faces of the people that passed by her once more, it did not take much thought for her to understand what was going on in the minds of those she passed by, instantly thinking that the announcement was bad news after her name was mentioned. Though, with how the announcement was made just after the news of her successfully completing her quota spread throughout the citadel, Theresa wasn’t surprised if these people thought that she had completed her quota through illegal means.
After all, even she would have thought something bad happened if some other person was in her current situation.
“Guess I’ll obtain my answer sooner or later after I speak with the Director.” Letting out a slightly exasperated sigh, Theresa scratched the back of her head as she hastened her pace to the limits of what was permissible within the citadel, allowing her to arrive at her destination less than an hour later.
…
“And here I thought I’d only have to make a trip to the Director once before taking my leave.”
Standing in front of a normal-looking wooden door, Theresa felt an invisible pressure pushing down on her as beads of cold sweat gradually began to form on her forehead. Taking in a few deep breaths to compose herself, she then looked at the words written on the door to make sure she was in the right place.
“Salazar Heavenbane. Director of the First Blank Citadel,” she murmured to herself, letting out a long exhale in the process. “This is the place, alright.”
Continuing to stand before the door, Theresa gradually mustered up the courage to let her presence be known to the person on the outside. Though, just as she was about to knock, a deep yet stern voice echoed from the inside.
“Come in.”
“A-Alright.” At the moment she heard those words, Theresa began to feel an even greater pressure weighing down on her, forcing her to grit her teeth just so she didn’t succumb to it. Unfortunately, even though she was still holding on through sheer willpower, she was eventually forced to release a bit of her aura to counteract against the pressure, letting out a faint sigh of relief as she opened the door.
Creak…
Though, once the door was opened, it was as if the floodgates holding the invisible pressure back were removed, causing a strong burst of the pressure to head towards Theresa’s direction. Fortunately, before it could touch even a single hair on her body, the pressure disappeared in an instant, prompting the woman to focus her attention on the man before her.
“Theresa Grayheart… is that correct?”
Sporting a healthy head of silvery gray hair, the man briefly looked at the documents scattered all over his desk before looking directly at her. At that moment, the man’s handsome visage appeared before her in its entirety, briefly reminding Theresa why so many women in the citadel fawned over the existence that was the Director.
Then again, even she felt a slight inclination to follow whatever the man before her asked her to do. However, rather than give in to that feeling, it was instead greatly subdued due to multiple reasons. For one, the man before her stood at the peak of the First Blank Citadel in terms of authority, where any word he uttered would be carried out as if it were an imperial edict.
Aside from that, not only did the man before her stand at the peak in terms of authority, but he also stood at the peak of the First Blank Citadel in terms of power, being the only one within the citadel to have entered the illustrious True Heavenly Deity Realm. For reference, a gap of three realms stood between Theresa and the man before her.
In fact, that massive gap in power was the root cause of the invisible pressure that assailed her before she entered the room, having something to do with the laws and concepts that the man comprehended to get to where he currently was.
However, if one were to ask Theresa and many other people like her on the main reason why they feared the Director, none of them would say that it was due to the man calling all of the shots within the citadel or the fact that he was the strongest within the citadel.
Instead, they would all say that the reason why they feared him was because of his background and upbringing.
After all, the name Heavenbane was not something that was given out lightly.
“Theresa Grayheart? Miss Theresa Grayheart?”
“Miss Grayheart. Are you alright?”
While Theresa was in the midst of recalling why she always dreaded meeting with the Director, Salazar decided to stand up from his seat after his questions were ignored a couple of times already. Noticing the dazed expression on Theresa’s face, the man slightly frowned as he imbued a bit of his aura into his fingers, snapping them a couple of times to bring the woman back to reality.
Quickly realizing what was going on, a look of fear briefly appeared on Theresa’s face as she began to profusely apologize to the man. Fortunately, Salazar did not dwell too much on the matter, instead asking her to sit down as he returned to his own seat.
“Let me ask you once again.” Taking a deep breath to regain his previous composure, Salazar looked Theresa in the eye. “You’re Theresa Grayheart, correct?”
“Correct, sir.” Not wanting another mishap to happen, Theresa nodded in response as she focused all of her attention on the conversation at hand.
Though, just as she expected the man to continue their conversation even further, Salazar instead returned his attention to the documents scattered all over his desk, faintly nodding in satisfaction as he began to arrange them into a few neat piles of paper,
Watching the man before her go through all of the documents one by one, Theresa could not help but feel that the silence surrounding them was gradually becoming more and more suffocating by the second. With that, she mustered up the courage to ask Salazar a question, recalling everything that happened before she entered the room.
“Did I… did I do anything wrong?” asked Theresa, her expression that of concern as she inwardly wondered what would come out of the man’s mouth.
In response, Salazar briefly looked at her with a slightly raised eyebrow before shifting his attention back to the documents on his desk. “What do you think?”
“I’m certain I didn’t do anything wrong.” Choosing her next words carefully, Theresa eventually responded to the man’s query. “All I’ve done was complete the quota that’s been given to me while following all of the rules and regulations of the First Blank Citadel.”
“Indeed, you did.” The man nodded in agreement. “For that, I and the entire First Blank Citadel have no reason to stop you from taking your thousand year paid leave. If anything, you deserve it for having worked so hard these past few centuries.”
For a brief moment after that, Theresa was left at a loss for words. In her mind, she expected the man to inform her that she had flouted the rules without her knowing or that she had done something wrong, considering that it was the general consensus that even she began to believe by the time she arrived in front of her office.
Yet, contrary to her beliefs, Salazar supported the thoughts she had from the very start, causing a look of confusion to appear on her face as she mustered up the courage to ask once more. “Then, why…”
“Why the announcement?” asked Salazar back, to which Theresa responded with a faint nod.
“Quite simple,” said Salazar, nodding in satisfaction after he was finally done neatly arranging all of his documents. “I’ve called you to come to my office to talk about the last candidate you found.”
“Arthur James Marshall?” asked Theresa, her confusion over the entire situation causing her to forget the fear she had towards the man before her. “Surely, there’s nothing wrong with him, right? After all, he fits all of the criteria necessary for one to become a candidate for the project. Aside from that, he’s from the Cosmic Void Zone, which isn’t considered an illegal location for one to obtain candidates from.”
“You’re entirely correct in that aspect.” Salazar nodded in agreement, only for his expression to become solemn. “However, can you tell me what our usual protocol is when we’re looking for candidates?”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“First, we scan for beings in a certain location that fit one of the criteria.” Though she didn’t know why Salazar wanted her to recite something that was ingrained into every person’s memory after becoming a contributor to the project, Theresa still obliged. “After that, we narrow it down to those that fit more of the criteria.”
“Once a list of people that fits most, if not all criteria has been made, we then do a stringent background check to… oh no.”
“Oh no indeed, Miss Grayheart.” Seeing the look of shock and fear on Theresa’s face, Salazar continued to maintain a calm expression as he confirmed her suspicion. “You’ve forgotten to do the most crucial step before making Arthur a part of the New Cosmos Project.”
“But his current life doesn’t seem to have any problems, though,” replied Theresa amidst the building fear within her. “I’ve made sure to check that many times before sending him to my office.”
“I know that.” At those words, Salazar’s expression turned somewhat cold. “But have you checked if any of his past lives have problems?”
Thud.
Pushing a stack of the documents laid out on his desk towards Theresa, the man shook his head for a bit as he let out a low sigh. “You’ve gotten me into a bit of trouble here, Miss Grayheart.”
“You’ve inadvertently inducted someone that needs to be verified by a Level 4 Administrator first before they could be inducted into the New Cosmos Project.”
“And unfortunately for you, my authority only goes up to Level 3.”
----------------------------------------
“Haah… haah… that took out a lot more from me than I thought.”
Feeling immense exhaustion wash over him, Arthur gave his mind the time it needed to rest, briefly recalling the hardships he had just put his mind through. However, not long after, the young man began to let out boisterous laughter as he focused his senses on the lines of text that appeared on the screen before him.
You have successfully broken through to the 7th Stage of the Body Tempering Realm! Your Qi stat has gone from 17.92 to 19.04. Your Qi Tenacity stat has gone from 1.79 to 1.9. You have completed the quest ‘Laying the Foundations.’
With a satisfied grin adorning his face, Arthur moved the screen filled with the notifications to the side as he watched his internal world undergo through a gradual change once more.
Rumble…
While breaking through the stages of the Qi Sensing Realm caused the ground in his internal world to take on a deeper shade of blue, breaking through the stages of the Body Tempering Realm on the other hand caused the ground to become denser and more solidified.
After he had broken through to the 1st Stage of Body Tempering, the ground making up his internal world felt like tightly compacted dirt in terms of density. In comparison, now that he had broken through to the 7th Stage of Body Tempering, the ground now felt more like reinforced concrete.
“I’m surprised it only took you less attempts than before to break through. Completing the seventh large cycle isn’t that easy.” While he was continuing to admire the changes to the landscape brought about by his recent breakthrough, Sisa’s voice echoed throughout the internal world all of a sudden, to which Arthur let out a chuckle in response.
“I just needed to add another large cycle to the six I’ve completed in the previous breakthrough,” replied the young man. “How hard could that be?”
Though Arthur acted nonchalant towards her and made it seem as if breaking through to the next realm was mere child’s play, the young man knew better not to underestimate the Path of the Vessel. Back when he attempted his breakthrough to the 2nd Stage of Body Tempering, Arthur felt quite confident that he would be able to complete two large cycles without a problem.
However, even though the first large cycle was indeed not a problem for him, contrary to his expectations, forming even the first small cycle of the second large cycle brought an immense amount of pain to him. At that moment, it was as if all of the pain he had gone through to create the first large cycle was combined and intensified multiple times.
Fortunately, he had spent some time improving his Aptitude stat, as well as the other parts of cultivation that could be improved on the upgrade module. Because of that, the young man was able to achieve more with less, drastically reducing the need for him to endure great amounts of pain for days on end.
Then again, he had to spend over three days to successfully break through to the 7th Stage of Body Tempering.
“Time to figure out what I should do next.” Feeling like he had gotten enough rest, Arthur went ahead and opened up his quest screen to receive his hard-earned rewards. While doing so, he brought up his status screen on the side, wanting to see how much his stats have improved since the start.
Arthur James Marshall Species Spirit Nucleus (Nascent) Aptitude 1.78 Qi 19.04/19.04 Qi Tenacity 1.9 Qi Purity 1.9 Qi Regeneration Rate 0.392 points/hr. Spirit Manual Qi Cultivation for Dummies 101 (Level 6 | Inferior-grade) Vessel Manual How to Get Ripped in 90 Days or Less (Level 6 | Inferior-grade) Cultivation Realm (Spirit) 7th Stage of Qi Sensing Cultivation Realm (Vessel) 7th Stage of Body Tempering Ascension Points 2
“I’ve definitely gotten used to navigating my way around the system at this point,” said Arthur to himself, satisfied with the progress he had made.
Closing his status screen, he then brought up the description for one of his manuals, grinning as he obtained a notification that he had received 500 Ascension Points from completing the quest.
Qi Cultivation for Dummies 101 Grade Inferior (can be evolved) Level 6/10 (upgradeable)
(Description has been minimized.)
Effects:
> Increases the efficacy of Qi Purity and Qi Regeneration Rate by 12%
Cultivation Realm Limit 6th Stage of the Acupoint Opening Realm
After he had upgraded one of his manuals to Level 2 in the past, aside from noticing the improved effects of the manual, Arthur also noticed that the cultivation realm limit for the manual had moved from the peak of the second realm to the 1st stage of the third realm. Asking Sisa for more information on the topic, she informed the young man that fully upgraded Inferior-grade manuals could be used up to the peak of the third realm of their corresponding paths, needing one to evolve their manuals to Low-grade if they wanted to use it even further.
‘Now that I think about it, I should probably make use of those free pulls sooner or later,’ thought Arthur to himself after being reminded by it thanks to one of the reward notifications. ‘I don’t know if two pulls for each type is enough, but it would definitely make me happy if I could get my hands on a Low-grade manual.’
You have received the active skill [Qi Sense Lv. 1].
Similar to how he was reminded of his free pulls because of the reward notifications, Arthur was also reminded that he had obtained a brand new skill as a reward from the quest. Eager to see what kind of capabilities his new skill had, the young man went ahead and brought up its description.
Qi Sense Grade Inferior (can be evolved) Level 1/10 (upgradeable)
Everything in the cosmos has a set of senses. Living beings utilize these senses to perceive the world around them, as well as make great use of them to achieve stellar feats. On the other hand, the senses of inanimate objects lay dormant, only awakening once it has gained its own consciousness or has absorbed enough energy.
The spirit nucleus, and by extension the spirit vein, falls between these two categories, having access to a limited set of senses due to its low level of consciousness. However, by making use of its own energy, it could expand the ranges of its senses to vast distances, allowing to see the greater world around them like living beings do.
This skill allows the user to consume 1 point of their own qi to create a field of energy that would allow their senses to go past their normal range, giving the user a way to gaze beyond their current means. The radius of the generated field is reliant on the user’s Aptitude and Qi Purity, while the duration of the skill is reliant on the user’s Aptitude and Qi Tenacity.
Field radius
169.1 meters (50 meters x Aptitude x Qi Purity)
Duration 16 minutes, 54 seconds (5 minutes x Aptitude x Qi Tenacity)
‘Wait… is this what I think it is?’ Thoroughly reading through the skill’s description to make sure he didn’t miss even a single detail, Arthur felt a hint of excitement and expectation as he felt like he had taken a huge step towards becoming a human again. Wanting to confirm whether his ideas of the skill were correct or not, he decided to ask Sisa if the skill worked the way he thought it did.
“It does expand the coverage of your senses,” Sisa told Arthur with a figurative nod. “However, the effects don’t apply within your internal world. They only apply after you focus your senses outward.”
Hearing that the skill worked as he imagined it to, Arthur could not stop his excitement from pouring out as he shifted his attention outward. Being greeted by the sight of stone once more, the young man then proceeded to activate [Qi Sense], greatly hoping that he would see a glimpse of the world he was now in.
Whoosh!
However, rather than having his hopes be fulfilled…
What he got instead was just more stone.