Spirit Magna Realm

A few days later.

Heian Ciemnosc was just continuing his cultivation towards the Hana-Saga realm 6th stage when a palace maid headed towards his residence. He allowed the door unlocked, and the maid walked into his cultivation room, where she saw him and the royal princess cultivate together atop his bed. She silently stood before Heian Ciemnosc as he sat cross-legged and handed over a bunch of papers. It had an array formation that 'stored' more words and images from some scribbles that would turn into true in one's mind when their Spirit Sense read them.

Only Heian Ciemnosc and the Empress had permission to read these documents' inscribed information. Anyone else trying to do the same would find it impossible to read— unless they had ample mastery over array formations in the Second Step and could reverse engineer it. But Heian Ciemnosc was already at the peak, so that could not happen so casually, even more so as he guided the Craftspeople who made these documents' hidden information. Whoever tried but failed to do so would notify Heian Ciemnosc and Shuna of their attempt. Similarly, Heian Ciemnosc and Shuna could tell if it was read by the other beforehand.

“Mn, thanks,” Heian Ciemnosc took the documents and took a moment to read everything. He looked up at the palace maid and lightly grabbed her neck with his left hand. His pale fingers wrapped part of the right side of her neck, pulling her towards him to plant his lips on her forehead. The palace maid was just standing up and wasn’t expecting Heian Ciemnosc to suddenly grab her, so she was surprised.

Nevertheless, she closed her eyes and let the assigned supervisor do as he wished, already used to. When she felt his fresh, cold lips that somehow granted her warmth, she looked pleased and relaxed, as if her body’s cultivation questions and doubts had all been resolved, and her mind became free from burden. Heian Ciemnosc watched as she opened her eyes and looked at him softly, with hazy eyes.

“You’re not disappointed I didn’t do anything else?” Heian Ciemnosc asked her. He was curious and wanted to know how she’d react to this. But the palace maid shook her head gently, slowly forming a cute smile, and said, “Of course not, assigned supervisor. Rather, I feel just as good. And while it doesn’t compare to being ‘helped’ directly with our bodies, it feels great! Only… assigned supervisor, I feel like you’ve matured somehow. It’s okay if there’s no longer those intimate moments out of nowhere, ehehe!”

“I see,” Heian Ciemnosc said, his darkest eyes focusing on the void for a couple seconds. He placed his right hand on the palace maid’s left shoulder and said, before inviting her out. “Go back. The new head palace maids’ position contest will start in a couple years, and everyone has to prepare. The Region needs more people to help things move around… And whatever the future will bring upon the Empire’s shoulders.”

“Mn!” The palace maid vigorously nodded and agreed. She bowed and turned around to leave the cultivation bedroom. Meanwhile, Heian Ciemnosc’s Soul energy and Spirit Sense closed the doors behind her, locking them again as she left his residence. He was on his bed and back to cultivation with the documents on his lap, but his head kept thinking about those things.

For starters, the settlements that previously belonged to the True Dragon House and Blue Emirate Grotto had become part of the Empire, one way or another, with varying degrees of convincing. Those who accepted right away were the weakest after the war, as they suffered the most during it, whether they had enough strength to hold themselves before or not. And those who fared off better were just ‘in the middle’ in terms of power prior to the war.

Those consisted of strong vassal organizations that hid well or those weaker vassals who simply did not help as much as they should’ve. It was these organizations that became the possible troublemakers of which the Empire didn’t want their progress in their inland territory to be hindered by. Already, reports of some of these people showing different actions to their word of loyalty extended, and Heian Ciemnosc knew there could be no follow-up war against the Undermudmusk Region, northernmost from the Far East Region, then he would have to deal with these people first.

Some negotiation talks had already been met, and the Empire’s Imperial Elders collected the necessary information to know they wanted equal power and ‘rights’ prior to the war. However, the Blauw Empire’s laws consisted that every vassal was of the same status as any. Other than the royal vassals. Like the Door’s Expiring Breath Sect, Clashing Dust Cult, and the Feathered Valley Pavilion. However, these were still barely starting their full-on integration into the Empire.

‘Sigh, they just need a little push, some slapping… and a few examples.’ Heian Ciemnosc’s aura became sinister out of nowhere, making Ishikyy shiver as she meditated. However, 2 seconds later, she seemed to get used to it, and the notion even seemed to influence her as she started cultivating slightly more rapidly. This was a tremendous change as her cultivation talent was, by far, the best Heian Ciemnosc had ever witnessed and studied.

“Sigh…” Heian Ciemnosc looked at his apprentice, whose face was starting to look like a young woman. He compared it to her childish, silly brat’s appearance of ‘yore’ and regained a good mood. She had gone from a faulty kid to a warmonger monster. He was damn proud, to say the least. And what’s more, she learned faster and more efficiently as she grew up. Her learning of the Water was already at its best, but she was just 15 years old!

He sent a little wisp of a dark breeze containing his dual cultivation method and began increasing up the process of her cultivation efficiency before closing his eyes and focusing on his own matters. While he recuperated and was rubbed all around his torso every 3 days, the timespan grew to 5 days, 7 days, and finally, 10 days. Heian Ciemnosc’s body was back to normal in just 3 months, but his cultivation base soared from the Hana-Saga realm 4th stage… to the realm’s peak!

. . .

Heian Ciemnosc’s cultivation room, at his residence in the Palace. 25th year, 4th month, 2nd week, and 5th day of the new Change.

“Haaa- huuu…” Heian Ciemnosc sat cross-legged on the floor, and his heart was beating slowly but continuously slowing down as he relaxed his mind and let that bloating sensation become unbearable, no longer detaining it forcefully. After spending 20 days in this state, he felt ready to cross the threshold any Second Step cultivator dreams of after attaining their Spirit Image outside their Spirit Bosom.

However, it was different for Heian Ciemnosc. Not only did he choose to go through 99 lightning bolts from the heavenly tribulation when breaking into the Hana-Saga realm and not saving them to break into the Spirit Magna realm. Which Heian Ciemnosc did to ensure that even if he once again advanced through an entire cultivation realm, he could avoid any damage to his cultivation path again. He also spent too much time in a phase where most other cultivators aren’t shy to rush through the worst situations to advance quickly.

Yet, even with all these advantageous-disadvantages means, there was still the most critical dilemma. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t have a Spirit Image, and his Spirit Bosom was just his inner being, and his inner being was just himself, too. What could he do? Paint himself? Do everything any cultivator does to their Spirit Image and body in order to break into the Spirit Magna realm, but to himself only?

‘Eh, why not?’ Heian Ciemnosc shrugged his shoulders as he came to such conclusions… that were not conclusions. He closed his eyes and clasped his hands as usual. His index and middle fingers became semi-intertwined, while his thumbs, ring, and pinky fingers were fully intertwined. Dark Neutral Energy started coming out of his shoulders as he sat naked, and his pale skin started being peeled off out of nowhere.

Like molting skin, but in a transcendental, non-physical activity alone, Heian Ciemnosc’s pale skin flew up and dissipated into dear nothingness as his body slowly deconstructed itself. The door to his residence would only allow Shuna or Ishikyy at these moments, so Heian Ciemnosc had not to worry about, but his Spirit Sense was still wholly spread throughout its 280,000 kilometers, but he was totally concentrated on breaking through.

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Swviiiing~... swish- pof~. Swviiing… craaccckkssskkksskk… Heian Ciemnosc felt his pale skin peeled off and then smoked into thin air, or pure energy perhaps, thanks to his unique methods. Most cultivators chose to break into the Spirit Magna realm with the mighty, fearsome heavenly tribulation because it was the easiest way to destroy one’s body. However, not only Heian Ciemnosc chose to break into the Hana-Saga realm with it immediately to ensure his possible future fuck ups. He could not depend on this heavenly tribulation to break his body apart completely and become a titled Spirit Link cultivator.

Heian Ciemnosc had doubts before breaking into the Hana-Saga realm, but after he did and survived that heavenly tribulation, he realized he made the right choice. Because even if the might of such increased as his cultivation progressed, life had taught Heian Ciemnosc that he is always a step before everyone else. This wasn’t a haughty remark or conceited thought, just the truth. Cultivators would use this heavenly tribulation to effortlessly destroy their bodies and become a Spirit Link.

However, those who didn’t have other ways to do so and even more means to protect themselves from the heavenly tribulation at the beginning of the Hana-Saga realm. After all, that’s when it would be at its weakest, at least compared to the peak of the Hana-Saga realm. Naturally, the benefits of enduring 99 lightning bolts of heavenly punishment weren’t just about solidifying one’s cultivation path or making up for a possible future mess up.

The latter might be Heian Ciemnosc himself, the only one who would ever use such a heavenly tribulation just to be safe from something he might do in the entire history of the world.

As Heian Ciemnosc began, Ishikyy felt a strange tingle deep in her heart, but so did Shuna, who was about to send another batch of Imperial Elders to instruct another zone from the south of the Far East Region. Shuna finished her talks and looked down from her throne room before quickly arranging things and leaving the room to look for Heian Ciemnosc. Ishikyy didn’t even bother cultivating anymore and directly moved to where her heart told her to.

When they met at the entrance to his cultivation room, they could hear the sounds of his bones ‘gently’ breaking apart and turning to dust as they integrated into the world, seemingly forming an exchange between a living being and Mother Nature Herself. They watched as his body apparently floated upwards, as if held in Her arms, candidly and lovingly, as gently as a parent to their child. But there was something more… an innate… veneration mixed in.

“...” Shuna’s eyes profusely locked at the scene as she remembered her breakthrough into the spirit Magna realm, but she didn’t recall this aura, these sensations… and much less whatever Heian Ciemnosc was feeling as it was happening. On the other hand, Ishikyy didn’t know what she was looking at but believed it was all ordinary and that her mother had gone through it before. However, she was dazzled by what she saw, and something deep within her seemed to open up… eyes… azure, aquamarine… dragon-like eyes!

“...!” Ishikyy became astounded out of nowhere, but she didn’t see the general picture. When she felt that sensation, like trillions of blood particles throbbing and smoldering, boiling hot inside every nanometer of her body, and those eyes appeared, her cutest, brightest eyes shone. At that moment, Heian Ciemnosc’s body was turning into a strange, illusory-golden energy shape, and his physical body seemed to be gone forever. His body stretched smoothly before gradually sitting cross-legged, facing the two at the entrance.

When Ishikyy’s eyes shone, his energy appearance, embraced and covered by nature, opened its eyes. They were grander than in his humanoid physical appearance, but they still shared his enigmaticness. Ishikyy didn’t notice right away, and Shuna only did after she cleared her mind, but when they did, Heian Ciemnosc closed his eyes again. Thus, Heian Ciemnosc’s process of reconstructing his body with Mother Nature’s protection and using his Neutral Energy to create a connection of his Linked Psychogenic and Dantian… to his Spirit Bosom! At last!

They were becoming Linked together! This was what it meant for practically everything any living being could hope to accomplish. Each part of their physical bodies was Linked to their Dantian and Psychogenic, while their Links interconnected and formed an unbreakable bond for life, where only death can extinguish it. This is the result of Changes’ worth of history! Only today can there be such an absolute cultivation system!

But this was just the beginning, and it wasn’t everything he had to do. His dark Soul became active, and its energy came out of his inner being to touch everything he was. Although negligible, Ishikyy could see a tiny, dark spot form near Heian Ciemnosc’s Psychogenic from the outside. The world’s noise suddenly faded, as if silence permeated the world around them, but the sound of pure energy flowing in the air could still be heard.

‘How?!’ On the other hand, Shuna understood more of what was happening. Before Heian Ciemnosc started using his dark Soul like a brush, she felt a strange, attractive notion towards Heian Ciemnosc’s inner self. When he commenced the ‘painting’ of his Spirit Aspect, and she noticed the dark ‘stain’ in his energy-protected body and life, she was stunned out of her wits. Since when can such things happen?! How can a cultivator change their bodies?!

However, all Shuna could do was stand there, baffled, and observe as a minute passed, and another tiny dot appeared beside the first, stuck together. Only then did she sigh in relief, as if Heian Ciemnosc was once again an existence she could understand, and watched for a couple hours before turning to look at her blazed-eyed daughter. Shaking her head and placing her right hand on her daughter’s left shoulder, she spoke softly.

“Take care of him. Cultivate here and don’t disturb him. He will take a while.” Shuna patted Ishikyy’s nose, making her giggle internally, and walked away. Ishikyy nodded and stepped into the cultivation room, careful not to attract his attention as it seemed like Heian Ciemnosc couldn’t tell she was inside. Feeling like she could be naughty, she immediately dressed in her pajamas as ‘pop pop’ and ‘rustle rustle’ sounded as she slapped her torso, thighs, feet, and head, and a whole, cute set of pajamas covered her body.

Whoosh!

The royal princess rushed to his bed, and smelling his scent, she smiled contentedly before sitting cross-legged and looking at the door. She knitted her eyebrows and used her Soul and Spirit Sense to close it. Once it locked, she moved the bed, positioning it before Heian Ciemnosc at a safe distance, and started cultivating. At first, she was still careful and wanted to keep her drawing of pure energy slow, steady, and avoiding Heian Ciemnosc. But after a couple days, she felt secure enough to go all-out, and suddenly, before she could notice, her mindset fell into enlightenment as her cultivating speed, efficiency, and comprehension were suddenly boosted.

Thus, time passed, and as Ishikyy felt her mind going through endless comprehensions, Heian Ciemnosc’s energy-protected body slowly became darker and darker. The golden from before was corrupted by these dark stains, and slowly, he became entirely dark… Pure darkness, just like his inner being, Spirit Bosom, and everything his inner being was about.

1 month later, Heian Ciemnosc’s illusory-golden energy only lacked a couple dark stains where his pupils were in the middle of his eyes. Just one little bit more, and he would be finished. The pure energy around him grew restless, seemingly excited for some reason, and continued thrashing about as he was just about to paint the last gold spot dark.

Heian Ciemnosc thought differently, however. Just as he was about to paint the last dots from his eyes and finish this process, inside his mind, a thought drifted into existence out of pure curiosity. ‘No, this is not enough. I can’t be… it won’t be. Me. I am my own complete, whole strength. I do not use anything but my body and my inner self to live, fight, and learn. But it has always been only me. Although I’ve learned many things about the world, nature, and its living beings, I know nothing of myself… Other than my name and my strangeness. Then… Then, I will not paint myself only! Since I know more about the world than myself, why would I focus on myself and not the world?!’

Heian Ciemnosc seemed to find a truth, and he went with it. His dark Soul flashed out of his body, immediately stirring the excited, restless pure energy, turning it docile as if the day had suddenly grown dull, and every beating heart, from a Race, Fauna, flora, or Kingdom, was halted by the order of one thought. It was all a concept and not true. It wasn’t happening. But around Heian Ciemnosc, inside his cultivation room… in this little world of his… it did seem to happen.

Suddenly, Heian Ciemnosc’s body emanated darkness. His dark Soul spread everywhere, all at once. The space around him was like the lifelessness of the sand, touched by the waving sea as it became covered by it. However, unlike on a beach, Heian Ciemnosc’s darkness didn’t retreat but continued to spread outwards, and the ‘sand’ that is the air turned into his, wholly.

Heian Ciemnosc proceeded the same. His dark Soul extended until he was nearing his bed, and only then did he decide it was enough. Strangely, though, although he felt how he consumed ‘things’ out of nowhere, he didn’t feel any sort of particular change within him. Only the sensation of discovering something else… something new about himself he had no clue of before, thrilled him like crazy, but nothing else.

And then, his darkest eyes finally turned wholly dark. Heian Ciemnosc felt he had a physical body again, causing him to open his eyes. From up close, Heian Ciemnosc still appeared protected by Mother Nature’s arms, still in an energy appearance. But as he wished to open his darkest eyes, eyelids suddenly appeared, instantly forming before his eyes. Of a pure dark color.

And then… once again… Heian Ciemnosc lifted his eyelids as the pure darkness on them shaded off, and eyelashes formed instantly, with his wholly darkest eyes welcoming the sight of his cultivation room with his dark Soul no longer spread outwards… They were magnificent!!!

Rapidly, sclera returned to his darkest eyes, making them typical again. But the world blasted inside-out when he opened his eyes.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!! PAAAAAAAAAAAM! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESHH~!! BANG BANG BANG BANG!!...

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