Despite all that happened between me, Bishop, and the trespassers, I still look back on those early days rather fondly. I look back on Master Bishop’s tutelage. I look back on what he showed me—how he turned me from a flailing, angry child into a proper warrior.
I remember, and on some days, when I’m at my weakest, I regret. I regret what happened between us. But there was no helping it. No helping it at all.
We are shaped by our choices, and we are also damned by them.
In the end, we sought different fates.
Wei An Wei, the Realmbreaker.
81
Experience (I)
Enlightenment Advanced > 26
[1/10] Aspect Advancements to Core Ascension
Potion of Clarity imbibed: +80% resistance to all mentally affecting skills.
Wei frowned as he pulled his Broken Crescent out from the head of the Demon of Wrath. It was a creature made of rusted metal and hellish forgefire. It alone had proved brave enough—or perhaps foolish enough—to impede his path to the Hearted Realm of Wrath. The lessers fled, and now the final rift was open. Wei flinched slightly as the full power of Wrath crashed against him. Strangely enough, it didn't bother him as much as he expected.
Perhaps it was because he partially diverged into the path of Wrath, but the young master wasn't sure.
“Yeah, Your Aspect of Mind tends to go up when you stop behaving like an idiot.”
Wei sneered internally. Bishop's comment was most unwelcome.
“How am I behaving like an idiot?”
“I don’t know, maybe it’s because you’ve neglected to use potions and other enhancers to your advantage the whole time you’re here. Probably out of pride. Guess you chose the right path at least.”
That wasn’t true. Wei had used his Potion of Regeneration on the Knight of Lust.
“Right, you used that on the Demon of Lust, giving her an impromptu collection of tumors to suffer. But aside from that, have you used anything on yourself?”
Wei frowned. His Intent had been an unbreakable bulwark until his most recent foray into the Hearted Realm of Gluttony. He’d been reluctant to use other enhancement potions and items, mainly out of a sense of self-imposed restriction. Wei’s annoyance at the Trespasser turned to frustration at himself.
“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Bishop’s voice intoned. The man had mastered the art of calling someone an idiot and then encouraging them in the next breath.
“Yeah, well, being in the Marines will do that to you.”
The first thing Wei wanted to ask was, What the hell is a Marine? But the more pressing question was, Can you hear all my thoughts so clearly?
“I can’t exactly hear them, Bishop replied. It’s just that I get a feeling, and I can guess. It runs against perception which… isn’t nearly as impenetrable as your defense. And as for your other question, Marines are a warrior cult under my former nation. They’re also a bunch of degenerate, crayon-eating, masochistic shits you’ll ever know, hate, and miss. Love the corps; fuck the corps.”
Wei paused again. What is a crayon?
Bishop sighed. “This is why I don’t like talking to you cultivators. None of you get anything. So, you ready for this?”
Wei looked up and faced the Archdevil of Wrath. It, unlike Gluttony, was a creature of black fire, seated upon a throne of weapons, blades, and blood. It still bore a humanoid shape, and even through the red fog staining the atmosphere, Wei guessed it to be an armored tyrant. Even as the black tower skewered it through, its baleful red eyes gazed down over the land, pouring hate and crushing essence upon any who dared look at it in equal measure.
Yes, Wei said, almost lying. Let’s begin our tour. And then he put down his Liminal Bridge.
Another difference between Gluttony and Wrath was the pacing of battle. In Gluttony, Wei had more than a little time to peruse his surroundings and feel his Essence slip away from him, drained by the carnivorous realm. Here, in Wrath, there was no time wasted at all.
He came through the rift, and a blade was already falling upon him. A long black obsidian blade, some twenty meters long, held by a three-headed giant—two of which shot fire from their eyes. Wei barely got out of the way in time, only to be tackled by a bulbous creature of hissing flame that screamed as it bit into Wei’s back.
Source: [12/190]
Black flames seared the young master, and his armor responded in kind, its reactionary effect blasting the demon off away from him. But even this didn’t give him a moment’s pause. The giant was swinging its blade down again. Wei infused his Eidolon with a Source Catalyst. Time to make a fight of this. As he accelerated towards the giant, the great black blade missed him by the barest of inches.
Wei’s Form of the Martial Harvester flared, and the scythe that materialized this time gleamed bright, like it was made from a resplendent alloy, capable of splitting even armor. A storm exploded out from Wei’s spear, no longer sapped by gluttony. The full wrath of Wei’s calamity crashed down against the wrathful demon. Hammering lightning pierced its eyes, wind slit its throats, water crashed against its back, jagged stone punched deep into its ankles.
A combination of collapsing forces bowled the demon over, its lower body shattering as its shins and knees folded the wrong way. Two columns of fire detonated from the giant’s flame-spraying heads as electricity blew apart its eyes, and Wei felt a sudden surge of exhilarating Essence enter him—a compulsion demanding him to kill, to kill. His newly gained title activated. The master shook his head and sobered up.
Bloodlust resisted by Aspect of (Intent)
He shook that off in record time. Did all these realms have some kind of mental sickness associated with them?
“It wouldn’t be a Hearted Realm if they didn’t,” John Bishop replied.
Wei spun his spear and strode forth, sweeping his blade up. A clean cut glided along the monster’s midsection. Blood spewed free between its nose, chest, neck, and groin, and the demon came apart a moment later.
Class Level > 33
Free Points: [30]
Wei threw his head back and laughed in vicious triumph. The Hearted Realm of Wrath was far more straightforward than Gluttony. Perhaps this was a better path than—
A loud screech deafened even Wei’s thoughts as he froze. Turning slowly, Wei fully took in the scenery for the first time—graveyard of swords, mountains of gore, massive beating heart made of black fire, raining weapons and…
And an even larger monster to fight.
Abyssal Titanknight: Lv. ???
One even larger than the giant he just fought. By a hundred times. It also had ten hands, each holding an axe the size of a small mountain, its coated armor forged from literal forts and citadels, and sported what looked to be a crown made from jagged iron bars.
“Welp,” Bishop grunted. “‘’Bout to learn something, kid: Wrath don’t fuck around.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The young master simply scoffed and flared his Source once more. “Neither do I.”
***
“‘Neither do I,’” Bishop laughed. And kept laughing. Wei growled under his breath as he stomped away from the Hearted Realm of Wrath. “Damn, son, Hollywood would have loved your ass.”
“I could have won,” Wei growled. Enough of this. That was a farce; the realm attacked him before he could muster himself. And he was weakened! It was just a bad matchup in the end. He grumbled as he marched towards the Hearted Realm of Sloth.
“No, you couldn’t have,” Bishop chided. “That thing was level 140 at least. You just ran out of time. You’re not beating a Marquis-Tier adversary without a stronger System.”
The master scoffed at the Trespasser’s words. What did he know? Wei landed two cuts, and a few more and the Abyssal Titanknight’s would have been Aspect crippled.
“And it struck you so goddamn hard I got a migraine stopping you from turning into a smear. You know how hard it is to use my powers across a few hundred thousand kilometers?
“You’re connected to me,” Wei said. “Cease your complaints. To Sloth we go. Time to see another of these wretched places.”
“Yeah, by a string of essence. Hey, you know what? There’s another part of you that’s really like your father. You’re both ungrateful pricks.”
Stop comparing me to him, Wei declared, gritting his teeth in anger.
“I don’t know. You gonna stop acting like him?”
The master snarled and broke distance, making for the next Moongrave.
***
As Wei planted another Liminal Bridge. He looked up at the Archdevil of Sloth and saw—
Where the hell is the archdevil? It just looked like a sun-sized mound of spiraling feces.
“It inside?”
What? Wei replied.
“The Archdevil lives inside the shit cocoon.”
His mind went blank. But why?
“Because it’s Sloth. It doesn’t clean itself. It learned how to shit until it made a nice, comfortable cocoon to sleep in. And then the Black Tower speared through it.”
Pure disgust roiled through Wei and the Hearted Realm.
“It’s not gonna be much cleaner, son. You going in or not?”
The stench flowing out from the rift was almost unbearable. Almost. But he needed to prove his resolve. He needed to—
I hate myself. I hate you. And I hate this place.
Bishop just laughed.
“You sound like someone who lives here.”
As Wei passed into the Hearted Realm of Sloth, the pacing of combat changed once more. He found himself facing a horizon filled with waste, tumorous growths, and legions of demons laying upon pads of murky white pustules. They too were covered in their own waste, their lower bodies encrusted in questionable fluids of brown and green. A few of them struggled, trying to rise at Wei’s sudden appearance. One even reached towards him, giving a half-hearted whack at the air. The young master stared on in disbelief, wondering why no one chose this Hearted Realm specifically.
Aside from being rather unsanitary, it didn’t pose that much of a threat. In fact, it was even rather relaxing. And just then a thought came to him—a thought that maybe one of those pustules might feel rather nice to lay on. Yes, the substance inside was almost certainly pus, and if ruptured, the stench might deal fatal harm. But what was life without a few novel experiences?
“Wei,” Bishop said flatly. “Maybe now is the time to take another Potion of Clarity. I think your last one wore off.’
Yes, the young master said, trying to keep his horror to himself. He couldn’t believe he had just thought that. I’m going to... I’m going to... Wei summoned his new Potion of Clarity from his inventory, took a swig, and suddenly realized what he was just about to do.
Enlightenment Advanced > 27
[2/10] Aspect Advancements to Core Ascension
Potion of Clarity imbibed: +80% resistance to all mentally affecting skills.
I, uh, thank you.
“You’re welcome,” Bishop said flatly. “Just wish someone did that for me when I came here the first time.”
In that moment, Wei learned how to pity John Bishop. But, with the Potion of Clarity imbibed, there should be no more issues.
With this treasonous thought, the ground beneath him started to rumble, and droplets of strange smelling rain fell…
Is that piss? Is the rain here piss? Wei immediately began whirling a barrier of cocoon of wind, trying to keep himself unstained. The ground burst open beneath him, and he was forced to bring forth a pillar from the ground, lest he drown under a tide of shit. As Wei rose high, he found himself staring eye-to-eye with a massive face formed upon the land. With two eyes made from cancerous growths, and a nose that looked like a large fungal colony, it’s mouth widened, and the young master saw its teeth made from thick, juicy slugs.
Hugs, it cried, voice so loud, so puissant Wei took damage. Source erupted form his ears, and his bladder spiked with unwilling pain. Give me hugs, stay with us forever. Sleep together forever!
“And right on cue he arrives,” Bishop said.
Who is this? What is this? Wei asked.
“That’s Friendly. Yeah, yeah, you’re special, kid. He only says hi people that he considers special. You’re gonna want to run.”
Immediately, the master tried to move. He found himself far slower than before, as if he was trying to push through molasses.
“And another thing about Sloth? They’re not very fast. Like, they can make you pretty slow.”
Just then, the shit-formed land exploded upward. And Wei discovered Friendly was the size of a tectonic plate. A horrible smelling one.
***
Wei departed across his liminal threshold and staggered away with a shell-shocked expression. He was done with this place. With Sloth.
We will try another path, the young master said to himself. Any other path.
Enlightenment Advanced > 28
[3/10] Aspect Advancements to Core Ascension
“Gonna swallow those words, Wei,” Bishop warned.”
***
Wei stared at the shape of the spatial rift leading into the Hearted Realm of Lust. He knew it to be an aesthetics-heavy place, but did they have to make this so explicit?
“Why?” he muttered to himself, trying but failing to suppress a blush. Distantly, lesser Demons of Lust moaned in the golden fields surrounding him. Every few moments, jets of questionable fluid would sail towards him from afar, forcing him to dodge.
“Listen, Wei, you don’t really need to go into this one. You can if you want to, but like, it’s just not a good place for kids to go.”
Kids? Wei said. I am the patriarch of my sect. There is no place, no duty, no vision so vile that I must turn away. Hardening his resolve, Wei strode towards the rift. I will face all that comes my way.
Once more, he took a Potion of Clarity at the last minute. He also gulped down a Potion of Ogre’s Strength, a Potion of Alacrity, and then a Potion of Enduring Fragrance for reasons related to his prior experience.
Potion of Mental Clarity: +80% resistance to all mentally affecting skills.
Potion of Ogre’s Strength: +2 to Strength; +10% to mass
Potion of Alacrity: +2 to Speed
Potion of Enduring Fragrance: Gives you a lingering floral scent.
As soon as he passed into the Realm of Lust, however, he found himself standing on an emerald hill. This place was almost the entire opposite of the Sloth Realm. The aromas were intoxicating, and the colors here were vibrant. Rows of flowers, waterfalls of the purest bright, falling from distant promontories. And the clouds above were—and then he saw it—that massive demon staring at him. That massive demon that suddenly stopped being invisible. It had too many arms and fingers that looked like—Wei blinked—fingers that looked improperly like male organs. It had too many breasts and both sets of genitals and—
And then the demon extended its tongue and slowly leaned down, passing through the atmosphere like an approaching planetoid. The demon was just suddenly there. A second there was… Wei swallowed.
Starmater the Insatiable: Lv. ???
This fiend was even larger than the Friendly continent of shit that had chased Wei out from the Realm of Sloth. Leaning close, the clouds and atmosphere parted before Starmater, and the demon opened their perfect lips and a phallic tongue waved back and forth.
“You look lonely. Would you like to—”
Wei lashed out, carving into Starmater, using a blade of wind charged with a fallen scythe of Source. His cut went deep, and the Demon of Lust bled, waterfalls spilling free from its wounds in a colorful pattern. The enormous demon responded by moaning—not in pain. Not nearly.
“Yessss!” Starmater ran their hands down their body. “So small, but so vicious, I can’t wait to pick you put and shove you inside—”
The young master left a moment after.
***
“Patriarch must face any kind of vile visions, huh?” Bishop mocked.
I came to this place to experience and learn about all the Hearted Realms had to offer. I’ve experienced enough here, and so I leave.
“Yeah, probably a wise choice. So. What next?”
Greed.
John Bishop winced. “Ah. Well.”
“Well, what?’
“You’ll learn to hate them. It’s… hard to explain market force to you. But hey, no one is going to piss or spunk at you.”
Already, Greed’s esteem rose high in Wei’s estimation.