Tales Of Demons, Gods, And Libraries

Swiftly moving around the marketplace, I'm able to acquire everything I'll need for this trip. Returning to Holy Orchid Institute, I make my way towards the administration building. Navigating my way through the large building, I eventually find myself standing before a stern-faced woman.

"Pardon me ma'am, but I wish to speak to the Principal," I state my purpose to standing here.

Her eyes slightly narrow at that before she replies, "The Principal is a very busy man. What is it that you wish to speak to him about?"

"To be granted permission," is my vague reply.

Narrowing her eyes even more at that, she seems to be trying to browbeat an answer from me. Being unbothered by her intimidating glare, I stand ready to wait her out. As luck would have it, it's a brief wait.

"Name," she reluctantly asks.

"Zhu Di."

"Have a seat," directing me to a row of chairs against the far wall. With a professional stride, she moves past a stout and elaborately carved door. It's several minutes before she reappears. Standing by the door entrance, she inclines her head towards the door and announces, "Principal Ye will see you now."

Standing, I smooth out my jacket and suppress the small ball of nervousness I'm suddenly feeling. As I pass by the stern secretary, she gives one final command, "Be on your best behavior." With a nod towards her warning, I attempt to confidently stride into Principal Ye's office.

Moving towards a massive desk, I take in the sight of the man sitting behind it. I'm unfamiliar with him from the story, and he doesn't match the description of anyone I remember reading about. He has long white hair, with a tint of faint violet, pulled into a bun. His majestic looking beard reaches down to his stomach, covering a wide area of his white robes. He is the oldest person I've seen in Glory City, but his eyes are clear and sharp.

Standing a respectful distance from his desk, I cup my fist and slightly bow. "Zhu Di greets Principal Ye."

He seems to take his time examining me before he accepts my greeting with a throaty murmurer. He continues his examination now that I'm standing straight again. It's honestly starting to unnerve me, and I'm sure he's aware of that fact.

After what felt like an eternity, Principal Ye finally speaks, "I understand you are here to ask for permission. What is it, exactly, you are asking permission for Zhu Di?" Even the power in his voice can't hide the aging rasp.

I confidently reply, "I wish to enter the Heavenly Sacred Border."

His stare intensifies. After another round of being examined, he replies, "Despite asking to enter while classes are being taught, The Heavenly Sacred Border is reserved for geniuses selected..."

Interrupting him, I remove my primary soul crystal from my pocket and begin injecting my soul force. Holding the crystal where he can clearly see, we both share a startled look.

Principal Ye is the first to recover, "Soul force of 180. I assume it's safe to say you are the cause of the disturbance the other night?"

With a nod of my head, I suddenly find myself under Principal Ye's intense stare yet again. In his slow way of speaking, Principal Ye says, "Increasing your soul force by 80 in only two days, can be described as monstrous." Principal Ye begins to run his hand over his long beard as he seems to be deep in thought.

I need to enter the Heavenly Sacred Border, but I have no idea how to do that without being given permission. While I would have preferred to remain hidden behind the scenes, exposing myself to the Ye family is required to enter the Heavenly Sacred Border. It would have eventually happened, but I didn't plan for it to be this early. Having a fairly good idea of the overall character of the Ye family is only slightly comforting. I recall the City Lord's Mansion has spies from both the Sacred Family and the Dark Guild among their guards.

Coming to a decision, Principal Ye states, "I will grant you permission to enter the Heavenly Sacred Border. I recommend you prepare a month's worth of rations and necessities."

"I am ready now Principal Ye," I immediately say.

"I thought as much," Principal Ye replies. Standing up I quickly realize I don't even reach his shoulders. Even this simple action conjures an intimidating image. He doesn't show an ounce of age as he moves around his massive desk. "Follow me," he commands as he makes his way towards the door.

We silently make our way through the institute and into the training area. Principal Ye sets a steady but leisurely pace through the wooded area. There is no path or markings to identify which direction to go, but Principal Ye never hesitates in moving around obstacles.

Arriving at a white stone pedestal, I take in the surrounding area. The pedestal only stands a few feet tall and wide enough for two to stand upon. Oddly, it somehow blends in with the vegetation, as if it belongs here. I doubt I will be able to easily find my way back here, but if all goes as planned, I won't have to.

"Stand in the center of the pedestal, and prepare yourself. Entering a subsidiary realm can be quite disorienting. You will also find yourself under heavy pressure upon entering the Heavenly Sacred Border. It is recommended that you begin circulating your soul force now before I send you off.

"To return to Glory City, you must find a pedestal similar to this one. You simply have to follow the instructions carved into the pedestal. I will give you a moment to prepare before I active the array," Principal Ye informs me.

As I carefully climb onto the pedestal, I place my hand over a section of the array engraved into the stone. With a quick thought of the 'flaws', I step to the center of the array. The anatta state of mind comes easily.

Entering into the Library of Heaven's Path, I read over Heaven's Path to Bronze Rank Demon Spiritualist. It only takes a few readings before I feel comfortable with attempting to cultivate it. Exiting the Library of Heaven's Path, I look to Principal Ye.

"I'm ready," is all I'm able to say before a flash of light fills my vision. A disorienting feeling washes over me before it's replaced with a pressure on my soul realm. The pressure is nowhere near as powerful as what Master Hu put me through.

Taking a quick look around, I'm surprised at how vibrant the colors are. Everything seems more lively and a bit off. The sky seems to swirl in waves of varying teals and blues. It is as beautiful as it is alien.

Leaping off the pedestal, I hastily advance in the direction of a radiating chaotic pressure. That should be the Thunder God's Meteorite Sword. I plan to use the raging power from the sword to help strengthen and stabilize my soul realm. With each cultivation rank I pass, I should be able to move closer to the Thunder God's Meteorite Sword.

I'm still undecided about seizing the sword when I leave. The thought of wielding such a formidable weapon is very enticing, but recalling how it took Nie Li several people and plot armor to tame it is very discouraging.

Deciding to focus on cultivating, for now, I quicken my pace. It only takes a few minutes before I reach an area where the pressure is causing my soul realm to shake.

I immediately drop into the lotus position. In a tranquil state of mind, I begin cultivating Heaven's Path to Bronze Rank Demon Spiritualist. The results are instantaneous and drastic. I feel like a miniature black hole, greedily drawing in the surrounding energy.

I don't even complete a full cycle of cultivation before my soul force wildly surges. Expecting this outcome, I'm able to swiftly reign my soul force under control. I continue to circulate my soul force, attempting to give my soul realm time to stabilize before I resume cultivating. My new strength as a 2-Star Bronze rank only slightly lessens the pressure on my soul realm. I release the anatta state of mind and focus on maintaining smooth and even breathes.

After an hour of allowing my soul realm to adapt, I'm ready for a second round of cultivating. Entering into the anatta state of mind, I commence cultivating again. In less than half an hour, I break into 3-Star Bronze.

This is simply overpowered! I'm increasing my soul force by 100 every thirty minutes! Without pills! If I'm able to maintain this speed... I'll break into Black Gold rank in five hundred hours of cultivating!

Unfortunately, I don't have that much time. I have less than two weeks before I have to return to Glory City. I don't plan to join Chen Linjian's group, but I do plan to beat them there.

It takes two hours of meditating before I feel confident my soul realm has stabilized. The pressure here is easily tolerable. Judging it to be around dinner time, I enjoy a large meal of roasted meat and bread. There's not enough information to form a Heaven's Path book on survival tactics, but setting up a cooking fire doesn't strike me as something I need to do flawlessly.

With a full stomach, I pack up my items and head closer towards the Thunder God's Meteorite Sword. Before long, I've moved close enough that my soul realm is starting to shake. Getting into position, I prepare myself for an attempt to break into the 4-Star Bronze rank.

Like before, my wildly surging soul force signifies my breakthrough to 4-Star Bronze after only thirty minutes.

While the excitement is still there, it's getting overshadowed by my growing annoyance. The fact I spend more time stabilizing my soul realm than I do cultivating is so frustrating. I realize that thought is a bit imm.a.t.u.r.e. Principal Ye was right, this is monstrous.

As I stabilize my soul realm, I start to wonder about the Heavenly Sacred Border's resident ghost. In canon, it seemed like he approached Nie Li rather quickly, but Ning'er was here for several days without him discovering her. I can't recall the exact details, but I honestly expected to meet him by now. He has some cultivation manuals for me to absorb!

If I haven't met him after three days, I'll try causing a disturbance to get his attention.

It takes a little less than three hours before I'm ready to start cultivating for the last time tonight. Without fail, I break into 5-Star Bronze after only thirty minutes. The pressure is noticeably lighter now. The colorful sky is still swirling in different hues, but it now has a much darker overcast. It should be somewhere near the middle of the night.

With a plan to make camp after I stabilize my soul realm, I get to work. Hours later, I find myself looking up at the night sky in my little campsite. There are no stars in the sky, but the slow swirling colors are rather comforting. I don't really feel fatigued, but I'm going to need the rest for what I have planned tomorrow.

I will begin taking the Soul Assembling Pills I received as payment from the deal I made this morning. While it should take less than three hours to break into Silver rank, each rank after will take around five hours. If my guess is correct, I should expect it to take another five to ten hours to stabilize my soul realm between each breakthrough.

The Library of Heaven's Path should prevent me from being hindered from any bottlenecks, and allow me to fully absorb the energy from any pills I take. That should shave a fair chunk of time off of cultivating.

With thoughts of becoming an untouchable powerhouse, I close my eyes for the night.