Pov: Vik
The Great White was moving at Mach 14 through the silent abyssal currents deep under the azure surface of the Endless Sea, while inside the main bridge soft jazz filled the acoustic arrays, merging smoothly with the steady, low vibration of the submarine's reactor.
It had been weeks since the journey had been actually... peaceful.
I sat with my legs crossed on a woven tatami mat in the corner of the command deck and was drinking a cup of freshly brewed jasmine tea while Pushpa was laid across my lap like a thick black puddle, snoring softly as I casually scratched behind her ears.
In front of me there hung a holographic split-screen which was directly linked to the sensory arrays of Anonymous Hall.
The simulated plains of the Great Fire Forest were displayed on the left side of the screen.
"MASTER! HE'S CATCHING UP WITH US! ROMAN, THROW SOME DIRT IN HIS EYES!" Lu Xiaoran's frantic and undignified scream resounded through the audio receiver.
On the monitor a forty-metre-tall emerald-coloured Tyrannosaurus Rex was joyfully thundering across the plains, its earth-shattering footsteps raising clouds of dust as Chintu pursued his two 'sparring partners' with the boundless enthusiasm of a puppy chasing tennis balls.
Roman sprinted with heavy steps that knocked the earth aside, his Chaos Titan aura blazing fiercely as he carried a huge boulder over one shoulder like a temporary shield. At the same time, Lu Xiaoran used all the sword-moving techniques that he had ever learned, darting left and right in dazzling zig-zags just to stay out of range of Chintu's playful snout, which weighed forty tons.
"Don't throw dirt, Xiaoran!" Roman retorted through clenched teeth, his muscles standing out beneath the chaotic gravity. "Master said that Chintu is only working on his cardiovascular conditioning!"
My lower torso is going to be swallowed by my cardiovascular conditioning!
I sipped my tea slowly and leisurely, then exhaled in contentment. "See how they're getting on, Pushpa? Youth really is a wonderful thing."
Pushpa opened one of her golden eyes, looked at the screen on which Lu Xiaoran was at that moment diving headfirst into a bush to avoid Chintu's tail, made a small mew of amusement, and then immediately went back to sleep.
Leaving the dinosaur endurance course behind, I turned my attention to the right side of the bridge, where my other two disciples were having their individual tutoring sessions.
Lina was bent over a disassembled kinetic pulse cannon on a long workbench filled with intricate brass gears, mana crystals and glowing blue circuit boards. The lenses of her mechanical monocle were clicking quickly as her small hands skillfully directed thin needles of spirit fire to fuse micro-inscriptions onto the barrel.
I said to Lina, putting down my teacup, "How is the thermal heat dissipation coming along on that mana-rail conduit?"
Lina raised her monocle, her eyes shining with a keen enthusiasm for technical matters. "Sir, if I use the ordinary 4-circle frost matrix the core will overheat after twelve consecutive salvos. However, when I fed a strand of your Prana energy into the cooling alloy, the metal started to repair its own thermal fatigue on its own! It's amazing—the weapon is no longer just a dead machine; it acts like a living organism which adapts to energy friction!"
Exactly so," I said with a smile of approval. "Machines break since they are static, whereas life continues because it is able to adapt; if the idea of cellular regeneration is applied to mechanical engineering, your creations will never experience core wear."
Lina hurriedly wrote notes in her leather-bound journal, her quill scraping rapidly across the parchment.
Noah was a few paces away and was deep in meditation, hanging three inches above the steel floor. Faint and crackling arcs of pale-crimson lightning flickered over his skin, following the complex, newly created lines of his Chaos Titan Body Refining Technique. The striking red hair of his's moved gently in the updraft caused by his own aura, and his breathing was just as steady and unshakable as that of a mountain.
I softly asked Noah, "How does the core feel?"
Noah opened his crimson eyes, and the intense light in his pupils at once gave way to a deep and respectful sense of deference. He then lowered himself to the deck and bowed.
Master, I am glad to report that the third level of Qi Refinement has fully merged with my marrow,» Noah said, his voice calm and deep. Previously, when I was practising ordinary Soul Formation techniques, my energy always seemed wild—like a wild river about to break its banks. But the Nirvana technique that Master gave me is different; the Qi doesn't just flow through me, it has now become an inseparable part of my physical will.
"That is the reason why you no longer depend on external shortcuts," I said as I went over and placed my hand on his shoulder. "You are building your power from nothing. When we get to the Western Continent in four days, you will have to meet people who make use of cheats, stolen artifacts, and oversized realms. Your dense and unyielding marrow will crush them like dry twigs when facing such an empty foundation."
Noah gripped his fists and the red runes on his collarbone shone with a calm and unshakable determination. "I won't let you down, Master."
At the same time... in the Western Continent lies the Azure Dragon Mountain Range.
BOOM!
A dazzling stream of iridescent, prismatic swordlight sliced its way through the misty ancient mountain, cutting out a canyon three hundred metres wide in the solid granite bedrock.
Corpses clad in the proud blue robes of the Thunder Wind Sect littered the blood-soaked mountain pass. Powerful elders, renowned 6-circle archmages, and Nascent Soul patriarchs lay strewn across the fractured earth, their meridians severed and their spatial rings stripped clean.
At the heart of the destroyed area there was a young woman.
She was dressed in sumptuous, fluttering silk robes with celestial designs embroidered on them, but the innocence which had once been in her eyes—when she was a girl in a forgotten courtyard in West Oak City—was long gone. The face which Noah had once loved with every part of himself was now twisted into a cold and scornful sneer.
There was an old black ring on her right index finger which pulsated with a dark and bottomless whirlpool of devouring light.
Please... spare us, Sect Master Ruby...
The Grand Elder of the Thunder Wind Sect coughed up large quantities of black blood and dragged his broken body across the dirt, lifting his eyes to her in pure, undisguised horror. "Our sect... all we ever did was question your monopoly over the spirit vein... Why on earth must you kill off our entire family?"
The foreign soul that was Ruby—or at least the part of her that existed outside her body—gently swung her transparent divine blade of S rank, causing a drop of blood to land on the elder's face.
"Why?" Ruby chuckled, her laugh full of light and sociopathic amusement as she tapped into the interface of her invisible Transmigrator System. "You NPCs offer three hundred thousand experience points and high-tier drop rates. Why would a protagonist leave free farming material around the map?"
"N-NPC...? What on earth are you talking about..." the elder managed to choke out as his vision began to fade.
"You wouldn't understand, you lowly creature," Ruby smirked and took a step forward, placing the heel of her boot with embroidery directly on the old man's chest.
The dark ring on her finger flashed with a sudden, greedy hunger.
Protocol for Devouring: Absorb the Nascent Soul Foundation!
The Grand Elder gave a blood-curdling scream as the last of his life force, his Qi and soul essence, was violently torn from his Dantian and spun directly into Ruby's ring, just as water runs down a drain. Within a few seconds the proud elder had been reduced to a shriveled, dry husk of grey skin and bone.
Ruby sighed with satisfaction as the huge amount of stolen power flowed into her core and pushed her cultivation directly towards the Peak 8-Circle realm.
A mechanical chime sounded in her mind: "Ding! The Host has eliminated the Thunder Wind Sect! All the regional resources have been secured!"
"It's an easy game," Ruby muttered, turning her back on the burning ruins of the sect. She directed her gaze towards the distant western coastline, a cruel and mocking smile appearing on her lips. "All that remains in this area is that miserable Bloodborn territory. My useless ex-fiancé should have been dead in a ditch by now... Once I have eliminated the rest of his pathetic family, the whole continent will be under my control."
In an instant she was gone, completely not realizing that on the Endless Sea a particular White submarine was making its way directly to her door—its cargo consisting of a vengeful prodigy and a scholar snake who had no tolerance for cheaters as protagonists.