Yu Xian asked himself a question. What was the ultimate taboo in the eyes of the Heavens?
Immortality? Heavens certainly weren't kind to cultivators.
Killing innocents? Those that followed the fiendish path would never be able to die peacefully!
At this moment though, as he watched the eyeless mass of limbs crawl away and make blood-curdling screeches, Yu Xian revised his view of taboos.
Creating new life. That should be the biggest taboo of all! Yu Xian decided that he would make it so when he ascended to become the heavens!
"Elder sister, I think you forgot to give it a mouth." Ning Bi said absentmindedly while watching the creature slam its body on a patch of grass.
Yao Qing couldn't take her eyes off the creature. This… thing… had a spirit! Its existence was outside the natural laws! A new life form was born, just like that! Though her own bloodline was an existence that was against the natural laws, seeing such a manifestation, Yao Qing couldn't help but secretly shudder.
Treebeard frowned, unable to form a coherent thought while observing the scene. Even his former cultivation realm wasn't high enough to ascertain what was going on, yet he couldn't shake this feeling of wrongness!
He wasn't the only one! Liang Cuifen opened her mouth to ask a question, but no words could come out. The repulsive nature of this creature overwhelmed her mind!
Xin Meili, who was inadvertently watching the scene while escorting Han De, had to prevent herself from physically gulping. She saw it! Yes, it was unfortunate, but the deed was done! Yet another heaven-defying event was added to her memory!
Who would've thought the innate perception of a Transcendent Realm expert could be a curse?
Meanwhile, right beside Xin Meili, Han De's Reality Sense had picked up the fluctuations from Jin Shu's bloodline.
'I still don't understand why Jin Shu's fate is Nameless Horror… Let's hope nothing bad happened during bloodline awakening.'
Han De felt a bit of regret not looking at their status during the ceremony. But what could he do even if he did? The hit to his reputation would've been too great if he lost his cool at that moment!
Led by Xin Meili, Han De finally arrived at Ning Bi's palace. From outside not much has changed, but to a cultivator's senses, the palace was devoid of life. Ning Bi's ("slightly" irresponsible) parents were gone, so were the servants. Only his disciples were present.
'Wait, what's that small thing?'
A tiny energy signature caught Han De's attention. Could it be a pet? A cat that one of his disciples got before leaving?
'Doesn't look like a cat, maybe a kitten, but…'
The small energy signature suddenly started moving farther away.
'F#$% that's too fast to be a kitty. Maybe a spiritual kitty?'
Could it be a divine spiritual beast of sorts? Han De thought that was possible, and a very MC-like development. Even if the little thing didn't have a cultivation base, a special bloodline could always awaken later. A chicken could turn into a phoenix!
A chicken would turn into a phoenix.
'My bloodline will make it difficult to raise a sacred beast though. The concentration of Primordial Whatever Dragon also increased since the last time I tested the effects of spiritual beasts.'
This was a problem that Han De had thought about before, but couldn't find a practical solution for. Now that they were at the cusp of starting a new sect, he felt he needed to evaluate other options!
'What if I were to cast an illusion spell that inhibited the beast's fear against me? Could that work, I wonder…'
Han De made a dismissive head gesture to Xin Meili, and the latter disappeared immediately.
Six disciples were inside a pavilion, surrounded by a field of grass. Han De immediately made a note not to use grass anywhere inside the new sect. Just looking at it was highly offensive to his inner Grandmaster Herbalist!
"Greetings, master." Ning Bi was the first, followed by everyone else, deeply bowing.
"Raise your heads." Han De responded with a smile.
The palace was excessively decorated, but Han De thought the chairs were designed for style rather than substance. The grandmaster illusionist within him refused to sit on such uncomfortable-looking cushions! He conjured a gothic armchair on the spot with a wave of his hand!
Ning Bi's eyes lit up, while Yu Xian thought creating an illusion was simply preposterous! The leather of this chair was from a Transcendent Realm spiritual beast! Could an illusion even compare?!
Disciples sat down after their master. Han De observed each of them for a few seconds. At first he wanted to status-check them, but if he suddenly thought of something that could trigger a tribulation, the meeting would be cut short. Therefore he held himself back and only acted as if he was examining their cultivation and characters.
"We are about to reach our destination." Han De looked at each disciple. During the disciple acceptance ceremony, he had to act more profoundly than usual. Now though, he could bring his act down a few notches. While still staying within the boundaries of Profound Teacher A of course.
"The place we are going to establish the sect is infested with demonic cultivators. First, we will need to clean up their mess." Ning Bi's eyes started glowing with excitement! But Han De wasn't done. "Cultivators tend to ignore the mortals, and those that don't usually treat them as livestock. We will do no such thing, nor will we tolerate that kind of behavior."
Yu Xian raised an eyebrow, while Treebeard faintly smiled as if he expected this.
"We shall bring peace, and prosperity to everyone. Whether they are mortals or cultivators is irrelevant. Everyone has the right to live, everyone has the right to better themselves." Though Han De was looking at his disciples equally as he spoke, his main objective was Ning Bi! He desperately hoped that this way he could soften the little Purifier of Planes' ruthless nature…
"What's the point of being involved in mortal affairs; they can't even cultivate." Muttered Yu Xian. Upon realizing everyone was looking at him, he felt some regret at his newfound tendency to mutter. But, as a God-King, it was natural for him to be thick-skinned. Yu Xian received the odd looks without even blinking an eye!
At the same time, Yu Xian had to admit, this state of level-headedness wasn't entirely of his own making. Although the illusion he trained in was rough, he couldn't have achieved his current temperament without it!
However, as he thought back at the training illusion, he couldn't help but remember the people within. Fighting netherdemons with flimsy spiritual artifacts…
"So what if they can't cultivate?" Asked Han De rhetorically, not taking the Harem MC's mutterings seriously. Most, if not all cultivators would have the same thoughts; opposition against mortals wasn't anything new.
To Yu Xian, it seemed that Han De had some… peculiar… thoughts about mortals. At least, that's how he thought of it first. Everyone had preferences, so Yu Xian didn't think too much of it. But he had some context into Han De's background now. His vast experience, and intuition as a God-King, immediately recognized a pattern!
Han De liked mortal girls, made illusions about mortals, now was even talking about developing mortals, and even defended their inability to cultivate! There was a precedent for it, Yu Xian could smell it.
Just a few meters away, Han De recognized the signs of Yu Xian's thinking. "Master, the training illusion from that day… Were they truly mortals?" The Harem S#$% asked.
Han De couldn't understand the question at first. In his professional opinion, the MC had connected some dots that didn't really exist, and was asking to confirm his suspicions. But what were those suspicions?
'What did this guy overthink now?' Han De thought as he suppressed his urge to sigh. 'Does he think those people were real? He did ask me if the illusion was from a real event before. Did he forget that too? Or is he phrasing it that way to indirectly confirm some convoluted logic?'
After a breath of time, Han De answered in a leisurely manner. "In the fictional setting, yes. All of them are mortals." Han De continued in his mind. 'With a few exceptions, but who cares.'
Liang Cuifen did, but Han De had forgotten about her at the moment.
Then, Han De noticed Ning Bi's burning gaze! From outside, she looked calm and collected. Truly, at that moment, she looked like the very definition of an exemplary senior sister!
Only the excessive glow of her eyes and her extremely fast heart rate gave away her inner thoughts!
"Master." Ning Bi spoke slowly. "What is the training illusion junior brother talking about?"
Han De suppressed his urge to smile and waved his hands dismissively. "Just something I came up with at a whim."
"Master..." Seeing how Ning Bi could barely contain herself, Han De stopped her with his eyes.
'Actually, this could be a good thing, now that I think about it…'
Ning Bi was at the forefront of Han De's mind when he created the training illusion. The little girl liked stories, and liked training! This illusion killed two birds with one stone!
What if Ning Bi tried the illusion live? Wouldn't that finally wipe Yu Xian's neither servile nor overbearing expression away?
"Since you are interested, do you want to give it a try?" Asked Han De with a smile.
The answer came without a delay. "Yes! Master!"
Han De's smile grew wider as he started condensing his Qi into the shape of the illusion.
But then, just for a tiny fraction of a second, the legendary fast-thinking ability showed its might once again!
Though he named the final difficulty levels after Ning Bi herself, she could handle it, right? Wouldn't her confidence take a blow if she were to lose? According to the System, Ning Bi had just recovered from a potential heart demon scenario. Han De couldn't bear to imagine her in a situation like that again!
What if he secretly gave her a lower-level difficulty? But with Yu Xian present, that would surely cause some issues down the line! Perhaps it would be worse than Ning Bi failing by herself! "Ning Bi - Final Form" difficulty was easy to distinguish thanks to the totally random elements! Yu Xian would definitely notice, and would intentionally or unintentionally mutter some random words! Wouldn't Ning Bi think about why her master decreased the difficulty for her then?
Thinking of the entire illusion, Han De couldn't help but curse himself. 'F#$%, I may have gone too far in a few places…'
It had to be said, Han De designed the difficulty levels to be beyond reason. Ning Bi was an MC; of course she would break every record if she tried! This was the reason why the illusion ended up with 13 difficulty levels instead of 3! Each time Han De added a higher level, the difficulty tripled! He had >90% confidence that the illusion was a true MC buster!
Yes, after thinking about it, he was at least 80% confident that Ning Bi wouldn't be able to finish it on the first try.
Probably.
The energy of the Twilight Phantasm Scripture enveloped Ning Bi while Han De gently held her body with spiritual energy to prevent her from falling down the chair.
In the end, the least harmful choice was to use the same difficulty level as Yu Xian. Failure could also become a positive development, as long as Han De could spin it the right way, that is.
'Ning Bi is going to surpass Yu Xian's score anyway, 1000000%! It should be easy to selectively stretch some truths later on using that. Yeah, I can muddle the waters. Easy.'
Next, he used the Wandering Mirage Scripture to create a massive screen, and linked it to the training illusion, so that everyone could watch Ning Bi from the 3rd person perspective!
How could Han De forget about an essential feature like streaming? All of the foundation was already built into the illusion; he only needed to tap into it!
Meanwhile, Liang Cuifen remembered that Yu Xian had asked about the illusion before. At the time she couldn't make sense of what an illusion was supposed to be. And even now, despite having cultivation knowledge inside of her brain, she couldn't understand.
"What is an illusion?" Liang Cuifen asked Yu Xian with a whisper. "And why is it called a training illusion?"
The black screen turned to gray and displayed a name and the difficulty setting. Just like Yu Xian's, Ning Bi's difficulty was set to 13.
"This is an illusion to train the mind." Replied Yu Xian. "Master's attainments in Dao of Illusions are not ordinary; when you are inside, everything feels real!"
Han De gave Yu Xian a mental +1. At least this Harem MC was kind of OK in ass-kissing! Subtle, and left a better aftertaste than the unbridled enthusiasm of his lackeys.
But Yu Xian's comments caused other disciples to perk up their ears. Treebeard had never seen or heard of young master Han De using illusions. Yao Qing and Jin Shu only knew of two recent instances where their master conjured a chair. Hearing Yu Xian's comment, the three original disciples started to look forward to seeing the illusion themselves.
The screen changed and displayed the ruins of a strange city. Slowly, the camera flew around and finally focused on a single soldier. To people who were watching, it was obvious that this was Ning Bi.
""""" SIR! YES! SIR! """""
Yu Xian subconsciously stiffened after hearing those familiar sounds. Even though he was now watching from outside, he could almost taste the dust, smell the stench of metal mixed in with sweat.
Inside the illusion, Ning Bi looked at her weapon with shining eyes!
She realized she already had some rudimentary information about this world. How to use a lasgun, or more importantly, what was a lasgun. She knew it all! Without delay, she started aiming at random spots to get herself familiar with her weapon.
Then she noticed other soldiers looking at her with strange eyes. Their wargear (?) looked worn out, some of them could barely stand. Their gazes showed that every single one of them had faced vicissitudes of life.
In this wholly unfamiliar place, these people were making their last stand. Somehow Ning Bi understood; this was their story. She was only there to witness it!
*Low Hum*
Soldiers and Ning Bi saw a red beam of light touching the ground in the distance. Soldiers took their positions, but Ning Bi stayed put. There was an indescribable feeling in her heart!
Outside, everyone saw Ning Bi waiting with her eyes closed.
A subtle frown appeared on Yu Xian's face. Did the girl already give up? He was already concerned about her mental well-being. Not everyone could handle the psychological pressure of getting ripped apart, or watching netherdemons devour one's flesh alive, or suffering excruciating pain while waiting to die from blood loss…
Yu Xian almost shivered after remembering some of his experiences, but thanks to the mental fortitude of a God-King, he only slightly adjusted the position of his eyebrows. Just slightly!
Ning Bi with her eyes closed, aimed at something in the sky, and fired her lasgun!
""""INCOM-""""
* BOOM *
Soldiers who were trying to take cover stumbled with the shock wave. But as they recovered, they realized they were still alive! The only person still standing was an unusually thin soldier, still aiming at the sky.
Yu Xian's mouth slightly opened.
It's not that he didn't try shooting at the incoming explosive, but he failed every single time!
Yu Xian didn't know of Ning Bi's Breach skill, nor could he even imagine its effects. But Han De had gone to extreme lengths to make everything seamless for his first disciple. Otherwise, with Ning Bi's overwhelming MC aura, she could still perceive the real world while inside the illusion. Han De the Grandmaster Illusionist could not accept such an inferior result!
After painstaking work, Han De had succeeded, and naturally had to incorporate many elements into the illusion to make it challenging for Ning Bi. He would never underestimate an MC! Least of all, his own disciples!
On the other side of Han De, Yao Qing had to consciously control her expression to prevent herself from frowning.
She had seen illustrations of these types of civilizations in the Grand Path Library. All of them were from the pre-Primordial era. No one would take these illustrations seriously, because they were created by multiple levels of hearsay. Ramblings of the insane, a senior had called them then, and Yao Qing had no reason to refute.
Meanwhile, inside the illusion, the ruins had started to vibrate. Han De manipulated the view to zoom in on the netherdemons' perspective. Tens of thousands were charging toward the ruins. Even when the lasgun barrage started, the netherdemons advanced. A few dramatic shots later, the camera went back to the third-person perspective focused on Ning Bi.
"""" Imperial Guards! Get Ready!! """"
Ning Bi's blood started to boil!
She was part of the Imperial Guards!
She would make the last stand to protect… It didn't matter if she didn't know what they were protecting. She was going to protect it anyway!
She could feel the excitement in the air!
'Imperial guards?' She thought while getting ready to face the netherdemons. 'That means there must be an emperor somewhere…'
Ning Bi closed her eyes to perceive the netherdemons. Their visage immediately lit up in the distance. She already knew their weak points thanks to her training in the demon pagoda!
Outside the illusion, Han De and his disciples watched Ning Bi rapidly fire with her eyes closed. The red beam from her lasgun never missed. Each shot slew at least one netherdemon without exception!
As Yu Xian watched, he started to feel something was off. "Does she have her cultivation?" He muttered. And realized he really did mutter once again!
"No." Answered Han De while hiding his glee at Yu Xian's reaction. "This training course was designed to deal with overwhelming odds. At the start, no one has any cultivation. Though, in the later stages, you will have to comprehend the Power of Warp to advance further."
"Power of Warp?" Asked Jin Shu. This was something she had never heard of.
Han De nodded while not knowing how to respond. As a modern media enthusiast, he was no stranger to fictional powers. But in a Xianxia world, everything was frighteningly real.
And then, there was Liang Cuifen, also waiting for Han De's response. Her eyes were like a bone-dry sponge, eager to absorb any bit of knowledge she could find about this vast new world.
'Well, I'm going to make a bunch of fantastical illusions anyway, no point in overthinking it. They shouldn't overthink it if I clearly state it is fictional, right?... Right??'
Han De spoke while watching Ning Bi firing her lasgun without stopping. "In this fictional world, Warp, is a dimension of pure mental energy. An ever-present realm that is shaped by the consciousness of all living creatures. Warp energy can be manipulated in a variety of ways."
Yu Xian sneaked a glance at Han De. When he questioned the soldiers in the illusion, he had heard someone mentioning mental arts, and practitioners succumbing to… miasma. It seemed that the underlying story really did have some significance!
Then, Yu Xian switched his attention back to the screen, only to see the end of the wave.
The metal puppets were dropping from the sky once again.
Yu Xian had looked away just one second, and now it was all over?! Inexplicably, he thought the little girl was cheating somehow. But that was such an absurd thought! He reprimanded himself for even thinking that! Was this the mental fortitude of a God-King? Perhaps he still needed some time to regain his former temperament.
Inside the illusion, soldiers watched the drop pods in awe.
""Space Marines...""
Reverence in soldiers' voices was obvious. Ning Bi watched them land while trying to find some melee weapons that she could use.
She… really wished she had her warglaives!
Another soldier's fearful tone caught her attention. "So many..."
So many? Wasn't it just a hundred? Then she concentrated on the so-called space marines.
'They are… not human? At least not completely?' She thought as she inspected their presence.
Normally, she couldn't really differentiate between different races. But somehow, in here, she could. It was as if the veil blocking her Breach skill was slowly being lifted!
Outside, Han De saw a panel that he hadn't seen in a long time.
[Breach (Mortal)]
[Progress: (+2) 26%]
'… It increased?!'
He had used his own Reality Sense as a template to fool Ning Bi's Breach skill. Helping her level it up wasn't his intention at all. Was the illusion really that well-made, that complete, that magnificent, that marvelous, that comprehensive, that spectacular? Han De the Grandmaster Illusionist savored that idea for a moment…
Then, Han De the Realist determined that it was just another bulls#$%-level MC development.
'Hmm. The Breach skill shouldn't be dangerous anymore, so it's fine if it improves.'
****Hum****
Ning Bi heard the sound of the red beam in her mind.
"Fix bayonets! Guardsmen! Equip your bayonets and march!!!"
A grim-faced man with ornate uniform gazed at the remaining Imperial Guards. Healthy and wounded, all guardsmen took up their weapons and started their march with solemn faces.
As Ning Bi joined them, she spotted the corpse of a netherdemon, with large blades protruding from its arm. Their shape… looked rather like warglaives!
She immediately rushed to the corpse and started firing her lasgun at close proximity. Under the confused looks of the marching guardsmen, she snapped the weakened blades from the corpse.
'… It's a bit slimy…' She thought as she swung the blades. When she was sure that they wouldn't slip from her grip, she joined the march.
Outside, Han De was pleased with himself. 'I knew she wouldn't miss the warglaive demon…'
A so-called Space Marine with golden armor and a giant hammer open his eyes, and his voice reverberated across the battlefield.
"Venerate the Immortal Emperor!"
Under the constant buzz of long-range weaponry, Ning Bi couldn't even hear herself breathe. With the ever-present scent of dust, the screams of the guardsmen from the front lines, and the howling of the netherdemons, Ning Bi felt her senses overload. She closed her eyes once again and tried to block everything.
[Breach (Mortal)]
[Progress: (+2) 28%]
Soon, the images of the guardsmen, the netherdemons, and the marines of space, became clear once again. The feeling got stronger and more profound. And then, she disappeared!
Outside, the camera snap zoomed at Ning Bi's new location. She cut the belly of a demon and disappeared once again.
Ning Bi cut another demon, and before her swing even finished, she disappeared, and her blades plunged into another one.
[Breach (Mortal)]
[Progress: (+2) 30%]
Hordes of netherdemons being cut down, by a small, 13-year-old girl, with no cultivation, using melee weapons… Yu Xian thought he was seeing things at first.
Was this the Power of Warp mentioned by Han De? Did she grasp it that quickly? As far as Yu Xian knew, the girl named Ning Bi was talented, as evident from the cultivation base of her real body. Reaching the Core Formation realm at the age of 13 couldn't be considered a small accomplishment, even if she had the support and resources from higher beings.
'No wonder Han De dual cultivates with her…' Thought Yu Xian, unaware of the reactions his thoughts would produce if he said them out loud.
On the side, Han De the Grandmaster Illusionist was tirelessly evaluating his own work.
'Not bad, she's a little bit faster than I thought, but all within my expectations…'
Han De was glad that he went overboard with the number of demons and their abilities. Underestimating an MC, was an act that would never commit!
Probably.
The second wave of demons was decimated by the Space Marines. Unfortunately, the cost was paid by Imperial Guards in blood. Only a few were remaining, and it was obvious they would succumb to their wounds sooner or later.
That left Ning Bi as the only survivor of the guardsmen. Blood-soaked, yet virtually untouched by demons, holding a pair of blades made of flesh and bones.
"Surround the Heretic!" A space marine bellowed. The weapons that were used to kill netherdemons, were now pointing at her.
Ning Bi could not understand what was happening, therefore she threw her "warglaives" to the ground and silently waited.
"She isn't corrupted…" Said the man with a huge hammer, who venerated the Emperor earlier.
For a while, the only sound on the battlefield was the black blood, dripping from Ning Bi's wargear. Finally, another man, shorter and thinner than space marines arrived. Though his face was wrinkled, and his hair was white, Ning Bi felt unprecedented pressure from those gray eyes. It was as if this man, would decide whether she get to live, or die.
"Inquisitor."
"Inquisitor…"
The old man nodded while sharply evaluating Ning Bi's appearance. "A psyker, amongst the guards…"
Ning Bi understood she was standing at the precipice of failure. Her skills were somehow considered to be unnatural. She stood, and did not avert her eyes from the man's gaze.
The man unsheathed his sword. Without saying a word, he closed the distance, and swung it!
Outside the illusion, Liang Cuifen audibly gasped. Yu Xian frowned, Treebeard thoughtfully watched.
The old man's sword stopped just a hair away from Ning Bi's neck. "A witch…" He murmured in a low voice. "With an undying devotion to the Emperor…"
Space marines stood their guard, but they inwardly frowned. However, the old man was the inquisitor, so not even their captain interrupted him.
"How have you not been corrupted by the warp?" The old man sheathed his sword and asked.
Ning Bi's eyes started glowing. She realized it was a rhetorical question.
"I shall test your mettle. And if you fail, I promise you that I will put your soul to rest."
Outside, Han De suppressed his urge to facepalm, with great difficulty.
'Sh*t, I know I wrote this. But… Was it this corny? This inaccurate? Now that I think about it, shouldn't the inquisitor just kill any unsanctioned warp user?'
This was the first time ever Han De had tried to write a story. At the time of writing, he was over the moon, adding random elements left and right, feeling very proud of himself. But what turned out to be his fan fiction… was rather… unfaithful… to the original works.
As he saw Treebeard profoundly nod while in deep thought, the feeling of embarrassment intensified.
Spending some time away from the illusion he created, allowed Han De to get some perspective.
'… Oh god, I put in so many plot armors… There're so many plot holes…'
Ning Bi and Space Marines started their march, and another red beam of light appeared in the distance. Which made Han De realize how much he overused the beam of light trope. Every single wave always started with it. Without exception.
This time bigger, fiercer netherdemons appeared. Though some of them were actual demons that Han De had personally seen, most of them were just bigger versions of the earlier netherdemons. With the only difference between them being the color of their skin.
'… Should I have… No, I definitely should've added a lot more variety…'
In Han De's defense, creating more content was hard, and reskinned monsters were very easy to implement!