When they came out of Theodore's memories, Turia was still in shock.
Even Theodore suddenly canceling their connection did not rouse her.
She just sat there with her eyes closed.
Duunim had long raised an eyebrow at Turia for how unresponsive she was.
Turia had said nothing.
Instead, she briefly glanced at Duunim and then suddenly used her ability to vanish!
There was very little that could startle a machine cultivator but this did.
She needed time to think about the things she had seen.
Theodore did not look good either.
The experience was still as haunting as he had remembered it to be.
Even after it was over, he found himself still feeling stressed to the max.
Theodore surprisingly found himself in quite a different mood than he had expected.
Seeing everything again had merely reinforced his desire for strength and his devotion to obtaining it!
The feeling of helplessness was a grim motivator for Turia and Theodore.
Initially very distraught, Turia had retreated to where the shack once stood.
She stood there and silently gazed at the ocean.
Her expression remained steady at first, before being overcome with grief.
Small tears kept falling down her face and were swept away by the breeze.
Theodore excused himself and had returned to his room soon after.
He was in no mood to continue anything and he needed to clear his mind.
He also looked forward to having an ice-cold shower.
Duunim was left at the pavilion, lost in thought.
The little lord was by the pond and currently in a splendid mood.
To his absolute joy, he had discovered several arenas where cultivators fought for prize money on the net!
These arenas would be his hunting grounds, where he could find people to berate and criticize!
At least that is what he had imagined would happen.
What really happened, was that no one cared for his "advice" at all, his comments were drowning in the live chat of millions of viewers.
Frustrated, he reasoned that this situation called for a strategy!
He created several smurf accounts and started betting on the outcome of high stakes fights.
Along with the large bets, he would include a message, addressed to the fighting cultivators themselves.
In the message, he would, of course, berate them severely!
Aside from insults, he would include incredibly detailed information, on how to overcome the weaknesses in cultivation it had spotted.
There were truly too many different cultivation methods in the world.
The little lord's message included very specific things that only the intended recipient would understand if they didn't die of anger first.
This time the little lord's actions bore fruit, but in unexpected ways!
Due to using many accounts at the same time, he pissed off a majority of the participants.
Instantly, some of his insults circulated among the millions of viewers on the net.
It turned into a total shitshow and many were furious!
His accounts were banned from further comments right away, so he would just have to wait and see.
And sure enough, eventually, one of the fighters got over his pride and applied the little lord's advice.
The man had been stuck in a pinch because he let his anger distract him from battle.
He wanted to give up the fight after getting injured but remembered the little lord's words.
He needed the prize money and figured he may as well give it a shot as a last resort!
Not only did he advance in his cultivation on the spot, but he also began a winning streak!
Others soon noticed that many fighters advanced in their cultivations!
It became one of the oddest events in the arena world's history.
After the fights finished, many of the famous fighters stormed into the manager's office.
They had learned that the accounts that gave the advice were banned because of their highly offensive messages.
While there was no doubt about the insults being vile, there were also many who advanced thanks to them!
What saintly powerhouses had seen through their cultivations on the spot?!
It needed to be investigated!
The little lord had no idea about what a storm he had created. He had observed all those who obeyed his "advice" and watched them advance in their cultivations.
To him, the matter was concluded in his favor and he drew immense satisfaction from this.
By the time he opened his "eyes", he was the only one left in the courtyard.
Theodore could not sleep for the life of him.
Cultivation too seemed strained, his mind kept wandering back to that sense of helplessness he had felt.
Oddly enough, trying to simply get stronger by cultivating seemed inadequate. It just was not enough to overcome this feeling.
Theodore left his room and exited the mansion.
He was thinking that maybe a walk down the shore would bring him some gentle distraction.
By this time, the two moons that orbited the planet were fully visible in the night sky.
The larger of the two shone orange-red and the smaller in a deep emerald green.
Stars were shining overhead and Theodore stood on the shore and looked at the sky.
The stars had been invisible in that place and thick clouds covered the sky.
He found the sight before him refreshing to look at and yet something gnawed at a corner of his mind.
He looked very lonely, standing by the shore and gazing at the stars.
Eventually, a few hours had passed.
Theodore's lonely figure was seen by a gentle set of topaz-blue colored eyes.
Turia had decided to join him at the shore, neither one of them spoke a word.
They just stood there and looked up at the stars, as if piecing them together could result in building a path towards the future.
A golden path.