Yasuo looked at his hands. He was shaking with excitement. "There's more...! I can become stronger than Divine Profound...!"
Pixie flew over. "Yasuo? What are you talking about? What was in there?"
Yasuo looked at her. He brought out the orb he'd swiped before leaving the room. It was a black orb that glowed purple, and tiny specks of light that shone like stars were visible from the inside.
Yasuo stared at it. "Analyze!"
Yasuo internally gained information about the mysterious item.
"So...?" Pixie asked.
Yasuo frowned. "It's called the Space-Time Crystal. It's a Heavenly Sage Realm artifact..."
"Heavenly Sage?"
"Yeah. It's the first level above the Divine Profound Realm."
"Really...? It must be priceless then..."
Yasuo looked at the artifact from all angles. "Jishi? What do you think? Can I use it?"
< "No. There is an extremely high chance of death if you use that. Frankly, your rank is too low." >
Yasuo nodded. "I figured as much. Well, just in case, I'll make some duplications for inventory."
He put the orb away. "Anyway, first things first. Let's get out of this place."
Pixie agreed.
——
Rieko knocked on the bedroom door.
"Come in." Kofi said.
The door creaked open. "Yasuo's not here?"
Kofi was sitting crisscross on the bed. "No. He hasn't been here all day."
Rieko eyed Kofi up and down. She pointed at him. "Have you been cultivating in here this whole time?"
Kofi nodded.
Rieko sighed. She placed her hands on her hips. "Look, you can't just sit in here all day meditating! Go outside for once will you?"
Kofi relaxed. "But don't you want to get stronger?"
Rieko stood up straight. "Look. I came to this kingdom to become an adventurer. An easy life, doing mediocre quests and making good money. I don't need to be Master Profound Realm or whatever for that. Yasuo is... too ambitious. I can't keep up with him."
Kofi looked down. "Well... I'm not gonna stop. Yasuo's given me an opportunity I thought I'd never have. So I won't let his effort go to waste. I'm aiming for the Higher Earthly Realm."
Rieko gave him a half-hearted smile. "Ah. I see. Well if you see Yasuo, let him know that I'm leaving his party and that I wish him the best!"
The door closed behind her.
——
Yang Chen, his brother, and Xiao Yun left the King's Castle.
Yang Ju caught up with Chen. "Brother, what are you thinking? None of this is necessary!"
"Shut up! This is the perfect opportunity to gain some recognition with the king!" Chen mounted his horse.
Ju did as well.
Yun walked back to her carriage.
Chen lowered his voice. "After I marry Yun, the Morning Lotus Sect will become the head clan of our city! And after she's dead, I will be able to choose any woman I want from all of Liu's sacred clans!!"
Ju frowned. "I don't think that this is the right thing to do..."
"You're too soft, little brother. Yah!!" Chen led the group away from the castle.
——
When Yasuo came up to the top of the cliff, it was already nightfall. "Woo! That was an adventure!"
Pixie flew close-by.
On the way back to Alverus, Yasuo crossed paths with the group of foreigners from earlier.
Chen sneered at him as they passed by.
Xiao Yun stuck her head out of her carriage. "That's the boy from earlier...!" she thought.
Chen gave her a sharp glare and she quickly pulled her head back in.
Yasuo continued back to Alverus. He went to his room at the inn.
Kofi was already asleep, likely tired from cultivating all day.
Yasuo simply sat on the floor. "Hey... Jishi. You there?"
< "I am." >
"Back in the cave earlier... what happened? Your soul separated from mine."
< "The strength of the soul force inside of the cave disturbed our dantians to the point where our link was severed. Luckily our resonance was strong enough to instantly re-attach." >
Yasuo took out some Hydro Crystal Ore. "What about the Dao Emperors? Were they the ones who set all of that up?"
< "Likely so. The Dao Emperors reached the peak of cultivation, the Heavenly Dao Realm." >
Yasuo took out some scrolls. "I'm gonna spend the night making some items."
—
Kofi woke up to Yasuo meditating on the floor. He groggily rubbed his eyes. "Hm...? Yasuo? How long were you there?"
Yasuo opened his eyes and turned around. "Oh Kofi. Morning."
Kofi sat up. "Rieko came by yesterday. She said that she was leaving your party."
"She did? Why?"
Kofi shrugged. "Yeah, something about her wanting an easy life, and her not being able to keep up with you and stuff."
Yasuo chuckled. "That's fine. I was gonna ditch her anyway."
"That's... a little mean..."
Yasuo pulled out an elixir bottle and tossed it to Kofi. "Rieko's too weak. She has no intention of getting stronger and she has no real ambition in life. I'm not too fond of those types of people."
Kofi held the bottle in his hands. "Well... what's your ambition?"
Yasuo chugged down another one of his own elixirs and wiped his mouth. "I want to be the best. Whoever the strongest person in this world is, I'll be stronger. Whoever the smartest is, I'll be smarter. Even the richest man will become second to me. That's where I'm headed!"
"Wow... you're amazing Yasuo. You actually have the courage to say those things. Someone like me could never..."
"Hey!"
Kofi looked at him. Yasuo was glaring back.
"Don't limit yourself just because you're weak. If you're weak, then work harder than everyone above you! Your soul is weaker than others, so what?! Make it work." Yasuo's own words made himself think back to his previous life where he had a mental disability, so he spent long years learning how to hack computers of all kinds just so he could make his brain even more capable than the average human.
Kofi nodded. "I just wanted to prove everyone wrong. But I won't be able to reach Master Profound or anything."
Yasuo sighed and shook his head. "I'm going out again. Do what you will."
Yasuo left the inn and closed the door behind him. He aimlessly walked out into the city.
< "Yasuo? Are you alright?" >
"I misjudged this world."
< "What do you mean by that?" >
"This is one of those worlds where the strong reign supreme and the weak will be oppressed. But if the weak have no motivation to become strong, then what's the point of associating with them?"
< "As a god, you should be surrounding yourself with the strong. Weaklings aren't worth your time and effort. If you truly want to become the strongest there is, then this kingdom won't suffice." >
"What do you mean by 'this kingdom'?"
< "Of all the settlements in this world, Alverus has the weakest total soul force." >
Yasuo facepalmed himself. "I saved Kofi from his family because I thought that he would become a super-strong ally of mine. I'm not here to babysit!"
Yasuo stopped walking in the middle of the street. "Hey Jishi. Where was that cute girl from? The one yesterday with the purple eyes."
< "She is from the Great City of Liu. It is far east from here." >
"That's where I'm going! Forget this kingdom. I could already see where I was headed."
Yasuo left the Kingdom of Alverus without saying goodbye to anyone.
"Jishi, is there any way for me to look more my age? I can't stand this tiny 12 year-old body."
< "Well that was the intended age for you to start with." >
"Then make me my real age!!"
< "If you want I can create a Body Manipulation Skill for you." >
"Yes, yes, do that!"
A chime sounded.
As Yasuo continued walking through the grassy plains outside of Alverus, his body quickly matured by several years, making him appear as his true age. He grew a few inches taller, and lost any spare extra weight.
"This'll work." Yasuo said, admiring his new physique.
Pixie showed herself. "Where are we headed?"
"The Great City of Liu. They have a stronger foundation of people than Alverus."
"Ah. Makes sense."
Yasuo looked at his necklace. "Come out, Uwi."
The pendant glowed, and baby Uwibami appeared on Yasuo's shoulder. He yawned and smacked his mouth a few times.
Yasuo held up a spherical pill. "Here, eat this. It's good for you."
Pixie watched Uwibami chew on the pill. "Dragons are self-sustainable aren't they?"
Yasuo fed Uwibami another pill. "Yeah, but I have to feed Uwi's soul force, or I'll leave him behind. These pills are made out of some spare ingredients I had."
Yasuo's body began glowing with soul force. "Out here in open nature, I can even cultivate while walking. But it takes a lot more concentration than I thought."
Uwibami grew by several centimeters.
"You're taking this seriously hm?" Pixie asked.
Yasuo tossed a pill into his own mouth. "That girl's fiancé was of the Master Profound Realm. He belongs to a sect, so I'm positive there are much stronger people than him in Liu. I'm gonna treat this world like a video game and do what I do best."
"And what would that be?"
Yasuo smirked. "Hack!"