When Gilgamesh awoke, he found himself in a strange place, laying on a flat bed and surrounded by thin veils.
There was an almost overbearing, herbal scent in the room that either relaxed or disgusted him, but he couldn't decide which it was.
He thought back to the conversation he had just had with the finger, and tried to reach out to it. Even though his consciousness appeared in his sea of energy, the finger did not write in the air like it did before.
It appeared as though it could only communicate with him in that special state- at least for now.
Gilgamesh had only just raised himself up off the bed a little before he saw Little Feather sleeping on a cot next to him.
Her black hair was sullied due to her daily duties, and he noticed that her clothes were no longer in suitable condition for wearing.
His heart bled at the sight of her miniature figure laying next to his bed, fast asleep and drooling just a little.
Gilgamesh leaned over and wiped her mouth once he was sure his hand was clean; someone had cleaned him up.
'I should let her sleep. She's had far too many early mornings. From now on, she can sleep in as often as she wants.'
Gilgamesh stood up from his bed, careful not to wake Little Feather, and gave her a little kiss on the head.
He felt that he had been neglecting her, and vowed to remedy that very soon.
After getting up and leaving his section of the room behind, Gilgamesh noticed a number of other veiled off 'rooms' within the space.
After a quick chat with the Omniscient Author, he came to learn that he was within Miss Nightshade's abode; she was the Mistress of Servants, as well as their personal caretaker and nurse.
Gilgamesh nodded and decided to let Little Feather sleep some more. He wanted to take her to the market.
Thinking thusly, he looked at the ring he had gotten from Hunter.
In it, he found his expected allowance of 3,000 spirit stones, and also some extra. These looked like spirit stones of a much higher caliber; Gilgamesh quickly found out that they were vigorous stones.
Each of them was worth 100 spirit stones, and Gilgamesh found that he had 120 of them.
His total wealth had suddenly skyrocketed to 15,000 spirit stones.
'A decent amount.'
His first thought was to take Little Feather shopping when she woke.
With nothing else to do but wait for that to happen, Gilgamesh started cultivating to push his fourth meridian to the upper limit.
After he had refined it with all the true energy he possessed, he was unable to push it any further due to his bout with the heavenly immortals.
Now that that was over, he could continue to gather energy and refine both his meridian and body, bringing them to new heights.
Gilgamesh found that, for some reason, his energy gathering method functioned at a way higher efficiency than before.
Without the aid of the Obscure Spark, he was pulling in hundreds of cycles' worth of true energy in seconds- or perhaps even more.
He could only attribute this to the formation of the finger. His inherent nature had become slightly clearer, and its effects were apparent.
Satisfied, Gilgamesh smiled as he cultivated. It did not take long for him to reach the limit.
'It seems as though the limit doubles with each meridian. The gap between the first and second meridians is only so big because there was a problem that needed to be rectified.'
Opening his eyes, Gilgamesh saw that Little Feather had woken up at some point, and she was actually emulating his actions.
She sat down, cross-legged, and was slowly gathering energy.
When he saw this, his expression softened and his heart warmed.
With a subconscious thought- meaning he himself did not realize he was doing it- Gilgamesh's doting behavior toward Little Feather sparked a change.
Her energy gathering method's efficiency suddenly multiplied, and she started to absorb more of the energy of heaven and earth than ever before.
Her small chest seemed to rise a bit as she struggled to get used to the new surge of energy, and some beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
Soon enough though, she relaxed again as a breath of thin mist was exhaled from her nose.
Gilgamesh's smile only grew as he looked at her. He still had no idea what he had done.
At this time, Hunter and Pacifist were walking up the mountain path with the Old Patriarch, chatting as they went.
They wondered, at first, why someone like him chose to walk up the mountain when he had a number of methods to ascend it much faster, but eventually they started to enjoy it.
Inner Disciples lived in secluded abodes within the mountains, so there were far less servants and Outer Disciples on the mountain path.
Better yet was the scenery, coupled with the creatures that loved the eternal night of the forest.
"Patriarch-" Pacifist started.
"Please, call me Mister Yew."
Pacifist faltered slightly before nodding with a gulp. "Uh, Mister Yew, where did Master go? He even took the most powerful Guardians with him."
"We asked, but he wouldn't tell us." Hunter chimed in. He, too, desired an answer.
The Old Patriarch pursed his lips before he folded his arms and shook his head. "In truth, we were not in agreement regarding his latest endeavor."
"As I'm sure you both know, my nephew is a bit of an extremist when it comes to dealing with his perceived enemies."
Hunter suddenly chuckled, "Like someone else we know."
Thinking of Gilgamesh, they all shared a laugh.
Pacifist then asked, "So he went after one of those enemies? The Salamanderites of the Desert then?"
The Old Patriarch shook his head. Hunter slowly pieced something together when he saw that, and he gasped.
"He went after... The Abysmal Beast..."
The Old Patriarch instantly sighed at the mere mention of that name.
"Indeed he did. Once news reached us from the other world that his parents had been violently slaughtered, my nephew instantly came to me with his revenge plan."
"After he completed his Seventh Banishment, my nephew's power immediately surpassed my own. Ever since then, I have no idea just how powerful he has become."
Hunter and Pacifist exchanged a glance. Even they had no idea.
"While I admit he is incredibly powerful, his hotheadedness may one day spell his downfall. I tried to get him to wait- gather information before seeking a fight- but he refused, and took all Guardians above the Embryonic Soul stage with him."
The Old Patriarch could only shake his head and sigh defeatedly.
However, as the atmosphere slowly turned gloomy, a sudden change caused the Old Patriarch to gaze upward.
His dim eyes suddenly brightened with the image of a spectral explosion reflected in them.
Up above, in the ever-night sky, a rift was torn open and a large number of people flew out of it, falling down to the sect like rain.
After around two dozen people had exited the rift, and man draped in dark green with a golden cape appeared, and the rift was then shut.
After just a moment, that man discerned the location of the Old Patriarch and started flying toward him.
Throughout the entire sect, disciples and servants alike had noticed this, causing a huge uproar.
No matter where in the sect they were, they could be heard screaming and shouting different things- some not even intelligible.
"The Forest Master! He's back!"
"Look! Dragon Guardian is wearing a sexy, scaly dress! AWO!!!"
"I finally get to the see the Forest Master, but he's so far away!"
"BRAGAHAGA!!! I LOVE YOU FLOWER GUARDIAN!!!"
At one of the vending disciple's stalls, Gilgamesh and Little Feather had just arrived to purchase some clothes and other items.
Gilgamesh gave the returning figures a sideways glance, and went back to holding whatever items Little Feather handed to him.
He had told her to get whatever she wanted.
She also paid little attention to the Forest Master and the other Guardians. Not only was she busy picking out nice clothes and accessories, but she was also spending time with her Big Brother.
She could not care less about the Forest Master right now.
They both carried on, and as the Forest Master landed somewhere on the distant mountain path, the disciples energy also lessened significantly.
Soon, they went back to normal.
"Uncle, as well as Hunter and Pacifist, I've returned!"
The Forest Master descended from the sky to greet them.
His eyes were brightly colored, and his lustrous, smooth skin made him appear to be no older than twenty.
His long hair waved in the wind, and as it was blown it seemed to sparkle with an indistinct hue, almost like the clothes that the heavenly immortals wore.
This was an effect of the starlight he had been in the presence of.
"I see that," the Old Patriarch nodded with a thin smile.
Hunter and Pacifist both bowed low, "Welcome back, Master."
"Mm! Good to be back!"
He suddenly frowned as he looked at the two Guardians, "Hm? Where's Aerial? With the Shaman again?"
They each seemed to falter a bit at the mere mention of the Holy Shaman.
Hunter cleared his throat, "Well, Master, Aerial is currently at his abode, recovering from grave wounds."
The Forest Master's eyes widened a bit, "You beat some sense into him, then? He tried something?"
Hunter, Pacifist and the Old Patriarch looked between each other when they heard the question.
"What's gotten into you? Even you, Uncle- have you all been cucked recently or something!?" The Forest Master's contorted face made a clear show of his confusion.
"Listen, nephew," the Old Patriarch started.
"The Holy Shaman's entire faction has practically been crushed by a certain someone."
"She was killed, the Temple was destroyed and almost all of her devour followers died as a result."
"As for Aerial, he was defeated by two spectacular disciples, who are also reportedly the underlings of that same someone."
As the Forest Master listened, his face continued to shift from confusion to utter incredulity.
"Who could have done something like that in such a short time?"
The Old Patriarch gave a knowing smile, and he glanced toward the towering, giant figure of the Forest-Gate.
"We know him as Gilgamesh. Yet, sometimes, I wonder who 'Gilgamesh' truly is."