"That is impossible." Said the bishop with a confident tone. He then stayed quiet the moment he noticed that the old cultivator wasn't over yet.
The old man caught on with the bishop, and once he saw a chance, he continued by saying, "This isn't all, Sir.. I was looking closely at the young woman at that moment, and for a few seconds, I am certain to have seen her jump from being a ki cultivator, and back to a spiritual entity multiple times.. However, when the ruckus ceased, she was an immortal cultivator once again."
The bishop thought deeply about whether he had heard about something like that before, but no matter how much he tried to recall, what he had heard should have been impossible. "Does anybody else know about this?" He asked with a serious tone.
"Her ascension happened right during the ascension of the inheritor of the first War god, so no one else should have noticed it. If they do know about it, then they have decided to ignore it." Said the old high immortal with a matter-of-fact tone.
"Very well. You may go." Said the bishop with a dismissive tone.
The old immortal flinched at the words of the bishop, and for a moment he considers whether to step out of the room or not, but then, he stood his ground, and with a somewhat embarrassed tone, he says, "First bishop, I have heard that valuable information is rewarded by the spiritual faction. I wonder if that is true?"
At no point in time had the bishop thought that the old man could have simply decided to go from the territory of the Domain of the War God, all the way to the white castle just to report this story out of the kindness of his heart.. and he wasn't wrong.
Right before this old man, many others had, after noticing the declining of their own groups, and the increasing power of the spiritual faction, had tried to jump ship, but what separated them from this old man, was the fact that the information given by this old man, were at least relevant to their nature as spiritual cultivators, and therefore, were of interest to them.
"Let's see if what you want is worth what you have shared."
The old man was ecstatic. For the past year he had seen the faction that had welcomed him as a mercenary, fight over the smaller and smaller resources present in their territory, all the while he heard rumors about the strengthening of the universal spiritual roots, that granted more resources to everyone who could use spiritual essence to cultivate, just like spiritual entities, or immortals. Not only as a cultivator, but as a person, he wanted to move from a dried up piece of land, to a flourishing environment where he could cultivate with no boundaries. Now, he had a chance.
"I would like to become an associate of the spiritual faction, and serve the Spiritual Emperor however I can." He said with a solemn tone before raising his eyes to check on the bishop's reaction. However, what he saw were eyes filled with doubt, and pointed at the young man that stood casually near the library. Worried that he hadn't offered enough, he continued in a hurry, "I know the faces of the two women, and I am very familiar with the capital, it would not be a problem for me to escort you to see these two unique specimens for yourself."
Once again, there was no positive reaction in the face of the bishop, so with a bit of anxiety, the old immortal shot his last shot by adding, "Originally, I had decided to share this with the ten moon holders and the war god.. If what I saw was the birth of a uniquely multi-gifted cultivator, reporting it would be of great significance. Keeping me here, by your side, would grant you that this information will never reach any other ear."
Suddenly, as soon as the old immortal spoke his veiled threat, his eyes opened as widely as they could, and he fell on his knees. On his shoulder a pressure which he couldn't possibly comprehend, and in his mind, thoughts of him being killed in a million different methods flashed like vivid memories.
With his hands wrapped around his throat he gasped for hair, struggling to even consider saving his own life with his immortal essence. He was like a kid, stuck in between moving walls filled with spikes, no light to see, and no air to breath, and this pressure only kept increasing, until finally, after more than a minute later, he unsheath a dagger, planted its pommel on the white stone floor, and headbutted it, forcing it to pierce his eye, and reach all the way to his brain.
After a faint wet cracking sound, his body fell lifeless on the floor.
The bishop could only observe in silence as the stench of psychological horror left the corpse of the old immortal cultivator, and moved back into the body of the young man. He then said while trying to hide the trembling of his hands, "My emperor, your progress is astonishing.."
The young man did not respond, and instead looked at the library for one minute longer, after which he turned to look at him with his milk white eyes, and said, "Let us go look for that woman. He made me curious."
Almost as if he had heard exactly what he didn't want to hear, the bishop sprung up on his feet, and said with urgency, "My emperor, you remember what the envoy of the soul clan told us.. Your ascension has sent your spirit in turmoil.. Your feelings are accentuated by a hundredfold right now. That is why you have found these old tomes so interesting to begin with. I am afraid that if you lay eyes on a woman.. You might.."
The Spiritual Emperor did not appear to be bothered by the bishop's words at first, but then, he remembered what to do before taking any form of decision. He then took ten deep breaths. After about a minute, his mind was once again calm and clear of any overwhelming feeling. Once calmer, he turned to look at the bishop, and said, "Your cultivation has reached mine from a couple years back.. You haven't been slacking off.. Go test your strength with the current War God, and take the two women on your way back."
Relieved by his emperor's ability to maintain his calm despite his condition, the bishop nodded, and walked out of the room.
—–
Arena
Back in the core of the Dominion of the War God, was Arena. One of the very few planets that were not used as a battlefield for the billions of native ki warriors, mercenaries, and outcasts. Flourishing in natural resources, and a sight to see, this planet's habitat had been preserved by the complete lack of conflict between its many forces, and that was because the planet itself, as a whole, was house to the current War God.
The only portions of territory not owned personally by the War God, were the planet's ten moons, which revolved around the planet, protecting it like a system-wide formation. These ten moons were awarded to the ten most powerful individuals under the war god, and were for them and their families to live in.
According to the faction's rules, the leader of any other prominent family would be able to claim one of these moon by simply winning a bout against one of the ten current owners. This method had allowed the faction to never decline in power, as whenever one family would become lazy in their cultivation, a stronger one would be able to strip them of their territory, and force them back into the warring planets of their territory.
Attached to this method, was the claim to the title of the war god, which was decided through combat. As long as one of the ten families were able to maintain ownership of a planet for a thousand years, their leader would be granted three chances to fight against the current war god. By tradition, if the first attempt was a failure, the challenger would be sent back with as few injuries as possible. After the second failed attempt, the challenger would be heavily injured, and if lucky enough to maintain their territory long enough for a third attempt, in case of a third loss, the war god would decide whether to kill the challenger, or deprive them and their family of their moon.
These were the crude rules of the higher echelons of the Domain of the War God.
In present time, virtually all of the current moon warriors were centuries away from having the right of challenging the War God, and that, meant that the faction was currently at peace.
In this time of peace, two young women and a middle aged man dressed in training attire, were sitting with their legs crossed over just as many rocks placed in the middle of a sand garden, that in reality, was the size of an actual desert.
The middle aged man's thick stubble and short hair contoured a relaxed and kind looking face, which drastically countered the hundreds of scars that marked his neck, face, and tall and lean body, reminding those who looked at him of his experience. In front of him, by his left, was a woman with dark hair, and grey skin. Laying over her shoulder was a sword, and a shield which could not compare in elegance with the former. By his right, was a fair looking woman with bright red hair, and surrounded by a similarly colored ki power, which for some reason, was more pure than that of any other ki warrior present in the whole domain.
These two young women were known through Arena respectively as the inheritor of the first war god, and the disciple of the current war god.. But for those who knew them, they were Gai'ha, and Alesia. The man in front of the two of them, who insisted on considering himself as Gai'ha's junior in standing, and was currently Alesia's teacher, was called Inos, better known as the current War God.
"You are too nervous." Muttered the War God after what felt like hours of silence.
"It doesn't feel possible. It feels like I am trying to move water through sand. There is no way I can be that fast.." Said Alesia with exasperation.
"I told you, it's because you are not used to a body strengthened by ki. We are solid built cultivators, there is no harmony between aspects, only brute force. I told you this since you chose to learn martial arts. It would be easier if you simply stuck to your form as a high immortal." Responded Inos, who knew exactly what Alesia's problem was.
Ki was the innate form of power of modern humans, and allowed a cultivator to increase the resistance and strength of their bodies. However, getting used to that form of cultivation was a requirement to practice the use of ki, a practice which Alesia lacked due to her history of being an immortal cultivator.
Usually a cultivator would reach the stages of the two hundred phases in hundreds, if not thousands of years, but thanks to Daniel's system, both Alesia and Gai'ha had managed to reach it in their mid-late twenties. Unfortunately, Alesia's ability to comprehend the theory of cultivation was as lacking as that of his mother, and that was the reason why instead of relying on his father's comprehension of the magical side of cultivation, she had preferred to follow the teachings of her mother, who had spent her youth learning the physical side of cultivation.
The ability that she was trying to master was the current War God's signature move, a ki technique called 'Thunderous Piercing Impact', an ability that, through a burst ejection of ki during a strike, allowed one to use the power of the motion and power of their strikes to create knives of ki that would pierce on contact. However, in order to be used, this power required a perfect mastery of ki, of which Alesia was currently lacking.
After many more failed attempts, Alesia started to get a hang of it, but right when she was about to reach the earlier success in it, a serious-looking bald young man appeared next to them, "Master, the patriarch of the Lont family has challenged the owner of the fifth moon. Your presence is required." He said respectfully after bowing his head to the War God and Gai'ha, but not to Alesia.
"Very well, let's take a break." Said Inos before standing up slowly, and yet causing the distant dunes of sand to flatten under the pressure of his presence.
