While Herman was preparing different nefarious plans, the entire Immortal World appeared to have undergone a revolution of sorts. Everywhere one of the 'newbies' landed, various events that would shake a nation to its core were happening. The previously rare Contest of Tao now became just another event that cultivators used to entertain themselves with daily.
Otherwise, news of these newbies entering fights with higher realm-cultivators, breaking records that were kept for thousands of years, assassinating royalty or nobles that tried suppressing them, spending ridiculous amounts of Spirit Jades on things irrelevant to cultivation, and many others similar facts, made the indigenous population speechless. How the heck were they supposed to compete in this race for Heavens with such wealthy monsters?

It was later made know through certain channels that, in fact, the only advantage these newbies had were their innate constitutions, therefore, pushing their bodily cultivation higher than the starting point of cultivators in the Immortal World. By the point where everyone reached the Golden Core Realm, this advantage would be brought to the same level as everyone else and even their amazing cultivation speed would decrease considerably.

The Golden Core realm was the actual starting point in the cultivator world acknowledged by everyone alike. To begin with, a cultivator was a person that went against the Heavens. All beings had their preordained fate, being born, living, and dying depending on how their own starting points were written. Someone that used Qi to strengthen themselves had already begun fighting against their fates, suffering the wrath of the Heavenly Laws, and forced to undertake lightning tribulations as result. Once a cultivator broke through into the Golden Core realm, however, they can be considered to have taken the reigns of their fate, holding nobody but themselves responsible for it.
This major turning point in the life of a cultivator was quite hard to reach in a short period of time... yet Herman was stunned to learn that there was already one such 'compatriot' of his that reached this realm. And in his sect nonetheless!

"You mean to say that she already reached the Golden Core Realm?"

[Indeed. I thought you were a monster, yet this girlie is even scarier. Are all men and women from your world this frightening?](Feng Qian)

"We can be considered to have an early advantage in cultivation due to the harsh environments we grew up on in our primordial world. While lacking Qi, our bodies adapted due to survival and preservation instincts. Therefore, it's easy for us to cultivate until the Nascent Soul realm with no real bottlenecks. But, it's still thoroughly impressive nonetheless..."

[Indeed. Even you have yet to reach such a height, yet this girlie did so. Do you know of her?](Feng Qian)

"Strangely enough... no."

Even Herman couldn't help but be impressed with such cultivation speed.

"Not only have I already completed four cultivation covenants, but I also bought Perception-increasing sutras. How the heck is she this fast? Harper Nine... why the hell do I have no knowledge of such a name. Probably even LinkWill and Bian Hua are only at a similar level as I am in the best-case scenario. Who is this girl?"

He had met her a couple of times during his visits to the sect and he had a good impression of her. She kept quiet and only nodded from afar at him, not bothered to pester him even once, despite being aware of both his status back on Earth and his current status in Fallen Blossom sect. That made it even stranger in his eyes.
Now that this woman managed to overtake him and climb all the way to the Golden Core realm with such ease, he found it impossible for this woman to be just another nobody that the world didn't find out about in his previous life. Which meant... that something was fishy!

Leaving Feng Qian to her tasks, Herman made his way to the sect, and soon enough, found Harper surrounded by many other beautiful disciples, asking her questions related to cultivation and sometimes, even prodding in her personal matters. He kept his distance and observed from afar the scene that made Harper appear to be a star, with many small planets revolving around her.

"Well, would you look at that..."

What shocked him was the fact that she somehow sensed his presence and stared him right in his eyes. Judging from that, her Perception must be off the charts... either that, or she might have a special constitution.
Nevertheless, seeing the radiant smile she was throwing at him, he felt his scalp tingle and wanted to back away slowly, as if he was stared by a primordial beast. Something told him that such a woman was terrifyingly dangerous if you haven't taken enough measures to protect yourself. Now, however, he was spotted and had no other option but to brave this situation like a man... instead of running with his tail between his legs like he wanted to...

[Mister Herman... or rather, should I call you 'big brother' Herman instead?](Harper Nine)

"Just Herman is alright. I don't have the confidence of being called 'big brother' by someone at a higher cultivation realm than myself. It's a pleasure to see you again, fairy Harper."

[Hehehe! You don't need to worry about formalities. Come, sit with me and our fellow disciples. I was just imparting to them my experiences upon breaking through so that they can have one more opinion to reference themselves to.](Harper Nine)

"..."

Herman was struck speechless. Given that she threw at him the 'big brother' joke, he wanted to pay her with the same coin and call her a fairy. Who knew that she would've accepted this title so shamelessly... Listening to her experiences upon cultivating, he found some points that confirmed his previous assumption about this woman having a special constitution. His experience from the previous life he led thought him about three types of special bodily constitutions able to increase the amount of Primordial Qi one was able to take it. There was the Spirit-Defying Body that increased one's cultivation by 40%, the Strange Veins Constitution that increased both the Primordial and Spiritual Qi by 50%, and finally, the Body of Blessings that increased Primordial Qi by 100%.
What Herman would've loved to have was the Strange Veins for certain since both Primordial and Spiritual Qi would be increased. He had already bought the third Perception increasing Four phrases Heavenly book, as well as the Quaternary Mantra (spending another 200SJ in the process) but also luckily unlocking a hidden effect of this three-book series. By purchasing all three of them, his six skills were maxed out to Level 10 just like the other Spirit Jade Hall goodies he purchased.

That way, his Perception increased by the three skills quite ridiculously: the Prajna Heavenly book gave him a total of 428 points (at Level 1 it only had 12 points), the Eight Trigrams Heavenly book gave him 936 points (at Level 1 it only had 104) and the Four phrases Heavenly book gave a ridiculous 1854 points, being a proper Tier 3 Perception-increasing book. So, deducting the original 116 points he got in the past, his Perception points went up by 3102.
The mantra series also got upgraded to Level 10 and Herman experienced the same rise in Absorption points. The Prajna mantra gave him a total of 428 points (at Level 1 it only had 12 points), the Eight Trigrams mantra gave him 936 points (at Level 1 it only had 104), and the Quaternary mantra the same 1854 points.

Finally, he was somewhat happy with his passive cultivation speed.

Now, after much work and a shit-ton of Spirit Jades poured into it the damage he sustained due to continuous breaking, cultivation covenants, and his soul literally tearing apart to create the weird goddamn snake above his Dantian, was finally healed. His cultivation speed wouldn't be reduced anymore and only increase at a ridiculously high pace from now on.
That's why he thought he would surely be first since he bought the books and the mantras quite early on. But now, this terrifying yet beautiful creature in front of his eyes actually overtook him.

Pissed off, he used his mind to send a Spiritual Qi blade at a strand of grass nearby, trampling the poor thing into the mud. This was a fairly advanced technique that one could automatically learn after reaching the Soul Wandering realm, but since he practiced so much in the past, he could replicate a less effective version of it at his current level.
Then, another weird thing happened.

"Are you serious!? She noticed that?"

Maintaining a proper poker-face even if he was shocked on the inside, Herman realized that Harper had taken notice of his action and was currently looking around for the culprit. The even stranger thing was how she was using her conversational skills as well as a through gesticulation to justify her eyes wandering around her.
This sort of social skill... made even Herman wanna drop down to his knees and worship. But there was another implication hidden behind these skills: she wasn't anyone simple and she had a couple of secrets herself.

"Then, exactly how did a person so extraordinary escaped the radar of the Immortal World and Heavenly realm geniuses? Unless they knew about her but kept her identity hidden from the common-folk? That's even stranger... And finally, there's also the possibility of her remaining hidden all along, that not even those ridiculous cultivation monsters didn't take notice of her. The more I think about it, the stranger and scarier she gets."

Even Herman was fooled and he had another lifetime's worth of experience with people and cultivation society(literally). The fact that this young woman tried to pull the veil over his eyes with a technique so sloppy was insulting even. He had to stay alive between 'young masters' and faction leaders for over 2.000 years before. Which one of those sly bastards wasn't another snake in the grass, always prodding for weakness and tried to coax you using sweet words?
Yet he survived them! Well... most of them...

"Since this girl wants to hide from the world, I can play along for now."

"Fairy Harper, fellow sisters, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to excuse myself now. Hearing fairy Harper's words I gain enlightenment and I want to prepare myself for facing the Golden Core tribulations."

The sound of gasps could be heard among the pretty disciples sitting around Herman and some even threw jealous gazes at him. All these girls were of similar ages and most of them were already at Foundation VII or IX, representing the proud geniuses of this small country. All of them hoped to get such an opportunity and break through their shackles of fate, climbing the stairs to immortality. Now, the young man in front of them actually gained enlightenment from hearing their younger sister's experience and was preparing to achieve their dreams in one fell swoop.

Even Harper herself was surprised and slightly suspicious after hearing his words. She still couldn't tell who the person that messed with the blade of grass was, however, she was certain that she managed to fool that person with her acting. What she was even more surprised about was that the System recognized her as having a special constitution called 'Body of Blessings' according to which her cultivation speed should've been the fastest. Now she wasn't so sure if that was the truth, or if the young man in front of her had a similar condition, or something even scarier. He did achieve stellar results both back on Earth and here in the Immortal World, so it wouldn't be that strange if he didn't have at least her cultivation speed.

Back on Earth, to be able to control and direct an organization as big as hers with fingers in all possible pies, she was a genius that wouldn't lose in front of Bian Hua or LinkWill. Now, however, it seemed that she needed to pay a little more attention to this boy and possibly bring him into her camp. Otherwise, if he was to align himself with the other two who are her organization's enemies... it would be better to destroy him early on while she still can.

Unknowingly, Herman shivered while on his way back to Feng Qian's pavilion, looking behind him. Rubbing his goosebumps on his hand, he advised the sect master about keeping an eye on this woman and making sure he doesn't lose sight of her. It would be best if she could put a watcher that reached the Nascent Soul on her and report back whenever there was something strange she would do.
Back in his Dwelling, he kept pondering the current situation and what series of actions should he take from now on. He wasn't sure about the future with the many changing things in comparison with his previous life, so he had to prepare for all possible scenarios.

"*Sigh* I guess the only choice I have is to take it one step at a time. With the first proper tribulation ahead of me, I cannot not take it seriously. I don't want to be burnt into a crisp after all..."

Looking at his current cultivation base, he couldn't help but click his tongue.

He had enough cultivation base to breakthrough to the next realm and all he needed to do now was to get in the proper state of mind. The Cultivation Base (or CB) truly gained when passively cultivating was displayed as points gained every one hour in the System's interface. The Efficiency range does not take count of the Perception stat. So it's always a little bit more than the actual value shown. When you use the object Spirit into Body, you can go see another Efficiency stat in the character menu (attribute) to calculate the true range. From what he remembered, the formulae should be (minimum value + efficiency - maximum value + efficiency). This efficiency stat is half the true perception stat (not the false in the Skill menu).
Anyway, the explanation was enough to make anyone reading it dizzy, so most cultivators agreed to just keep an eye for the 'bucket' or the cultivation base interface. Once it reached the maximum amount, the respective person could attempt his breakthrough to the next realm.
That's why Herman was more worried about the true nature of his tribulation lightning this time around.

"For the tribulation this time around I already have enough pills and my four main attributes are higher than they should be. The only problem is the snake and my current soul condition."

Once a cultivator creates an image or projection of their will, it's usually like a flower falling from a tree and slowly budding into a tree itself. That's why it usually didn't affect the soul of the person doing so. This time around in his case, the tree was actually cut in half from the trunk, leaving a stump and the roots in the ground hoping to grow again, while the remaining portion of the tree was forcefully buried in the ground, hoping that it would also grow back in the same tree as before. Herman's soul was in a similar condition with the damned snake being born. That's why even after his Absorption was increased dramatically as such, he still had no Spiritual Qi gathered at the moment. Every single point gained would be used to heal the two pieces of the same original soul so that they can be later fused through the Golden Core realm tribulations.

"That's why the first real tribulation is when one is trying to break through the shackles of the Foundation realm and climb into the Golden Core. Instead of regular tribulation, I will be facing Soul-Annihilating lightning. Using it, I can merge this little snake and my soul back into the same figure. Created as a figment of my imagination through the use of Spiritual and Primordial Qi, as well as a portion of my soul, it shouldn't be too difficult to merge them successfully."

[Wow... the ignorant sure are fearless...](?)

Hearing the ethereal voice of Celeste ringing in his ear, Herman's face blackened. He just spoke aloud and the woman was spying on him again using her monstrous perception range. It wasn't exactly rare for someone to use a portion of their soul to create a projection of their will, however, she seemed to imply that there some mysteries behind doing so.

"Miss Celeste, I'm not sure if I should be angry or flattered to see you spying on me."

[Hmpf! Don't flatter yourself.](Celeste)

"What do you mean? What have I ignored?"

[Do you think splitting the soul is such a simple matter? It's not like cutting a piece of wood and gluing it back together. It's a soul for heaven's sake...](Celeste)

"Ugh... but I've heard that merging them back through the use of the Tribulation lightning once someone breaks through into the Golden Core realm would be sufficient in not impacting one's future cultivation. What do you mean?"

[Even if you manage to merge them, it would be like having to souls with different personalities in the same body. Later on, it would be like having a permanent internal demon plaguing you daily. You need to absorb and devour this soul, if you want to keep living in the future.](Celeste)

"The heck!? How come I didn't hear about this?"

[It's a known fact in the empires and kingdoms, however, it's not common knowledge in a small country such as this one.](Celeste)

"In my previous life, I didn't inquire about this since I didn't split my soul and it was just a weak and petty projection created through Spiritual and Primordial Qi. Even my disciples followed a different type of cultivation method, where they focused on their bloodlines to create the projection, instead of their soul or Spiritual Qi. If what Celeste said it's true... it would be indeed dangerous to merge two pieces of a soul, with different personalities. The little snake looked more than a simple projection anyway..."

"So? What should it do about it?"

[I'll impart the method to you. The short version is, the tribulation lightning will mash your two souls into pieces, and the strongest consciousness takes over the vessel while devouring the other.](Celeste)

"I see..."

Looking at the suddenly restless snake, Herman even wondered how the hell did it hear the conversation outside. It seems that he needed to enter a state of true meditation before being able to undergo his breakthrough.
He and the little eel need to have a chat.