Chapter 24 – A dangerous enlightenment
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Hello Dear Readers!
Here is Chapter 23 with a dangerous situation full of opportunities for our young fox.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the read! :)
Patreon announcement : If you feel like helping me sustain the pace of release for this novel, you can visit my patreon page and donate a bit of money. The first Tier starts at 1€ (Around 1.1$). From the second tier (2€ ) and up, there are advance chapters available.
I've also added my paypal link if you would rather use that platform. If you have any trouble with the latter, let me know, as it is my first time using it.
May you all reach Immortality and the Peak of Cultivation!
Calm Wanderer
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Mortal Realm, Capital Planet of the Hoborg Empire, Main Continent, Cloudmount City, Divine Fate Mansion, Training Area, Environment Room.
Talent and hard work were the two essential keys of cultivation, and Guang Yang had plenty of both, which was why he progressed greatly in the next few months.
Six months went by and the teacher-disciple duo could be found in the environmental room, training, along with Nung who was watching the boy with a look of astonishment on his face.
Indeed, Guang Yang was invisible to the naked eye, but could be perceived by them using their Divine sense, running around the room with his [Dual Rush Spell] activated, and no sign of unbalance between his two main Laws. The result was an almost invisible shadow which flitted around at a similar speed of an average Peak Level 3 cultivator. The most incredible thing to Nung was that he only felt Peak Level 2 fluctuations coming from him. Why would he be surprised? Simply because between an average Peak Level 2 cultivator and average Peak Level 3 one, the difference in power was around 10 times. Mind you, it was not 10 times the power of an early Level 1 but ten times the power of a Peak Level 2. Although it was only speed, it was still amazing for Mortal Cultivators, as even the geniuses among Mortal Layer Cultivators could hardly compare. The higher one progress and the hardest it was to jump level to fight. After all, if one reached a high level, that meant they were themselves a genius, thus by being all capable of jumping levels to fight, it ended up as almost no one being able to jump Level to fight.
Back to the training. The golden haired boy stopped running around after having circled around without anything happening to his spell and headed towards the two adults who were spectating. When he arrived in front of them, he turned towards the tall raven-haired voluptuous beauty and said with a smile. “Teacher, I finally reached the Basic Mastery of my spell!” To which she nodded, the corner of her lips raised in a attractive smile. “Great job. It only took you six months to achieve it. That's very fast for your cultivation Level.” He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed by the praise, while saying. “Hehe, thank you teacher but I still have a long way to go. After all, between Basic and Expert Mastery, there is a vast gap. But I'll do my best to bridge it and go even further.”
She nodded, satisfied of his humility. She then asked him. “Do you know what can help speed up your skill mastery and even your cultivation?” He shook his head, having no idea. She continued. “Life and death fights.” The smile on the boy's face then started to disappear as his mind began to comprehend what his teacher was proposing. Although he could not deny that he expected it at one point or another, as they had numerous conversations on the nature of power and why it was essential for everyone in the family, he still thought, naively perhaps, that he would have more time to prepare himself.
Guessing his thoughts, Bai Yue said to him. “At first I wanted to wait until you reached the Early Level 3 and for you to have another few attack spells under your belt so that you would be safer.” He bent his head downwards slightly to acknowledge that he thought that was the plan too, which explained his bewilderment. However, before he could ask why, the answer was given to him. “But I changed my mind. After I've seen how talented and tenacious you were, I decided that the best way for you to progress quickly would be to fight against enemies in the CloudLeaf Forest. Of course, I know that there are very strong foes in there, and I'm not expecting you to battle them. However, I want you to fight against Level 3 Beings to hone yourself. And since you've already reached the bottleneck for the Early Level 3, you may find the trigger needed to destroy that flimsy barrier.”
Her explanation made him pondered for a bit, before he asked with some hesitations in his voice. “But Teacher, although I reached the Peak Basic Level in the Laws of Darkness and Light and Basic Mastery in my movement spell, I still don't have any means to attack. Wouldn't it be useless then?”
A light laugh escaped her lips and she replied. “Little fox, I didn't say that I would send you there right this instant. We obviously need to research a close combat spell and you also need to choose what kind of weapons you want to use, in addition to learning the basics about them. Of course this time we'll stick to the theory and the practice will be done by fighting an adversary that I would have chosen myself. As for afterwards? I have a few plans, but that will have to wait for later.”
He nodded, still conflicted about doing something that was so cruel in his eyes but seemed so trivial in his teacher's. He thought, confused. “Who is the real Teacher? The one who pampers me all the time? Or the one who doesn't care about others' lives, treating as only stepping stones for me?... I'm lost.” His mind, which was becoming more and more mature, started to see the dichotomy in her personality. Before that exact moment, he never paid attention to her ruthlessness, as his subconscious forced his mind to focus on her warmth and kindness. After all, despite his great maturity, he was still only less than 2 years old. An age when some Mortals without cultivation could not even speak. As for him? He started to cultivate and learned how to fight at that age. He would even learned how to kill very soon.
Was he scared? Yes. Confused? Also Yes. A bit disappointed that his teacher was not the harmless woman he thought she was? He could not deny that. However, he also realized that she was never the same woman than the one he pictured in his mind. The false image of a loving woman who protected him from anything and everything that could hurt him. “But she is also the strict woman who trained me and never let me become complacent... Is it fair to resent her?” He thought.
As she noticed the little boy who was lost in his thoughts, she kept quiet, in fear of disturbing his reflection. Thanks to the Consciousness' link, she could more or less guess the questions going through his mind. That was why she wanted to let him think everything through himself, as it was the best way for him to grow, instead of her telling him what he should do. “I knew he was growing up quicker and quicker, but I'm still impressed with the speed of his Sea of consciousness' development. I've heard that the children of Immortal and Divine Cultivators matured extremely quickly, but I didn't think it would be this quick for him...” She thought.
After a few minutes of losing himself in fruitless pondering, the boy simply decided to ask his teacher, the person who understood him the best and who he trusted the most. “Teacher, I'm very confused.” He said with a complicated face. “Confused about what?” She asked, trying to lead him to share his internal struggles with her. “Is it possible to be kind and cruel at the same time? Can people care for other's well beings, but also disregard other's lives at the same time?... I don't... understand...” He finished in a low tone, with some sadness lacing his voice.
“Sigh... I guess it is time for you to grow up.... You asked me if it was possible to be kind and cruel at the same time, right? What type of woman do you think I am?” She asked him, in a serious tone. He hesitated a few seconds before answering. “You... you are kind to everyone in the family... But you...” He stopped himself, not wanting to be hurtful. However, she pushed him to continue. “Go on! But I?” He then braced himself to finish his sentence. “...You talk about killing as if it was nothing. That's very cruel.” She acquiesced and declared. “You're right. I'm very cruel toward my enemies. And I'm also indifferent about people I have no relationship with. At the same time I care very much about you, your parents and even the other three brats. So how can you explain that?” She asked rhetorically, perfectly aware that this was the source of his confusion.
She continued. “The reason why you're confused, my little fox, is because you see the world in black and white. In your mind, one can either be kind or cruel, good or bad, merciful or merciless. I understand that we've pampered you since you've been born. You had everything you needed, be it food, clothes, environment etc. Even your parents and I showered you with love. This is a good thing. However, there is one downside. It's that you can not fathom that the three of us adults are not simply kind to each other, but can also be merciless to others, whether to gain something or to protect ourselves and the people we care about. We are not the perfect beings you think of. At least not your one-sided definition of perfect.”
“Actually, if you think about it seriously, there are some similarities with the two Laws we are currently comprehending. At least the relationship between the both of them.” He mumbled, deep in thoughts. “The relationship between the Laws of Light and Darkness...” She nodded when she heard him. “Indeed. Why is it that the two Laws seem so close to each other? Well, how do you define Darkness without Light? Or the opposite? I would define it as an incomplete world. And in the same vein. Can there be kindness without cruelty? or the opposite? Maybe if we were robots without feelings. However, we're not. And the price we have to pay for that is those two sides.”
The boy raised his head towards her face and asked, as if he had understood something. “So one need to be kind and cruel?” She nodded. “Yes. Kind to your closed ones, which are not necessarily your family, mind you, and merciless to your enemies, so that they won't endanger the former. At least, that's the way I lived my life until now... Although before meeting the three of you I had no closed one, so I guess that did not really apply in my case...” She finished the last part in an almost unintelligible mumble. Shaking her head to disperse that thought, she continued. “As for your parents, and uncles and aunt, they are the same as I. The would not hesitate to destroy anyone threatening anyone of us. However, you need to remember one thing: Balance. You can be merciless, but do not become a blood thirsty maniac who kill for pleasure. In the same vein, do not be a foolish saint who would forgive anyone who slighted him.”
She hesitated a bit before adding. “However, I know that it's not easy. Even I who have lived for a very long time have trouble balancing both. So take it as a lifelong goal to reach.” While talking, she was a bit lost in thoughts, recalling many cruel things she had done in the past, wondering if she would have done the same thing had she been able to have another chance at it. “Would I have acted differently? I'm not sure. Although I feel less cold toward others recently, so I might have. Sigh... The past is the past and can not be changed I guess. No use in 'What if'.” She pondered.
When she emerged from her reminiscing, she noticed that the boy in front of her emitted some strange fluctuations. “What's going on?” She wondered. However, she quickly realized something as those fluctuations kept becoming stronger. “Is it a breakthrough? It doesn't feel like a Mana Cultivation one... Is he finally reaching the Familiar Level? Just when I wanted him to learn to use a weapon. This is perfect, since one can only boost himself at the Basic Level. Unlike thee familiar Level where one can use their Laws outside their own body, he will be able to combine his three Laws with his weapons. If he had reached the Experienced Level he could have used Long-range attack. Oh well, it's already great. Asking more would be too much.” Pondering about Guang Yang's cultivation, she stayed silent and kept observing the boy's situation until something that threw her calm mind into panic happened. “Damn it! What do I do?” She thought.
Back to a few minutes ago. The young Fox was listening to his teacher while analyzing what she was saying. He kept thinking about what he believed since he was young, about everything that she told him since he knew her (at least what he remembered), about his parents, uncles and aunt's attitude toward outsiders. He also thought about his cultivation of the last six months, how he kept trying to balance the two opposite Laws that seemed to have a Love-Hate relationship, where they were attracted to each other, but if they did not reach the perfect balance, they would crumble with the slightest push. Every details seemed to turn again and again in his mind until he started to grasp a sort of notion.
At first it was vague, as he kept almost understanding it, and losing it right after. “I almost got it... What is it?” He thought. Despite his effort, he kept failing again and again, and his state of enlightenment seemed to fade more and more, frustrating him. Right before he awoke from his trance, he heard his teacher say the word 'Balance'. That's when a revelation appeared in his mind, akin to an bomb exploding, instantly tearing the veil hiding what he was seeking. That elusive concept. And as the concept formed in his mind he also felt the bottleneck for his Laws that stifled him for months, break down in pieces. Indeed, he had reached the Peak Basic Level months ago, but he became stuck, incapable of piercing through the seemingly thin obstacle in front him. Although he could feel that he was close, he knew, from his teacher's explanation that unless he chanced upon a moment of enlightenment, he could have wasted years at that level. It was not for nothing that the prerequisite to reach Rank 2 was to comprehending a Law at the Familiar Level. As for him? He had two opposite Laws, which multiplied the difficulty.
That was why he was overjoyed when he felt it collapse in his mind. However, right after the shallow understanding that he received tried to settle itself in his Sea of Consciousness, he felt a sense of stuffiness, as if he was trying to fit a mountain in a rabbit hole, something completely hopeless. The more it tried to enter, the more bloated he felt. From his perception, he understood that if he continued to absorb it, his mind would irrevocably break and the result of that would either be death or living as a mentally cripple, not aware of anything around him. Both of those options, were things that did not appeal to him at all. Nonetheless, he could feel intuitively that this was a huge opportunity for his cultivation and that he would regret it immensely if he gave up on it. The problem being that he did not know what he could do, since his teacher never talked to him about those kind of things happening during cultivation.
As more and more time passed, he could vaguely feel cracks growing in his sea of consciousness, as if it was on the verge of breaking. Right when he decided to give up, as he thought the consequences too dreadful to live through, he heard his teacher's voice in his mind. The message was incomprehensible at first, as if it came from an immense distance, however as the message repeated itself, he could understand more and more, until it became perfectly clear to him.
As everything happened in his mind, only a fleeting moment passed by, which allowed it to hold on without breaking. When he grasped her message, he immediately changed his decision of giving up, and instead decided to risk it. “High rewards comes with high risk. I won't give up!” He thought.
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Patreon announcement : If you feel like helping me sustain the pace of release for this novel, you can visit my patreon page and donate a bit of money. The first Tier starts at 1€ (Around 1.1$). From the second tier (2€ ) and up, there are advance chapters available.
I've also added my paypal link if you would rather use that platform. If you have any trouble with the latter, let me know, as it is my first time using it.
If you enjoyed the chapter, don't hesitate to comment! ;)
Also, if you like the novel, and if you feel like it, you can also leave good reviews, ratings, click on follow and/or favorite (I feel like a youtuber now^^). It can make a big difference in visibility. Thanks a lot for those who have already done it!
Also, every constructive criticisms will be taken into consideration if I find them relevant. I've already modified the name of 'space rings' into 'dimensional rings'. I also finished the edit on the first few chapters where I went from 'space portal' to simply portal. Also I modified the chapters where I heavily used the word space.
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