Rae's POV

"That was a good sparring session. You are getting good at Lianrong and Xixianshu. I will come back tomorrow to try out your method of qi cultivation for now just practice those arrays I showed. Flame Heart Nexus and Phoenix Fire may look small but they pack quite a punch so practice them with a lot of care.

Tomorrow I will come to teach you the cerulean ripple array which is a water-based array."

That was what the Master told me but it has already been a month. What happened to her?

Is she being held up by something in the material plane? Yeah most probably. I wanted to show her that I had already broken through the third stage. 

Ever since breaking through the third stage, I have been feeling three points filled with torrents of energy within my body. One in my head, one in my heart, and another at my core. These must be the Dantian she was talking about. Although I cannot be sure till she comes back. For now, let me work at enhancing the martial arts she taught me and keep at qi manipulation so that my body can get accustomed to the level of qi it currently possesses. It would also not hurt to brush up on my Lianrong and Xixianshu. She told me my aggressive nature spills over to Lianrong which is supposed to be a bit more fluid and passive. I suppose I can work on that while I wait for her to return.

"... Hello Rae. How are you doing?"

"Spider lady! What are you doing here?"

"I have not checked up on you for a long time so I thought I should stop by and see how you are doing."

"Yeah it has been two, no almost three months since we last spoke"

"Yes. Well, that is because I wanted to give you enough time to study under your new teacher. And besides within the dreamscape, you could see me whenever you wished to. 

"Yeah, I saw you a few times while I was under the master's tutelage but you looked like you couldn't see or hear me."

"I couldn't, sorry about that. The rules of this place are weird."

"Yeah, I can tell."

"Anyway, how is your qi cultivation going?"

"It's pretty good I am currently at the refinement realm of the core formation stage."

"It sounds like you are doing good."

"Yeah, I am doing great with the Master's help."

"Hopefully you will be able to get out of here very soon."

"Yeah, I think I will be."

"Great can't wait to see your mana domain."

"Me too."

"By the way where is your master?'

"I don't know, I haven't seen her for a month now."

"So what have you been doing?"

"Well I took it upon myself to expound on her teachings in fact I was just about to practice some of the martial arts she taught me."

"That's good you won't mind going for a spar then."

"I don't mind."

"Yes let's do this. I want to see how much you have improved."

"Same here. I would also like to see how much I have improved."

The sparring session began with some light footwork with Freya trying so much to draw me in with manufactured openings. But I didn't fall for any of the false openings she created. Freya noticed this and resorted to rushing in closing the distance for a quick execution of what I assume was to be a set of consecutive attacks but with the help of Lianrong I was able to deflect all well most of them, a few still did make contact. I now know why the master was so adamant about learning Spider Lady's supposed tricks to qi cultivation. Her qi energy is so pure and powerful, that I am already overwhelmed.

"Your fighting style has become more natural and dynamic. You are now not solely relying on your vampiric abilities but working towards fighting more freely and creatively which is a good thing."

Yeah, she is right all I did before was rely on my vampiric abilities, manufactured moves, and a lot of magic but ever since I started studying martial arts my fighting feels more natural and dynamic.

"Okay let me ramp up the difficulty to see what else you can do."

"Alright, I am ready."

That was what I said but she just went from 0 to 100 in a matter of seconds. I could barely keep up with her. Most of her attacks landed and while they were not very damaging I was accumulating damage.

"Sorry, I will have to resort to my bad habits again."

"Immediately I formed four arrays, two being the Phoenix fire array and the other two being Flame Heart nexus. Combining these arrays I made up a fire-based formation which created a massive explosion that created some distance and brought disorientation to Freya. But not for long as within a second or two Freya was back to it.

"That is new, did Longmu teach you this?"

"Yeah."

"I guess I can also show you what I can do."

Immediately a wave of pressure that penetrated my very being froze me in place. I couldn't do anything of substance as it felt like my body had just unconsciously shut down. Freya dashed towards me with a punch that made all my senses scream with fear. As the punch got closer and closer I could feel my consciousness fading when suddenly a hand stopped the punch.

"That is enough, she is still weak."

"Master is that you?"

"I suppose you are right but I just wanted to see what she was able to do I wasn't truly going to hurt her."

"Don't worry in a few years Rae will be way over you in terms of power and ability."

"Yes, I know. She is a pretty fast learner. Okay, let me leave you to it. Just came up to check on the progress of our hope."

"Okay."

After that short interaction, Freya left and I was left with my master. 

"Master, where have you been?"

"Sorry, I was taking care of some things so I could not be with you."

"It is understandable. So are you okay?"

"I wasn't for a while but I am now. So how are you doing?"

"I am doing well. I already broke through the third stage of my cultivation. I am currently at the refinement realm of the core formation stage."

"Oh that's great that means all your Dantian must be fully formed. That explains why your qi is so much stronger than it was the last time I saw you. Can I just read your qi flow to fully understand how your body is right now?"

"Yes, sure."

"... Whoa that is looking good in fact it is better than good. You are even further along than I had expected. I think it is now time to open your mind's eye."

"To open my mind's eye? Do you think I am ready?"

"With the level of qi you have you definitely are."

"Okay can't wait."

"So to first start I want you to tap into your upper dantian and channel all your qi energy into your head."

"Alright... Done."

"Next I would like you to create an image in your mind."

"What type of image do you want me to create, Master?"

"Any type of image, it doesn't matter if it is a memory or a figment of your imagination. This step will anchor your mind's eye and allow us to activate it."

"Okay, I have an image in mind."

"Alright, I will now use my mind's eye to open your mind's eye. This will require your forehead and mine to be in contact. Do you have a problem with this?"

"Not at all, Do whatever you would like."

"Alright, here we go... Do you feel anything?"

"I feel a sudden surge of energy, my body feels like it is drowning underwater, overwhelmed by the pressure. Is this normal?"

"Yeah, it is part of the process. Do you see anything?"

 "No, I don't it is a bit dark here... Oh, I can see a bit of light at a far distance." 

"Okay, follow that light. "

"Roger that... I have reached the source of light."

"Ok, what do you see?"

"It seems to be a gate with light seeping through its frames."

"Alright, I want you to grab the gate's handles and open it."

"Okay done it is a white blinding light."

"Give it a moment... Do you see a door?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I want you to open it."

"I, I don't know how?"

"Why, does it have a lock."

"Well, you could say that."

"Then look for the key it must be somewhere."

"I don't think that is possible."

"Why?"

"Because it is a biometrics door."

"What!! What is that?"

"Oh, it's a door that needs your fingerprint or iris print print depending on which type of biometrics it uses."

"Okay, which one does it have?"

"It has both. Try using your fingers and eyes then."

"Okay, I suppose I can try."

"It worked I am now inside your mind's eye."

"Okay, master as you can see it is completely..."

"So this is your innate domain, I have never seen anything like it."

"Yeah, it is my lab from Earth. That is my research station. It is where I did my research and that is my drawing board where I drew up schismatics and that there is the assembly point where I assembled and tested my prototypes like the Qufredis. That is also where I lost my life. "

"Oh sorry, you must miss that life."

"Yeah, a bit but oh well I can't complain. My current life is pretty good. The only part of that life I miss is my mother and sister. I threw myself into my research not even giving them the time of day. They must have been devastated by my death. I hope that they are doing well?"

"I am sure they are. Although losing your loved one can be devastating, it is also part of nature. So they should be... al- right?"

"What is happening? Master! Is this normal?"

"No, it isn't it seems like your innate domain is a bit unstable. Hang on tight."

"What is happening, it's like the whole room is collapsing."

"I don't- jus-"

The whole room collapsed and Master and I found ourselves falling into a bottomless pit. After falling for a while, we found ourselves in a very dark space. As I picked up myself trying to reorient myself, a pitch-black sky with a moon covered in blood caught my attention. The red light of the moon dimly lit the area giving it subtle red hues.

"Master, are you alright?"

"Yes, I am..."

"Where is this place?"

"It is still your mind's eye. You seem to have two innate domains."

"Two innate domains? Is that possible?"

"Well, it's rare but not impossible. Usually, a person is born with a single innate domain but in rare cases, a reincarnated person with his previous essences carried forward to the next life is born with two innate domains. "

"How rare is this, like, Have you ever met somebody with two innate domains?"

"Well it is very rare but I have met a person with two innate domains."

"Cool, would like to meet them one day."

"You are looking right at her."

"You have two innate domains?"

"Yes... Rae!! Are you bleeding?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look down it looks like there is a puddle of blood forming right under you."

I quickly checked my whole body to see if I was bleeding from any point but luckily found I had no injuries in any part of my body. Although I was not bleeding it was clear that there was a puddle of blood forming beneath my feet. At first, I thought it was water that looked like blood due to the red light bouncing off it but I quickly confirmed it was blood when I started to feel a weak whiff of iron.

The puddle continued growing then stopped and started to form pathways on the ground. As this happened many points were created from within the trickling pathways. At each point, a dark silhouette of a person was created. This continued for a while until there were more than a hundred points, each with the silhouette of a person. There were seven streams each varying with a number of points but one stream had a singular point. This one point was connected to another that was then connected to the paddle which then formed a sort of triangle. The point that the singular point was connected to was scarlet in colour while all the other points were crimson. As I continued to observe, the first two silhouettes on the first point of the two streaks started to materialize human bodies and within seconds Eleanor and Ivy were standing right in front of me. The singular silhouette also started to materialize but the process broke down and no physical body was formed.

"Your Majesty, you truly are still alive."

"Whoa Eleanor, you have grown to be quite a gorgeous young woman I couldn't even notice you for a second there."

"And you are still the same age as you were your majesty."

"I suppose I am. Hello, little sister you have also grown quite a bit."

"Little sister!! Are you talking to me? I think you have confused me with someone else."

"I haven't, aren't you the one and only Ivy Wemberly?"

"Yes so if you remember that much, you should know that I am not your sister.

"Anyway, how did you all get here."

"I am not too sure, one minute I was talking to some demons and the next I found myself here."

"Same here, one minute I was in the Dragon City with Riley then the next thing I know I am here."

"Rae I think I can explain."

"Your majesty, who is this?"

"Oh, I haven't introduced you yet. Eleanor, Ivy this is my Master, Longmu."

"Master? For what purpose?"

"She is taking me through qi cultivation."

"Qi cultivation? What is that?"

"Just as it sounds, it will take a long time to explain so I will tell you all about it. 

Master, please proceed. Why are Eleanor and my little sister here."

"I am not your little sister!!"

"That is because you summoned them. To say the least, I am beyond impressed."

"I summoned them? How?"

"Through soul manipulation of cause."

"Soul manipulation? How?"

"I am guessing you did this unconsciously."

"Your majesty what is this place we are in and what exactly is that woman talking about."

"Right now you are inside Rae's Mind's eye within the dreamscape."

"Dreamscape? Where is that exactly."

"It is within the confines of the labyrinth Ivy. Right now we are at floor 98 of the labyrinth."

"Floor 98!!! How did you get there?"

"More importantly when are you coming back."

"To answer your question, Eleanor I was brought here by Freya and was unfortunately killed, even though it was temporary, I only recently woke up. And to you Ivy, I will try my best to come back soon but I am not sure how long that will take so please bear with me."

"I don't know if Riley's case will last for that long."

"What do you mean?"

"Riley recently lost her chroma key which is a special power granted to chromatic dragons who are guardians of the ethereal realm and spirit realm."

"What does that imply."

"The key is supposedly with the church which grants them access to powerful spirits whom they may force into slavery. So Riley went back home to ask for help from her parents but it is posing an issue."

"The church again, these people are... Wait!!! What is happening?"

"Not again."

Out of nowhere a huge blast of light engulfed the area quickly destroying any semblance of the previous landscape.

"What just happened where are Ivy and Eleanor? Are they okay?"

"This is just, What!!! I have no words to express... Like how do you have three innate domain

" Three innate domains? So that blast was my doing?"

"Yes."

"Wait don't tell me that I have hurt them"

"No, they were just expelled from your mind's eye. So don't worry much about it."

"Don't worry much about it?... Okay, What was with that blast anyway."

"The sudden surge of rage might have destabilized your second innate domain so that is why it suddenly collapsed. I didn't tell you this but when it comes to Domain and soul manipulation Emotions can be either great boosters or great inhibitors."

"Right, Spider Lady told me the same thing... So what is this place?"

"I am not sure but it's still your mind's eye. Let us look around to see what we can find. "

Is that... Is that an android? It looks like a female version of me when I was on Earth. And what is up with all the various cables connected to her?

"Is that a girl?"

"Yeah, I think she is an android."

"Andr- I think that girl needs help she is being confined in those weird contraptions."

"Yeah lets go help her."

Then when we got close about two metres to her blaring alarms went off.

"Warning!!! Intruders detected. Initiating self-defense mechanisms."