"Are you sure you are alright?!?!"

Elizabeth had been a steady stream of tears all the way to his abode and even now as she balled like a little girl.

"Yes, I am. This is not the first time I have lost a limb and it will not be the last. Regenerating it  isn't even the problem, making sure it is properly created with its essence circuits is."

"Elizabeth why not give master some space?"

*Hiss*

Samuel snorted slightly... Eishath was up and for the most part, looked perfectly calm. Sure she was distressed when she first saw him but upon his dismissal of his injury so did she. 

Interestingly he had not carried her here and both had used world steps to get here. This gave him some pause, while a part of him realized that she was bound in a way that made her an extension of him in many ways giving her his cultivation stage being one of them, his mind was still stupefied by the evolution.

She was strong enough to challenge Belial all by herself and despite the way Samuel was able to overpower the demonic cultivator, he was no pushover, he was a powerful threat.

A small part of Samuel was irked at her instant climb, as it surpassed his own growth. But he could not be at all upset because he was sure that out of everyone in existence, no one could come close to her loyalty to him.

Then there was Elizabeth who seemed deeply upset whenever Eishath tried to engage, reacting with only cat hisses to ward her off.

Sadly, without the power of his Divine Will, even he did not have the heart to resist the distraught girl. The amount of traumatizing things that happened over such a small period would break just about anyone. 

He shelved the idea of severing their bond for the moment, instead focusing on building her mental fortitude and will both of which were dealt a severe blow. At least that was what he believed.

Then there was the balancing act of accepting more disciples because he promised quite a few disciples that he would see to them and he was not a liar. 

Though he had a bit of time here as the tournament was still going on. He thought about scratching his cheek but then remembered that one arm was currently holding Elizabeth while the other was simply not there.

He had also promised to take in her sister which was another thing on the long line of things he needed to do.

Maybe his divine will was right... He now had so many chains... So many things dragging him down.

Yet... This was the most alive he felt in a long long time.

Logically this was nonsense, his focus on the path of immortality had been hit like a truck. In the last year, he did not even get a single new insight, and he had no idea why he got two minor breakthroughs. His control was in shambles. 

With the near-omniscient power of his soul, he saw all this. He was changing to become more... mortal... which was antithetical to his ultimate goal. To achieve transcendence, his ultimate wish, he needed to do the opposite.

He wanted to be above it all, above all the petty vices that the social and emotional aspect of the cultivation. Most who reached the transcendent stage were sovereigns removed from the pettiness of the ego.

In fact, if it were not for his two disciples, engaging with Belial had virtually no upside for him and he would not have engaged with the cultivator.

He looked down at his right fist as he opened and closed it rapidly before shifting to caress Elizabeth's head. He added a gentle touch of his essence into it as he slowly massaged her. You learn certain things about individuals when you interact them with for a long time, Elizabeth was very very weak to direct affection. It took him a bit but he realized this and could use it to calm her down.

"Master!.... Ooooh..."

But... This fight did something he had not gotten in a long time. So much so that he had forgotten about it entirely. A real challenge.

The fight might have been heavily in his favor but there were instances where he was on the ropes, twice actually, and he was lucky for the ability of his Twin Stars, otherwise, he did not believe he would have gotten off so easily. And inwardly, he was moved by the tenacity of Belial despite his dark road.

To bring out his trump card, to be surprised, to need to react, the need to improve, the desire to be the best...

All of these... were they not stemmed from the fact he had to interact with others?

Every idea he brought forward... Was it not from the books he read with such astuteness?

These books...  Were they not designed the greater so that others may one day reach their standards?

The world was not only him... but a collection of thoughts and ideas which combined to make it flourish. 

So why was he so hesitant to take this step? Why was he so hesitant to open his heart and accept others? 

Sure it made no logical sense to put oneself in so many crossroads... But when were humans logical? Was not the path to divinity a study of how to pursue an impossibility no matter how illogical it may seem?

Was solitude the only path forward? Why? Because of the powers that be said it so?

But they achieved an impossibility that by design makes no sense. 

So why must he pursue their teachings? Why not try something different? Why not try to grow others up and see where that road took him?

Deep within his soul a barrier denser than a diamond kept cracking and snapping but something kept trying to mend it, his own Divine soul. But slowly and surely, it crumbled... And his soul domain was doused in a golden light, it was so profound that Samuel could not comprehend it at all. In fact, his impaired nature prevented him from even sensing what was going on in his soul domain.

"Master!"

"Master!"

"Hmm?"

His eyes opened. It seemed he was so in deep thought that he lost his grip on the waking world. He looked to see both his disciples who were staring back at him in wonder.

"Yes?"

"Your glowing!"

*End of Book 1*

Simonx69

The first major storyline is finally over. I thought of writing a couple of other things to tie some loose ends but I decided they can all be shelved for the next arc, I liked the combat sequence and wanted to end on a high note. While there were definitely hiccups and a lot of places I could have improved *I am already writing a [re-imaging] version on my Patreon, the same general throughline but with a lot of changes to the world and characters to make everything more cohesive and fun to read.* I enjoyed writing this a lot and I will see you guys again when I start the next arc. The obligatory training journey arc that exists in all xianxia novels. Hope you enjoyed and continue to enjoy the stories I tell.