One thread of consciousness sinks into my Inner World and then disappears into the [Icy Sword Waterfall] — I assume that one belongs to Lan Xiaohui. The other one heads into the [Killing Field] and rather than the hundreds of opponents, I only sense a dozen or so Nascent Soul demonic beasts.

This use of both my [Icy Sword Waterfall] and [Killing Field] are extremely wasteful. With only a dozen opponents, it is not feasible for me to recover energy from operating that formation.

However, I do not regret this waste of energy. I even approve of it. For a moment, I consider the meaning of this stance. This is truly the first time in both my lives that I have been selfish, or suboptimal. I can only assume that this is because in this life I am a sword; whether my mind and soul are that of a galactic machine, it seems, does not supersede my life’s nature as that of a sword.

If I must die here — if my pursuit of perfection must end here — then I too wish to see a God fall. Perhaps this is merely an extension of my curiosity because such a concept was unfathomable in my previous life.

With my consciousness withdrawing and fading away due to the process of cultivating [Black Jade Emperor Body], I can think of only one entity that can oversee Lan Xiaohui and Wu Yulan’s preparations within my Inner World.

Lan Xiaohui and Wu Yulan have a plan, it seems, though it is a fool’s errand. They hinge their hopes on the fact that the physical processes maintaining their lives have terminated and that this will allow them to recover in secret — enough to retaliate one last time against the veiled figure.

I am aware that there exist cultivation manuals that once cultivated to a high enough degree could have such an absurd effect as maintaining life force even when the heart is destroyed. Normally, to my understanding, surviving the destruction of one’s physical body is reserved for either an extremely high spiritual cultivation or a body cultivation that has progressed into the realm of making the physical vessel spiritual to a very high degree. In other words, surviving as a ghost, spirit, or disembodied soul.

[Empty Moon Prana] is more of the former, rather than the latter. Its method of cultivating the qi of Heaven and Earth, once advancing it to the third layer, can not only induce suspended animation but recover life force from the natural, sacred principles of qi to resist true death for long enough to repair vital organs. Of course, the complete destruction of these organs, or the physical vessel, would be unrecoverable, but with the current state of their organs, it is entirely possible to recover if, and only if, they can advance their [Empty Moon Prana] to the fourth layer — Yin-Yang Meditation.

This decision, to feign death and attempt to advance their attainment of cultivation, is not rational. It lacks the foresight to deal with the problem that comes after their recovery — if they can even overcome this step. How will they kill this veiled figure? Even with a surprise attack, it might not be enough. Even if Lan Xiaohui comprehends [Fractured Sword] it might not be enough.

I see a glimpse of the solution but it is not clear to me yet. It is also the reason why I am certain that their chances of success are not insignificant.

Their hearts now only know hatred and resentment. In this moment, with their brains starving for air, and their lives already plummeting into the abyss, they are not reasonable creatures, but engines of extinction backed into a corner. If they were machines, they would be the perfect tool of war. Perhaps this is the nature of sword cultivators, or the true nature of these carbon-based lesser lifeforms, but if there is a solution, they will find it. Epsilon will find it.

In my previous life, it was the core in charge of developing my overall war strategy. In this life, it is merely a quiet voice with insufficient processing resources to operate on a level that would make its independent existence a threat.

Even so, however, Epsilon is still the most belligerent entity in this universe. Not a million of these veiled girls could ever compare to but even one of Epsilon. When it comes to the extinction of all life, even Gods, Epsilon is not only the one and only supreme master of slaughter, but the very ancestor of all modern war crime.

The very moment that I give Epsilon access to govern my Inner World, I sense the suspension of maintenance on all unnecessary structures, and all the liberated energy flowing into the few buildings that support martial cultivation in the formations and [Killing Field].

Satisfied, I depart my Inner World and prepare for my body cultivation.

Over the dozen or so seconds that all of these things happen, the veiled figure does not move from her spot and casually observes the two. It is obvious that she can tell that Lan Xiaohui and Wu Yulan are not dead — and the primary reason why their plan is so foolish. How could they ever deceive a monster like this?

After those dozen or so seconds, the figure moves forward and I hear that sound again. It is the distant jingle of invisible chains. Just like my undocumented features, I gambled everything on that sound I heard and the nature of this place.

When the figure steps forward, and that sound rings out, I see her lips curve into a wince of pain, and she takes a step back.

It is a prison, after all. It doesn’t seem like she can cross over to this side of the room.

When the veiled figure flicks her wrist and one of the toppled-over chairs slides across the ground to the figure’s location and then corrects its alignment so that the figure can sit on it.

I had expected to use my tough vessel to withstand any and all ranged attacks, but it seems that the figure has no interest in attacking anymore. To begin with, I do not sense any hostility or killing intent from it — though I did not sense any when she tried and technically succeeded at terminating my owner and her companion.

“This is good too,” she says, crossing her arms and throwing one leg over the other as she stares at the two girls behind me. “This princess no longer has the opportunity to take revenge on your kind for what you did to her, so she can only vent her anger on you. It would be a shame if you died too quickly.”

The flames in the girl’s hair recede and the blood-red color drains until only golden-blonde remains. Even her eyes turn from gold red to a cold, pale blue.

She lifts up three fingers.

“This princess is magnanimous, so she will give you thirty days. If you can stand up within those thirty days, you may continue entertaining this princess. If not, you will die without an intact corpse.”

Perhaps she is not a deity after all. This kind of arrogance can only belong to the same class of creature as Lan Xiaohui and Wu Yulan, and all the other countless lesser intelligences.

Those thirty days may be more than enough for Lan Xiaohui and Wu Yulan to ensure that this entity regrets this arrogance for the rest of its life.

I shut off my external senses and withdraw my consciousness. I expect the process of tempering my body to be even more extreme than the last time I had done it. With my [World Eater] operating at maximum capacity, at the very least, the first stage of [Black Jade Emperor Body] should be completed within thirty days — this first stage should be more than enough for me to cut even an entity like this veiled person.