Master of the System

Grandpa Vremya exhaled and lowered his hands. Originally, they were resting on his temples, his eyes closed, his back hunched. With a series of cracking sounds, Grandpa Vremya sat up, straightening his spine which hadn’t moved for over two years. His eyes opened, and he glanced around. Despite the passage of time, the room wasn’t dusty thanks to the presence of a certain someone.

“Oh?” Azalea glanced at Grandpa Vremya. She was sitting on a beanbag cushion in the corner of the room with a book in her hands. On the cover, there were advanced mathematical symbols displayed on a chalkboard-like background. “You’re awake?”

Grandpa Vremya nodded. “I’ve passed the tribulation of the mind,” he said and climbed to his feet. He stared at his hand and swept it from side to side. Thanks to his enhanced mind, he could see the passage of his hand through the air. He could calculate where each and every air particle had relocated and where they would go because of his movement. It was as if everything had been stripped of their identities, reduced to numbers that fluctuated up and down within Grandpa Vremya’s vision.

“Just like that?” Azalea asked. “Why does it feel like you’re advancing way too quickly through the false-immortal realm?”

“When done correctly, cultivation should be slower at the start,” Grandpa Vremya said. “It’s like constructing a pyramid. The first foundational layer takes the most amount of time to place down. When you look at the very last piece of the pyramid placed at the top, the amount of time it takes is simply based on how tall your structure is. If everything has been planned properly, ascending the base should be easy, and the last piece will only take a brief moment when compared to the whole thing.”

Azalea furrowed her brow. “If that’s the case, why did it take you a longer amount of time to form your golden core from foundation establishment compared to entering foundation establishment as a qi condenser?”

“Those are both foundational phases,” Grandpa Vremya said. “They both belong to the same layer.”

“Right,” Azalea said, somewhat doubtful of Grandpa Vremya’s assertion. If it was easier to cultivate the stronger one got, then there’d be false immortals everywhere. Perhaps Grandpa Vremya was right, and if one knew the proper way to cultivate, then it was easier at the last steps. However, if that were the case, then it seemed like no one really understood the proper way to cultivate except for Grandpa Vremya. Azalea shook her head. Thinking about things like that was pointless. “What’s next? Passing the tribulation of the spirit?”

“Naturally,” Grandpa Vremya said and stroked his beard. He leaned back, and a phoegon appeared from underneath the bed. It ran up to Grandpa Vremya and propped itself up like a backrest, supporting Grandpa Vremya from behind. Grandpa Vremya took it all in stride, taking a seat and resting all his weight on the creature. “There’s only one way to trigger the tribulation of the spirit. One needs a destiny fruit.”

“Destiny fruit?”

Grandpa Vremya nodded. “It’s called the Snow Fire Lightning Fruit here,” he said. “But a destiny fruit is the cumulation of many eons of spiritual energy. Only when enough spiritual energy has been created and cycled through the dimension will there be a destiny fruit. If someone who has passed their tribulation of the body and mind consumes it, they’ll trigger the tribulation of the spirit, giving them a chance to become a true powerhouse.”

Azalea raised an eyebrow. “Am I in charge of finding this fruit’s location?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Grandpa Vremya said. “Everyone who’s capable of ascending will hear the fruit’s calling. It’s broadcasting its location loud and clear to me right now.” He hummed to himself as he climbed to his feet. “There shouldn’t be too many people capable of hearing its call. The two false immortals from the coalition and the empire should be waiting there. Other than that, I don’t think anyone else will show up.”

“When is this fruit going to be ready for … consumption?” Azalea tilted her head. She had no idea how the fruit was supposed to help someone ascend. She had never seen Grandpa Vremya use an external source—other than spirit stones—to advance his cultivation. “If it takes a few eons of time to gather enough spiritual energy, we’ll be waiting for quite a while, won’t we?”

Grandpa Vremya nodded. “It should ripen in about a year,” he said. “That’ll give us plenty of time to prepare.”

“A year?” Azalea asked, her eyes widening. “How did eons upon eons become a single year? Isn’t that extremely convenient? You just happened to be born around the time a destiny fruit would fully ripen, right when you needed it to progress in your cultivation.”

“That’s correct,” Grandpa Vremya said. “However, there are trillions of people who are also living at this time. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for one of the trillion to be ready to consume the fruit. It just so happens that it’ll be me.”

Azalea sighed and leaned back, her head facing the ceiling. “When you ascend, what’ll happen? Will you be moving up to a higher dimension like you’re always mentioning?” She lowered her head, meeting Grandpa Vremya’s gaze. “When that happens, will I be able to see you again? Aren’t we supposed to be lifelong companions? How come you’re taking this step before me?”

Grandpa Vremya raised an eyebrow at Azalea’s bombardment of questions. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Isn’t there that famous saying? When a man ascends to the heavens, even his dogs and chickens shall rise up too.”

“So, what? I’m a dog or chicken now?” Azalea asked, rolling her eyes. “I’m serious. What’s going to happen when you pass your tribulation of the spirit.”

Grandpa Vremya walked to the side of the room. He pulled aside a curtain and stared out the window, up at the sky. Then, he turned to meet Azalea’s gaze. “I’m just a mortal. Why do you expect me to know about the things that happen after becoming an immortal?”

Azalea’s jaw dropped open. Was this the first time Grandpa Vremya had answered one of her questions with uncertainty? He always knew everything, so to hear him essentially say the words, “I don’t know,” blew her mind. She swallowed. “Are you really Vremya? The Vremya I know wouldn’t admit to not knowing something.”

Grandpa Vremya snorted. He didn’t have to be domineering anymore, needing to project the image of knowing everything, not since he had already grown his soul seed. It didn’t matter if Azalea realized he didn’t know things, not that he didn’t know what would happen once he ascended. He was just too lazy to explain. It would lead to her questioning him about where he obtained all his knowledge from, and simply put, it was too much of a hassle to deal with when he knew everything would be explained in the end.

***

Rachel’s brow furrowed. For the past two years, she had been correcting injustices by disguising herself as a beautiful mortal woman with a rare spiritual treasure. Whenever someone tried to take advantage of her, she’d simply cripple their cultivation. According to the words in her vision, if people were using their strength to take advantage of others, then they didn’t deserve the strength they possessed. Rachel thought it’d be much easier to kill the person to resolve all hatred as well, but she wouldn’t be given any justice tokens if she killed someone; in fact, they’d be taken away. These justice tokens were necessary to use the system’s shop function, which she had been told possessed items capable of expediting her tribulation of the mind. Crippling people who offended her and being rewarded for doing it, Rachel had become fully accustomed to her role as an apostle of justice.

It wouldn’t be long before she passed her tribulation of the mind. With luck, she’d encounter lots of greedy victims seeking trouble from her. If she could find three people a day to harass her, then she’d be able to pass her tribulation before the Snow Fire Lightning Fruit ripened. Rachel was working hard to see the day the empire’s false immortal fail to obtain the fruit because of her direct interference. Perhaps Rachel would even destroy the fruit the moment Jade laid her hands on it; that would certainly bring about a nice reaction. Vengeance wouldn’t satisfy Rachel because she had severed her emotions, but it would still be nice to settle a grievance.