ALL NOVEL 418. Ghost Doctor
E'livia had been trained almost from birth. Every childhood activity, as fun as it might've been, had a purpose. Knowledge had been dumped into her mind from the moment she could understand anything. She had forgotten more than Shen had learned in his entire life.
A rarity she had almost forgotten about and didn't think she would ever see was an overextended Path crumbling on its own weight.
Shen, beside her, suddenly imploded. His existence twisted into itself, his recently healed body and soul turning into an unidentifiable mess as he seemed to fold inwards. He had grown too much too quickly, and his Path lacked solid foundations to support extra sudden growth.
The shock of witnessing it almost made her drop her illusion technique, but she held firmly. It was a good thing, too, because she then witnessed something she had been told was impossible. If a Path was lightly overextended, the cultivator could withstand and eventually return to normal, but Shen's existence had been distorted beyond recognition.
Yet, he didn't die.
It wasn't for lack of trying. His body and soul warped around a singular point of himself, becoming a tiny ball of horribly shaped flesh and bones. Not even a drop of blood escaped because his very existence was being crushed by itself, and not a speck would escape. That was the seriousness of what he was undergoing, the finality of his mistake.
E'livia knew he wasn't dead because her link with him remained—and was strengthened as his Path's Laws approached mastery and he grew more powerful. They had been unmastered but soon reached a point of almost mastery. How could he do that with a soul like that? Comprehending anything should be impossible. She could only guess sheer instinct moved him forward, which didn't explain how he could get any enlightenment in such a state.
Then, it stopped; his comprehension had reached a bottleneck.
That didn't mean his improvement halted. Instead, Shen's body started growing stronger. She could feel his strength, agility potential, and resistance improve as he absorbed qi like crazy from his surroundings. It would soon go beyond what E'livia's illusion could cover, but short of killing him, there was nothing she could do to stop him. He was already unconscious, but he continued nonetheless.
Shen grew stronger—almost as strong as someone with a mastered Law. Almost. That last step wasn't so easily taken, and he was barred like anyone else. He had done the impossible, but mastering a Law like this was beyond impossible.
The process slowed, but Shen didn't heal. He had grown stronger, but not enough. His existence still couldn't withstand his Path. He was a floating ball of flesh, nothing more.
E'livia was honestly as annoyed as she was terrified. She only needed him to get conscious so she could kill her pursuers. Her issue was fighting while protecting an unconscious person, and Shen had just gone ahead and made himself vulnerable again.
She was starting to think he had some sort of protagonist complex or something, always trying to do everything by himself.
E'livia sighed, used her domain to grab Shen's strange form—she couldn't hold it in any other way—stored his fallen robe and boots in her spatial storage, and flew away.
She had over half her qi remaining. The enemy Path infecting her flesh prevented her from absorbing more energy, and she wouldn't be able to get rid of that Path anytime soon. That was another thing she wanted Shen's help with—perhaps his aura could deal with it—but it wasn't to be.
E'livia could only hope her qi didn't empty out before she was found, or she might need to attempt a breakthrough outside the sect, and Dad would be pissed at her for it.
Power.
He Power.
Power, Power, Power. Power. Power!
He Power. Much Power. He Power.
More Power. Than Power. More. He more. He want! More! He more!
Power more than Power!
No.
No!
Power. Power enough. Now, Power. More Power equals end. He not want end.
He Power.
Power good. Power enough.
Power! Power! Power.
Law. Law connected. Law beautiful. He see Law. He be Law.
He Law. Law he.
He pull. He push. He understand. He become. He forget.
Law!
Power!
He bettering!
E'livia waited silently at the corner of the ghastly cave as the Ghost Doctor analyzed Shen.
"Interesting," the Ghost Doctor said.
Finding the mysterious woman hadn't been easy, taking E'livia a few months. E'livia had had no choice but to persevere. She had evaded her pursuers a few days after Treespire fell, but the sect's headquarters were taking their time to send someone to subjugate the traitors in Lagoth. They might not even know about it yet. Until then, she had to make do with the locals.
The whispers about the Ghost Doctor who could do miracles beyond B-rank had sounded too good to be true, but at least the woman was also a fugitive of the Gardener Sect.
"It has no qi," the wraith said to herself. "But it's alive and has an internal domain. So unique. So novel. The consequences of irresponsible meddling."
"He," E'livia corrected. "He's a living person."
The Ghost Doctor ignored her, and E'livia gritted her teeth.
E'livia was still at C-rank but could probably kill the B-rank. What she couldn't do was make up for the woman's healing skill. To add insult to offense, wraiths were banished from the Myriad Worlds, as they had to consume sapient life to sustain themselves. That's why the Doctor was hiding in an unfurnished cave in the middle of the Dead Swamps.
And now, E'livia had to trust Shen's survival to such a dreadful being.
The wraith ignored E'livia and poked Shen with her ghost finger—or rather, she tried to. A strange, invisible force stopped her finger. It prevented anything but a domain—or something stronger—from affecting it.
"A rare application of Absolute Horizon," the Ghost Doctor declared.
E'livia couldn't see through the dark green robe the Doctor wore. It was slightly translucent, but so was the wraith beneath it. Yet, the holin was confident the creature had smiled.
The Doctor continued, "Tribulation-fueled. To counter shallow meddling." The wraith turned to E'livia, who could see only darkness under its hood. "Do you know what that means?"
"What?" E'livia replied.
"The tribulation is keeping it alive," the wraith said. "This living thing is taking a crucial step in the tribulation it's currently undergoing. It has been very slow to progress with that step, however. It must go ahead or back to get released from this state of existence. But if it pulls back, it'll die."
"What if he passes the tribulation?"
"It dies, also. It cannot sustain itself. No one can survive Path overextension without assistance—like it's gaining from the Heavens."
E'livia frowned. "I still don't understand. That's not how tribulations work. You can't be kept alive forever just because you're taking your time with a step. No tribulation waits for you to fail or pass like that."
The wraith chuckled. "Ah, child. The Myriad Tree is too close to Alliance, and your mind too constricted by simple logic. What impossible wonders has Reality never birthed throughout its eternal infinity?"
She poked Shen again, but this time, her finger touched the ball of flesh. She then gripped it with her whole bone-thin, light greenish hand. She didn't use her domain to accomplish that. It showed the Ghost Doctor's ability.
E'livia tensed. If she squished... Did the damn wraith want to kill Shen?
The Doctor continued, "Or are you one of those who subscribe to the inevitability of the Void?" She released Shen and caressed him with her finger. "Are you close enough to your ancestor to have her tell you about the Primordials? I believe she was called... E'vania?"
E'livia's tension only increased. This creature could see through her guise? And she knew Grandma?
The wraith chuckled. "Don't be so surprised. I'm a thing of wonder, too. Of a place far away, of a time long past, in a universe partially consumed by the Void, then reclaimed." Thunder resounded in the skies outside the cave, but the wraith just chuckled again. "Oops. They don't want you to know that yet. Too weak. Answer me. Primordials. You know of them?"
E'livia frowned. What did "they" not want her to know? That her Grandma was called E'vania? That made no sense. It was almost as if she was missing part of the conversation.
The wraith had probably thought about saying something, but the Heavens detected it and sent her a warning.
Anyway, E'livia replied, "They are trying to usurp control over all of existence. Saying their name is forbidden. It attracts their attention."
"A good enough description, I suppose. The Primordials changed a fundamental rule of Reality not too long ago. A-ranks can now crush their Realization and still survive." She stopped to look at E'livia.
E'livia's frown deepened. "What do you mean, they changed it? It has always been like that."
Another chuckle. "Yes, almost everyone forgot things were different in the not-so-distant past. Reality does that when it changes some things. And let me tell you, it wasn't easy to keep my memories."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"That change is the reason this poor idiot is still alive. The tribulation it's undergoing is related to its essence, which is tangentially related to Realizations. The dumbass Primordial who changed the rules of Reality wasn't clear when they used their Voice to do it. I found out they told an A-rank to 'stay alive' after they destroyed their Realization. That was it. The command was freely obeyed by Reality and spilled on other things, like essence-related ones, but those memories weren't affected. So, you weren't aware that essence-related tribulations could keep someone alive under certain circumstances. That's what happens when anyone misuses their strength."
"So it's a coincidence that Shen is alive?"
The wraith didn't just chuckle this time. She laughed loud and long. It took her minutes to control herself. "Don't be stupid. This here is the local Heavens' secret little weapon. It's not a real living being, just a projectile aimed at the Primordials. The Heavens predicted this tribulation could happen and that this weapon could develop like that. So, the Heavens rearranged themselves just the right way when that dumbass Primordial gave it an order. The right way to let it survive. Or was that Primordial a dumbass? I begin to think he was a traitor."
E'livia shook her head. She was getting sidetracked. "Can you save him?"
The Ghost Doctor started walking around Shen, looking at him. "The question is: why should I save it? Reality is an egoistical bitch with its toys. It went through so many troubles to hide that it's still using him. Not even the local Warden, who's eavesdropping on us right now, could link the dots. You forgot about the Primordial meddling, too, didn't you?"
"Yes," a deep male voice said from nowhere.
E'livia's heartbeat increased. She panicked, her eyes wide, and fell to her knees. "Junior greets Exalted Gardener!"
"Don't be too hard on yourself," the wraith continued as if an S-rank hadn't just talked to her. "This is old business. Older than me, not to mention you. This little weapon was pushed into the Path of Essence Realization on purpose. And I can tell the Heavens expect me to leave after revealing the truth to you so you can use him accordingly."
"That is acceptable," the Gardener replied.
The wraith chuckled. "Ah, you're a lousy liar, aren't you? You want to save this creature. But your methods won't work. You have yet to Sever yourself and are thus part of the Heavens' plans, no matter how innovative you believe you are being. The Heavens have already seen through it. One of your Severed allies might've done something if they were here instead of you, but your fear has made you weak. Right here, right now, I'm the only one who can save it."
E'livia trembled. Obviously, the Ghost Doctor wasn't a B-rank. It talked to the Gardener as if she were stronger than him!
The Doctor continued, "This is also Reality's trap for me, a scheme within schemes. Reality knew I was in this multiverse but not where. Reality also knew I would be interested in seeing this singularity and would find my way here to check on it if I felt it. It commanded the Heavens into luring me. The moment I save this one, I'll be located, and my current plans will crumble. My Path will be set back millions of years."
"Let me do it," the Gardener said. "I'll do my best to be unpredictable."
"I know you would," the Ghost Doctor said. "But should you? Only my direct actions can truly be outside of Reality's plans, and only if I act against my Essence—which I shouldn't be able to."
"Shouldn't be?" the Gardener asked, interested.
The wraith smiled. "Reality doesn't yet know my Reversal is this advanced. I underwent a lucky breakthrough a while back."
She stopped walking and poked Shen again. This time, her finger got all the way inside the ball of flesh, and E'livia felt her ritual connection to Shen snap. In fact, it felt like Reality snapped somehow—as if something was cut in such a fundamental way that E'livia's soul hurt just for being nearby.
"May you be free and yourself for once," the wraith said. "Not a weapon or a trap. Not ever again. I release you of all connections made to this day. I Consolidate you in True Boundlessness. If you hate me for it, may your Absolute Power free you one day," she whispered, then disappeared.
Thunder sounded in the skies outside the cave. Reality shook. E'livia felt like the very Space she was inside wanted to crush her.
E'livia and Shen were suddenly enveloped by a Realization and teleported away.
She found herself being pushed through a Spacetime tunnel surrounded by myriad colors. There was no time nor distance there, yet she felt some passage of time—that was how big was the distance she was traversing. At some point, her Origin Link to her father also snapped. Not because it was cut, but because she had gotten too far from him.
She was being sent far, far away from the Myriad Worlds with Shen.