All of a sudden, two "new" memories appeared out of my mind. First was during my first dual cultivation session with Kiana. The second was the awakening of the [Nine Dragons Primordial Universe Body].
Both times, this phantom of mine said something.
Cling-!
The sound of a bell's chime presented something. I had the urge to utilize my Dharma Avatar… and so I did. The aspect of Mirror acted out.
The secrets hidden beneath these garbled words played out.
First was the ethereal woman whom I identified as Kiana.
"The third tribulation's descent…"
Then, my mutterings.
"All roads lead to this ending. Change it and reach…"
"You must transcend the enfeebled calamity granted to you; its most precious gift."
The Dao of Mirrors reflected the mysterious phantoms. I cannot make sense of the words without it, as if there was a higher-level power at fault.
While I am still processing these facts, my phantom spoke once more.
"This world is flawed. It is the greatest opportunity. Pierce through its falsehoods to reach what you desire."
Right after saying these words, he disappeared.
Rumble-!
His disappearance heralded a huge change to the stigma space. Nihility's traces became stronger. The Void Refinement Realm power could barely hang onto it. It is steadily losing out.
That bad foreboding feeling grew stronger.
Thank goodness Seele is knocked unconscious. I felt her trauma regarding Nihility. Being killed over and over by IX took a toll on her mind. That was why I distracted her with Kevin's affairs.
Everything up to the confrontation with Kevin is still within her predictions. She went through so many loops. She's akin to someone who completed the game and knew every single attack pattern each monster has.
IX is the hidden final boss Seele could never defeat.
"Fu…"
It took some time to organize my thoughts.
The phantoms' words confirmed something. My encounter with IX is an opportunity.
I am familiar with the shenanigans of the higher realms. The Dao Integration Realm requires the ascension to an unowned Dao. It could be as simple as the Dao of Flames to the more complex Dao of Endless Void.
Above that is the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. It is the final hurdle in becoming a True Immortal. It consists of three tribulations. Each one of them can destroy or create worlds.
Once all three tribulations are surpassed and the cultivator lives, they will transcend the infinite realities and become a True Immortal.
The specialness of the golden orb went beyond measures. The phantom implied that the golden orb's fucked-up novice gift turned out to be a genuine gift. It deliberately let me experience the disaster with IX for it to act as my "first" tribulation.
The deadly tribulation of a Void Refinement Realm cultivator is incomparable with the Tribulation Transcendence Realm—like a coughing baby versus a nuclear bomb.
By overcoming this tribulation, I would have one less tribulation to worry about in the Tribulation Transcendence Realm.
Not even the techniques mentioned anything about this kind of feat. It is simply the greatest cultivation cheat to exist.
The slight joy I felt from it diminished once I snapped back to reality.
Tribulation or not, I need to resolve it… as a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.
The best choice I have is to gamble with my lifespan. I still have 2.4 million years of lifespan from the Dao of Permanence.
Striking once at the Divine Transformation Realm costs 5,000 years. Temporarily elevating one's realm to the Divine Transformation Realm costs 500,000 years. It lasts for ten minutes.
If the body, mind, and soul are to be raised together, it will cost 1.5 million years.
That's enough.
*****
Five days have passed since the confrontation on the Moon.
Sin Mal was the main force in destroying Project STIGMA. The nature of the Spiritual Adam is extremely compatible with her. Once Fu Hua and Bronya arrived, she utilized the authority over Souls. The combination of the two plus Kevin's defeat spelled the end of Project STIGMA. His death soon followed.
Most of the people dragged over were returned back to Earth. Only a fraction of humans who could not extricate themselves from their ideal world turned into the Spiritual Adam's sustenance and disappeared.
Welt Yang sighed as he finished the nth command he sent out. The world turned chaotic with everything that happened until now. Resettling the humans, managing the deceased ones, planning the public announcement about the honkai…
"...It is not over yet."
He glanced at the Moon high above the skies.
Right after the battle, everyone capable reconvened on the Moon. Kiana told a lot of new things to them. Several new Golden Core Realm cultivators emerged on that day.
The Herrscher-Golden Core Realm cultivators, in particular, grew stronger. Kiana did not take the Herrscher Cores back given their resistance to honkai energy.
Finally, honkai energy itself no longer erupted in irregular intervals. They are now freely being refined into spiritual qi. Her deliberate manipulation over it qualified it under the [Two Phase Art]'s requirements.
"Aeons."
Shi Tian's situation wasn't hidden from them. He went to the Theater of Domination and secluded himself. He was the main force in delaying the said Aeon's gaze. The problem stemmed from himself, after all.
For now, all they could do is to reorganize Earth and quickly reach the pinnacle of the Golden Core Realm. The rest lay on their arrangements. Turning Earth into a cultivation civilization takes a lot of time.
Fortunately, the most important resource, spirit veins, are readily available on Earth.
"Time, time…"
*****
Seele could remember it.
The sole entity she could not defeat.
The one that made her feel what utter despair is.
Throughout seven hundred years, she died to IX every single time. Seele coped that it was an imperfect world—that the real world wouldn't play out like that—but deep down, she feared it would happen.
It is the biggest flaw in her Tao Heart—the barrier that prevented her from reaching the fifth level.
Today, it seemed no different. Pure despair filled her chest. She silently gazed at the distant Black Sun that threatened to devour all.
'It's not real.'
The Cocoon of Finality never did anything in her time loops. It pointed out that the time loops are flawed—a lot of things are missing.
Nonetheless…
'What if it happens?'
Seele's greatest fear emerged from this abysmal possibility.
She cherished her current life even more now that she reunited with everyone. She could either fear it or face it.
In the end, she came to a silent conclusion.
'I will be there. Right by his side.'
*****
A/N: Bonus chapter.