Nova sat in meditation as the first rays of dawn crept through his window, Aldric's spatial ring resting in his palm. The night's events—the assassination, the soul extraction, the wealth of knowledge gained—all of it needed to be properly processed and integrated.
But first, he needed to organize his cultivation approach.
His enhanced consciousness, upgraded through soul absorption and the Infinite Constitution, could now operate on multiple parallel tracks simultaneously. Like a supercomputer running several programs at once, his mind could focus on different cultivation tasks without interference.
Nova mentally mapped out his priorities:
Track One: Digest and integrate Aldric's five peak Laws—Shadow, Death, Soul, Poison, and Blood—down to early Law comprehension. A descent from peak to early might sound like a downgrade, but it was necessary. The comprehension was stolen, not earned. He needed to make it truly his own, understand it from the ground up rather than just possessing surface knowledge.
Track Two: Consolidate his original twenty-four early Laws. The understanding was there, but it needed to be solidified, made instinctive rather than intellectual.
Track Three: Upgrade his eighty-nine peak Intents to early Law comprehension. Intents were the precursor to Laws—refined enough, an Intent could evolve into Law understanding naturally.
Track Four: Continue physical cultivation. Push his Qi Refining realm as far as it could go.
Nova closed his eyes and activated his multitasking capability.
Immediately, his consciousness split into four distinct streams of awareness, each one functioning independently yet remaining connected to the whole.
The sensation was disorienting at first—like trying to watch four different scenes play out simultaneously. But his enhanced mind adapted quickly, processing all four tracks with perfect clarity.
Track One - Law Integration
Nova's first stream of consciousness dove into Aldric's Shadow Law comprehension.
At peak level, Shadow Law could manipulate darkness across solar systems, create impenetrable veils that blocked even divine sense, weaponize the absence of light itself.
But Nova needed to understand it from the beginning. What was shadow? Not just the absence of light, but the space between illumination. The concept of concealment, of things hidden, of potential unrevealized.
He began the slow process of digesting the knowledge, breaking down peak comprehension into its fundamental components, then rebuilding his understanding from the ground up.
Hours passed. Shadow Law slowly crystallized in his consciousness, descending from peak to late, then mid, then early. But each stage of "descent" actually represented true integration—the knowledge becoming genuinely his rather than borrowed memory.
The same process repeated for Death Law, Soul Law, Poison Law, and Blood Law. Each one requiring careful digestion, each one slowly but surely becoming part of his fundamental understanding.
Track Two - Law Consolidation
His second stream of consciousness worked through the twenty-four Laws he'd learned from Luna.
Fire, Water, Earth, Wind—the elemental basics. Each one needed to be consolidated, the early comprehension made solid and unshakeable.
Nova circulated spiritual energy through his meridians in patterns specific to each Law, feeling how Fire Law affected his qi differently than Water Law, how Earth Law required different mental frameworks than Wind Law.
The consolidation was slower than learning had been, but it was necessary. Rushing through cultivation led to unstable foundations, and Nova's Perfect Foundation ability could only compensate so much. True mastery required time and practice.
Track Three - Intent Evolution
His third stream focused on transforming Intents into Laws.
Sword Intent—the will to cut, to divide, to separate. Nova pushed deeper into the concept. What was cutting at a fundamental level? The application of force along a plane to overcome molecular bonds. To sever connections. To create boundaries where none existed.
The Intent began to evolve, expanding from battlefield-level influence to city-level, then country-level, then continent-level. When it crossed that final threshold, something clicked.
Sword Intent became Sword Law.
The process repeated for his other Intents. Spear Law. Fist Law. Palm Law. One by one, his peak Intents evolved into early Laws through careful cultivation and deep contemplation.
Track Four - Physical Cultivation
His fourth stream of consciousness maintained his physical cultivation, absorbing spiritual energy from the resources Luna had given him and the ambient qi in the environment.
Nova pulled out spirit stones and pills, arranging them around his meditation position. His Infinite Absorption & Refinement activated automatically, drawing in energy at an absurd rate.
The pills were especially effective. His constitution stripped away impurities instantly, transforming even Low-Grade pills into Perfect-Grade equivalents. The extracted essence flowed into his dantian like a flood.
His cultivation base, already at peak ninth stage Qi Refining, began to strain against its limits.
Then something unexpected happened.
The barrier that should have marked the ceiling of Qi Refining—the point where a cultivator must breakthrough to the next realm—didn't exist.
Or rather, it existed, but Nova's Perfect Foundation allowed him to push past it.
His dantian compressed further. The spiritual energy, already impossibly dense, became even more concentrated. The qi that had been liquid even at peak ninth stage now showed hints of crystallization.
Nova broke through to the tenth stage of Qi Refining.
The breakthrough was smooth, effortless, as natural as breathing. His perfect meridians accommodated the increased energy without strain. His flawless dantian held the compressed qi without instability.
And he could sense there was still room to advance further.
The ninth stage isn't the limit, Nova realized. Not for me. My Perfect Foundation is allowing me to continue refining my qi base beyond what normal cultivators can achieve.
He continued cultivating, absorbing resources at a rate that would have bankrupted most sects. Spirit stones crumbled to dust. Pills dissolved into pure essence. Medicinal herbs released centuries of accumulated spiritual energy.
The qi vortex around his cabin intensified, pulling in ambient energy from kilometers away. Combined with the refined pill essence, the influx was just barely keeping pace with his Perfect Foundation's demands.
Eleventh stage. Twelfth stage. Thirteenth stage.
Each breakthrough required exponentially more energy than the last, but Nova's absorption rate was keeping up. Barely.
By the time he paused to check his progress, Luna's "generous" supply of resources was nearly depleted.
I hope that auction happens soon, Nova thought grimly. I'm going to need far more resources than normal cultivators to sustain this advancement.
While his four primary streams of consciousness worked on cultivation, Nova's enhanced awareness examined Aldric's spatial ring more thoroughly, searching for anything immediately useful.
Most items were mysteries—ancient artifacts whose purpose wasn't immediately clear, treasures that would require study to understand. But one object caught his attention immediately.
A tiny pebble, no larger than his thumbnail, smooth and perfectly spherical. It appeared completely mundane, like something you might find on any riverbank.
But the memories Nova had extracted from Aldric revealed its true nature: the Battle Simulation Stone.
An artifact created by an ancient Immortal Ascension expert specifically for combat training. When activated, it would pull the user's consciousness into a simulated battlefield where they could fight opponents of any type—cultivators, demons, aliens from distant galaxies, beasts, spirits, anything imaginable.
The simulation was perfect. Every sensation, every technique, every moment of combat felt completely real. Injuries sustained in the simulation translated to mental feedback that taught the body and consciousness without actual physical damage.
More importantly, the artifact included time dilation. One hour in reality equaled one hundred hours in the simulation. A cultivator could spend years training combat skills in what amounted to days of real time.
Nova held the pebble, feeling its smooth surface, and understood immediately why this was precious beyond measure.
He had perfect technique mastery. His comprehension allowed him to understand how every attack should be executed. But understanding and execution were different things.
His battle sense was zero. His combat instincts were nonexistent. His practical experience fighting actual opponents was limited to one surprised assassin who'd been frozen in place.
If he faced a real combat expert—someone with decades or centuries of battlefield experience—Nova would be destroyed despite his superior techniques and Laws. Experience mattered. Instinct mattered. The split-second decisions made in the chaos of combat couldn't be learned from manuals.
This artifact could give him that experience.
Nova activated the Battle Simulation Stone, channeling a thread of qi into it. The stone pulsed once, twice, then a fifth stream of consciousness split from his mind and dove into the simulation.
Simulation Space - Day 1
Nova's consciousness materialized in a vast arena, the ground beneath his feet solid but featureless. The sky above was a uniform gray, providing light without a visible source.
A figure appeared opposite him—humanoid, roughly his size, wielding a simple sword.
[OPPONENT: Basic Sword Practitioner - Foundation Building Realm] [COMBAT STYLE: Orthodox Sect Swordplay] [BEGIN]
The figure lunged without preamble.
Nova tried to counter with a Sword Law technique, channeling his understanding into a perfect execution—
The opponent's blade took him in the throat before his technique even activated.
Pain exploded through his consciousness. Not real physical pain, but the mental equivalent. His body in reality remained unharmed, but his mind experienced the sensation of death.
[DEFEAT] [RESET]
The arena reconstructed itself. The opponent returned to their starting position.
Nova tried again. This time he completed the technique—a perfect Sword Law slash that should have bisected his opponent effortlessly.
The opponent sidestepped and drove their blade through his heart.
[DEFEAT] [RESET]
Again. And again. And again.
Nova's perfect technique mastery meant nothing when he couldn't predict his opponent's movements. His Law comprehension was wasted when he couldn't read the tells that preceded an attack. His superior cultivation base didn't help when he left himself open to counters.
Ten defeats. Twenty. Fifty.
But with each defeat, Nova learned.
He learned to watch his opponent's shoulders, which tensed fractionally before a thrust. He learned to track foot positioning, which revealed the direction of the next attack. He learned to feel the flow of qi, which spiked just before technique activation.
On his sixty-third attempt, Nova finally won.
The victory came not from a brilliant technique, but from a simple observation: his opponent always shifted their weight before a high slash. When Nova saw that shift, he ducked low and struck upward, catching them off-guard.
[VICTORY] [ADVANCING TO NEXT OPPONENT]
A new figure materialized. Larger, with a spear.
[OPPONENT: Spear Expert - Foundation Building Realm] [COMBAT STYLE: Military Phalanx Formation] [BEGIN]
The spear thrust forward like a striking serpent.
Nova died again.
And again he learned.