Reality - Continuing Cultivation
While one stream of his consciousness battled in the simulation, the other four continued their tasks without interruption.
His Laws integrated slowly but steadily. His Intents evolved one by one into early Law comprehension. His physical cultivation pushed past the fifteenth stage of Qi Refining.
And then Nova discovered another treasure in Aldric's ring that made him pause his multitasking momentarily.
A jade slip labeled in ancient script: Celestial Law Tempering Scripture
Nova scanned the technique with his consciousness, and his eyes widened.
This was a body tempering method—but unlike any other he'd encountered. Instead of using pills, beast cores, or spiritual herbs to strengthen the body, this technique used Laws and Intents directly.
The cultivator would channel their Law comprehension through their physical form, using the fundamental principles of reality itself to restructure flesh, bone, and blood. The deeper the Law comprehension, the more profound the tempering.
For normal cultivators, this technique was absolutely useless. Why would anyone spend centuries comprehending Laws just to temper their body when they could simply advance to Golden Formation Building Realm and achieve similar results in a fraction of the time?
But for Nova...
Nova who already possessed ninety-eight early Laws and was actively working to integrate five more. Nova who could comprehend Laws at a speed that made centuries of study meaningless. Nova whose Perfect Foundation meant his body needed to be equally perfect to properly channel his cultivation.
This technique was tailor-made for him.
How does a Mahayana cultivator possess so many unique and specialized treasures? Nova wondered. Did Aldric raid an ancient tomb? Plunder a hidden sect's inheritance? These items are too specific, too perfect for particular applications.
He filed the thought away for later consideration. Right now, he had a body tempering method to implement.
Nova activated the Celestial Law Tempering Scripture, following its precise instructions. He selected Fire Law first—his most thoroughly consolidated Law—and began channeling it not outward as an attack, but inward through his own body.
The effect was immediate and intense.
His cells began to resonate with Fire Law. Not burning, but becoming fire in a metaphysical sense. The rapid oxidation and energy release that defined flames translated into accelerated metabolism and enhanced energy production within each cell.
His bones heated, not with destructive fire but with creative flame. Impurities that existed at the molecular level—weaknesses in the crystalline structure, microscopic cracks, minor deformities—all of them burned away. What remained was stronger, denser, more perfect.
His blood took on qualities of liquid flame, carrying heat and energy with unprecedented efficiency. His organs restructured themselves according to Fire Law principles, becoming more resilient, more capable, more alive.
Nova switched to Water Law. The fluid adaptability, the persistent flowing that overcame all obstacles, the cleansing purity—all of it infused his body.
Then Earth Law. Stability. Endurance. Immovability. His bones became like mountain stone. His muscles like compressed earth.
One by one, Nova cycled through his Laws, each one adding new dimensions to his physical form. His body was being transformed at a fundamental level, becoming not just stronger but qualitatively different from normal flesh.
The process was extraordinarily qi-intensive. His spiritual energy reserves, even with Perfect Foundation maintaining maximum density, were being drained rapidly by the constant Law channeling.
But the results were worth it.
By the time he paused the tempering to restore his qi, Nova's body had transformed completely. He still looked the same externally, but internally, every cell had been restructured according to Law principles.
His physical strength had multiplied. His durability had reached levels that would make Golden Formation Building cultivators envious. His body's natural healing had accelerated dramatically.
And this was just from one pass through his Laws with early comprehension. As his Law mastery deepened, so too would the tempering effects.
Incredible, Nova thought. This technique... it's turning my body into a weapon as refined as any Law-based attack.
Simulation Space - Day 100 (1 Real Day)
In the Battle Simulation Stone, Nova had been fighting for one hundred subjective days.
He'd faced sword masters and spear experts. Axe wielders and staff fighters. Bare-handed martial artists whose every punch carried the weight of mountains. Assassins who struck from shadows. Berserkers who traded defense for overwhelming offense.
Each opponent taught him something new. Each defeat revealed a gap in his understanding. Each victory solidified a lesson learned.
His battle sense was developing. Slowly, painfully, but definitely.
Where before he'd needed sixty-three attempts to defeat a basic sword practitioner, now he could defeat Foundation Building opponents on the first or second try.
His current opponent was a Golden Core cultivator—a woman wielding dual daggers, her movements flowing like water, her attacks coming from impossible angles.
Nova watched her shoulders. Tracked her feet. Felt the qi fluctuations that preceded technique activation.
She feinted left. Nova didn't take the bait, reading the tension in her right leg that indicated the real attack would come from that side.
Her dagger flashed toward his ribs. Nova twisted, letting the blade pass harmlessly while his own technique—a perfect fusion of Sword Law and Space Law that collapsed distance—manifested.
His fingers touched her throat before she could react.
[VICTORY] [ADVANCING TO NEXT OPPONENT]
Nova smiled grimly. He was improving. Not fast enough yet, but improving.
The simulation continued.
Reality - Day 2 End
Two full days had passed in the real world.
Nova's consciousness streams had maintained their parallel cultivation without pause. His body sat in meditation, perfectly still, as four streams worked on Laws and cultivation while the fifth battled endlessly in the simulation.
The results were staggering:
Aldric's five Laws had been fully integrated and descended to early comprehension, now genuinely Nova's own understanding His original twenty-four Laws had consolidated into solid early mastery Thirty-seven of his eighty-nine Intents had successfully evolved into early Laws His physical cultivation had pushed to the twenty-eighth stage of Qi Refining His body had been tempered through fifteen complete Law cycles His battle experience had accumulated to the equivalent of over two hundred days of constant combat
But the cost had been equally staggering.
Luna's resources were completely exhausted. Every spirit stone crumbled to dust. Every pill consumed. Every herb drained of essence.
And Nova was approaching his absolute limit.
Not his cultivation limit—he could sense he had room to advance further. But his mental limit.
Maintaining five streams of consciousness simultaneously for two solid days, each one performing intensive cultivation tasks, had left him utterly exhausted on a level that transcended physical tiredness.
His soul felt strained. His mind felt stretched thin. Even his enhanced processing capabilities were running on fumes.
Nova's four cultivation streams slowly wound down, completing their current cycles before going dormant. The simulation stream pulled back from the Battle Stone, marking his current progress before disengaging.
Finally, after forty-eight hours of non-stop multitasking cultivation, Nova allowed himself to truly rest.
His consciousness, which had been divided into five simultaneous streams for so long, unified back into a single awareness.
The relief was immediate and overwhelming.
Nova's meditation posture collapsed. He slumped sideways onto his sleeping mat, his body surrendering to the exhaustion his mind could no longer ignore.
Within seconds, he was asleep.
Not meditation. Not cultivation rest. Just simple, deep, genuine sleep—the kind of unconscious recovery that the mortal part of him still needed despite all his enhancements.
Day 3 - Complete Rest
Nova slept through the entire third day.
His body lay still and peaceful on the sleeping mat, breathing slow and steady. His mind, finally given permission to truly rest, dove into the deepest levels of unconsciousness.
Dreams came and went, fragmented and meaningless, his exhausted consciousness processing the past days' experiences in abstract imagery.
Outside his cabin, the sect went about its business. Disciples trained. Elders meditated. The Menial Labor Department noted Supervisor Rowan Valen's absence but took no action—people disappeared overnight in the Black Tide Sect all the time. Without evidence of foul play or a body to investigate, they simply marked him as missing and moved on.
Such was life in a demonic sect. The strong survived. The weak vanished. Questions were rarely asked.
Nova slept on, unaware and uncaring.
His body worked quietly during this rest, using the downtime to fully integrate all the changes from the past two days. Cells restructured according to Law Tempering settled into their new configurations. Meridians that had been strained by constant cultivation recovered and reinforced themselves. His soul, stretched thin by maintaining multiple consciousness streams, gradually restored its cohesion.
Recovery was as important as cultivation. Even the Infinite Constitution couldn't bypass the fundamental need for rest after extreme exertion.
The day passed. Evening came. Night fell.
Nova continued sleeping.
Day 4 - Dawn
Nova's eyes opened.
The first thing he noticed was how good he felt.
Not just refreshed, though he was certainly that. But transformed. Stronger. More solid. More real somehow.
He sat up slowly, examining his body with his spiritual sense.
The changes from Law Tempering had fully settled. Every cell in his body now operated on principles that incorporated Law comprehension. His flesh was stronger than steel. His bones harder than diamond. His blood flowed with perfect efficiency, carrying both nutrients and spiritual energy with zero waste.
His cultivation base had stabilized at the thirty-third stage of Qi Refining.
Thirty-three, Nova marveled. The universal limit, apparently. My Perfect Foundation can push beyond the normal ninth stage ceiling, but even it has limits before I must advance to the next realm.
And what a foundation it was. His qi was so compressed it was practically crystallized. His dantian held more spiritual energy than some Golden Core cultivators. His meridians could channel power that would overwhelm most Foundation Building experts.
Nova checked his overall progress through a quick mental review:
Current Status:
Cultivation: 33rd Stage Qi Refining (Universal Limit)
Laws Mastered: 66 Early Laws (24 original + 5 from Aldric integrated + 37 evolved from Intents) Remaining Intents: 52 Peak Intents (to be evolved)
Body: Law-Tempered through 15 cycles
Battle Experience: ~200 simulated days
Resources: Completely depleted
The last point made Nova frown. He needed resources desperately. His advancement speed required materials in quantities that would bankrupt normal sects.
The Continental Auction in three weeks, Nova thought. Luna's selling the Soul-Sword technique there. That should bring in substantial funds.
But three weeks was a long time. He'd need to find other resource sources in the meantime.
Perhaps Aldric's hidden cultivation abode? The memories showed it's three days' journey from the sect. If I can access it without drawing attention...
Nova filed that thought away for immediate consideration.
But first, he had an appointment to keep.
He stood, stretching his transformed body, feeling the power coiled within every muscle. Then he retrieved Seraphine's mask from where he'd carefully placed it, examining the formations she'd woven into the ceramic.
Divine sense blocking up to Golden Formation Building Realm. An impressive work of formation mastery.
Nova put the mask on, feeling it settle against his face with perfect comfort. The formations activated automatically, creating a barrier that would deflect any spiritual sense probes.
He looked at his reflection one final time—a young man in simple servant's robes, face hidden behind an elegant white mask with black spiral patterns, radiating an aura of mysterious power.
"Time to face the music," Nova murmured.
He stepped out of his cabin into the early morning light.
The Lotus Palace awaited.
And within it, Luna Ophelia—his dual cultivation partner, his involuntary benefactor, and the woman who was bound to him by a technique neither of them had fully understood.
Nova took a deep breath and began walking.
Three days had passed since their agreement.
Three days of intensive cultivation that had transformed him beyond recognition once again.
Luna was going to have questions.
Many, many questions.
Nova smiled behind his mask.
This should be interesting.