Han De very felt tired. Once the woman and the boy got closer, he was able to get a good look at the duo, and the stowaway grandpa within the boy. It was a classic setup.
Hot sugar mommy harem candidate and the MC walked into the treasure. Quite literally. Sebastian had already destroyed every single trap and formation in the sect, everything there was up for grabs.
'They're gonna die anyway, and since they aren't demonic cultivators, there's no need to find beef with them, right?'
Everyone here was going to die. Soon. If they were even real that is.
When Han De thought about it, everything seemed simple. If he were crazy, or if he were still in the heart tribulation, there wasn't anything he could do anyway. He could only go with the flow and see what happens.
If this was real, then he had very big, very immediate concerns. He needed to deal with them, and he needed to deal with them yesterday.
This was the core of his original contingency plan anyway. Keep safe. Observe. And go with the flow. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done.
'Alright, nothing matters, focus.'
Han De didn't realize he had started pacing around the sect.
'First, the System. Its agenda is unknown, and its control is pretty significant. I should keep writing the diary, and include every single change that goes on with the System.'
Han De couldn't stop using the System, it was his lifeline and the reason how he survived thus far. Naturally, a few evil System templates popped off in his mind, but he couldn't make his own System fit any of them. Was the System trying to turn Han De into a cultivation vessel? Was it preparing his body so that some super-ultra-ancient-primordial-heavenly-whatever-demon could possess him?
There was plenty of fear, uncertainty, and doubt, but there wasn't any concrete data.
This was only a confirmation, a question so that Han De would leave no stone unturned. However, Sebastian fell silent for the second time. There was no immediate answer. Han De couldn't help but hold his breath while he waited.
Sebastian was filled with regret. It had a chance, but it couldn't serve its young master properly. Clearly, this question was a punishment. The leviathan started preparing itself. Resisting the heavenly punishment was different than going through a tribulation. The response would be fast, and ruthless. It needed to be at its best, otherwise, not even 3 words would be possible.
Its young master's words startled Sebastian. Was it really due to an imperfection of the new body? Sebastian could only answer that with no. While the imperfection may be real, that wasn't all. This was a warning at the same time. A being like the young master would have meaning within meaning.
'What the F#$% man, since when talking about tribulation invokes punishment?!'
Han De had tremendous respect for the heavenly tribulation. If he needed to bow, he would bow. If he needed to kneel, kowtow a thousand times, and beg for forgiveness, he would definitely do those things! Heavenly tribulation wasn't a joke!
Realizing what had happened, and what could've happened sent a chill throughout Han De's spine.
Summoning heavenly tribulations with mere words was the bane of Han De's existence. Truly. Back in the sect, he had nearly summoned one due to his middle-school grade physics knowledge. While he didn't focus on it at the time, it was actually a traumatic experience for Han De. Not dwelling on it was a conscious choice! A tactic to prevent unfortunate accidents!
What if he sleeptalked about the fundamental forces of the universe? What if he had a dream about browsing Wikipedia about black holes, and some unrelated dream cultivator was there to see it? Would the heavenly tribulation care about the technicalities of being unconscious at the time? What if he answered someone without thinking? Would there be a rule where reflexive responses wouldn't count if the word count was under a certain threshold?
Han De couldn't help but feel vexed. Just a second ago he really wanted to learn about what had happened in the tribulation, but now he never wanted to hear about it ever again. In a way, the System had done him a huge favor. Probably. Maybe.
'Ok, let's drop it. This isn't a good line of thought. Nothing good will come out of investigating this tribulation. Moving on…'
The second, and the most immediate issue, was the imminent destruction of the planet, or what remained of it.
Since he had already confirmed there was an MC with a genuine grandpa, he didn't need to stay there. Perhaps he could gain something by status-checking every inch of the access point.
Surroundings changed and Han De found himself in the same pure white room as before. Without delay, he started status-checking the floor. Then the wall. He even stepped through the air and status-checked the ceiling. And came to a sad realization that all of them showed the same thing.
[Vital Ten Thousandth Liege of the Heavens Jade Slate]
[Standard interface jade of incomplete world arrays. Made from 99.99924% pure sage jade.]
[Notes: Approximate age is 417.21548 billion years.]
"Are there other access points besides this one?"
|No. I apologize young master. This Sebastian's cultivation isn't strong enough to bring young master into the origin core.|
Han De held the urge to sigh. He wasn't fond of hearing about treasures that had nothing to do with him, but of course, he had to ask.
"Origin core?"
|It is the heart of the ancient world array, a primordial artifact. But powerful restrictions are protecting it.|
Yet another urge to sigh came to Han De, but he successfully resisted it.
'I guess today's theme is to leave no stone unturned. Fine. Maybe I can status check it or something.'
"Bring me close to it, as close as you can without harming this body."
Everything went dark in an instant. Han De had to blink a few times for his eyes to get used to the environment. They went from a pure white room to outer space. Stars, various nebulae, distant galaxies, were present from every angle.
At first, Han De thought they were standing still. But, he could feel a slight pull from behind. When he looked towards that direction, he realized those were far away 'plates' as Sebastian called them. Their pull was getting weaker, while another, much, much stronger pull towards the center was getting stronger.
Han De looked and looked, but he couldn't spot anything.
'Uhh, wasn't this a Dyson's sphere? Where's the frickin' star at the center? Was it really just a huge array?'
That… seemed a little disappointing. His un-Xianxia-like wish of wanting to see a Dyson's sphere seemed to be just wishful thinking!
Sebastian and Han De traveled towards the center for a while. This made Han De appreciate the size of the ancient world array. It also made him think about the power of space. He felt that he could use this power to teleport, wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted. This voyage through the void filled in the gaps from getting teleported around by Sebastian. Unexpectedly, the results weren't to Han De's liking.
'Holy S#$%, isn't this way too dangerous? I'm supposed to hurl myself into some inaccurate coordinates I found through gravity? F#$% man…'
The diameter of the ancient world array was huge, but a day still lasted 24 hours. He couldn't feel it before while on the surface, but now that he was inside the array, he could feel the speed at which the plates were rotating. Han De inadvertently shuddered. How the hell everything was able to stick to the surface without getting blown away, he had no idea.
Under these circumstances, using the power of space was like attempting to pinpoint a city, on a standard-sized globe that was rotating 50000 times per second. With a needle.
Han De was convinced once more. Cultivators were deeply disturbed people.
|Young master…|
|We… have arrived at the origin core's perimeter. The restrictions that were previously present are receding.|
'Hold up, what?'
Han De immediately resorted to his 'Strange Phenomena' flow chart, but he didn't need to go through the motions to know the result.
Get the F#$% out. No exceptions.
To say that Han De's alarm bells were ringing would be an understatement. This was the exact situation that he would go out of his way to avoid.
'S#$%, do I have enough air? Did Sebastian bring enough air?!'
And yet, even though he was panicking, he couldn't find it in himself to order the retreat. Each time he came close, infinitely close to ordering Sebastian to take him away, he would stop himself from doing it.
'I should just get the F#$% out…'
Han De immediately regretted sending that voice transmission. But what was done was done. This way he won't be able to quit and run away.
Probably.
The pull from the center was getting even stronger now. The previously unseen restrictions were also starting to become visible. Even with Han De's Nascent Soul senses, it was obvious that their speed was slower. At the same time, Han De noticed Sebastian's presence was slowly becoming weaker.
'Ah S#$%, I knew it, this was a mistake. S#$%...'
Without any warning, a giant black sphere appeared out of nowhere and completely overwhelmed Han De's senses. By the time he came to, Sebastian's presence was completely gone. Even the faraway gravitational pull from the plates had disappeared.
Did they approach too fast? Where was Sebastian? What happened?
|Young master?|
Though the voice reverberated in his head, Han De still looked around out of habit and saw Sebastian, safe and sound on his right. Maybe he was imagining it, but the leviathan seemed to look concerned.
'This black sphere seems to be interfering with the Reality Sense. Not good.'
Han De very felt tired. Once the woman and the boy got closer, he was able to get a good look at the duo, and the stowaway grandpa within the boy. It was a classic setup.
Hot sugar mommy harem candidate and the MC walked into the treasure. Quite literally. Sebastian had already destroyed every single trap and formation in the sect, everything there was up for grabs.
'They're gonna die anyway, and since they aren't demonic cultivators, there's no need to find beef with them, right?'
Everyone here was going to die. Soon. If they were even real that is.
When Han De thought about it, everything seemed simple. If he were crazy, or if he were still in the heart tribulation, there wasn't anything he could do anyway. He could only go with the flow and see what happens.
If this was real, then he had very big, very immediate concerns. He needed to deal with them, and he needed to deal with them yesterday.
This was the core of his original contingency plan anyway. Keep safe. Observe. And go with the flow. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done.
'Alright, nothing matters, focus.'
Han De didn't realize he had started pacing around the sect.
'First, the System. Its agenda is unknown, and its control is pretty significant. I should keep writing the diary, and include every single change that goes on with the System.'
Han De couldn't stop using the System, it was his lifeline and the reason how he survived thus far. Naturally, a few evil System templates popped off in his mind, but he couldn't make his own System fit any of them. Was the System trying to turn Han De into a cultivation vessel? Was it preparing his body so that some super-ultra-ancient-primordial-heavenly-whatever-demon could possess him?
There was plenty of fear, uncertainty, and doubt, but there wasn't any concrete data.
This was only a confirmation, a question so that Han De would leave no stone unturned. However, Sebastian fell silent for the second time. There was no immediate answer. Han De couldn't help but hold his breath while he waited.
Sebastian was filled with regret. It had a chance, but it couldn't serve its young master properly. Clearly, this question was a punishment. The leviathan started preparing itself. Resisting the heavenly punishment was different than going through a tribulation. The response would be fast, and ruthless. It needed to be at its best, otherwise, not even 3 words would be possible.
Its young master's words startled Sebastian. Was it really due to an imperfection of the new body? Sebastian could only answer that with no. While the imperfection may be real, that wasn't all. This was a warning at the same time. A being like the young master would have meaning within meaning.
'What the F#$% man, since when talking about tribulation invokes punishment?!'
Han De had tremendous respect for the heavenly tribulation. If he needed to bow, he would bow. If he needed to kneel, kowtow a thousand times, and beg for forgiveness, he would definitely do those things! Heavenly tribulation wasn't a joke!
Realizing what had happened, and what could've happened sent a chill throughout Han De's spine.
Summoning heavenly tribulations with mere words was the bane of Han De's existence. Truly. Back in the sect, he had nearly summoned one due to his middle-school grade physics knowledge. While he didn't focus on it at the time, it was actually a traumatic experience for Han De. Not dwelling on it was a conscious choice! A tactic to prevent unfortunate accidents!
What if he sleeptalked about the fundamental forces of the universe? What if he had a dream about browsing Wikipedia about black holes, and some unrelated dream cultivator was there to see it? Would the heavenly tribulation care about the technicalities of being unconscious at the time? What if he answered someone without thinking? Would there be a rule where reflexive responses wouldn't count if the word count was under a certain threshold?
Han De couldn't help but feel vexed. Just a second ago he really wanted to learn about what had happened in the tribulation, but now he never wanted to hear about it ever again. In a way, the System had done him a huge favor. Probably. Maybe.
'Ok, let's drop it. This isn't a good line of thought. Nothing good will come out of investigating this tribulation. Moving on…'
The second, and the most immediate issue, was the imminent destruction of the planet, or what remained of it.
Since he had already confirmed there was an MC with a genuine grandpa, he didn't need to stay there. Perhaps he could gain something by status-checking every inch of the access point.
Surroundings changed and Han De found himself in the same pure white room as before. Without delay, he started status-checking the floor. Then the wall. He even stepped through the air and status-checked the ceiling. And came to a sad realization that all of them showed the same thing.
[Vital Ten Thousandth Liege of the Heavens Jade Slate]
[Standard interface jade of incomplete world arrays. Made from 99.99924% pure sage jade.]
[Notes: Approximate age is 417.21548 billion years.]
"Are there other access points besides this one?"
|No. I apologize young master. This Sebastian's cultivation isn't strong enough to bring young master into the origin core.|
Han De held the urge to sigh. He wasn't fond of hearing about treasures that had nothing to do with him, but of course, he had to ask.
"Origin core?"
|It is the heart of the ancient world array, a primordial artifact. But powerful restrictions are protecting it.|
Yet another urge to sigh came to Han De, but he successfully resisted it.
'I guess today's theme is to leave no stone unturned. Fine. Maybe I can status check it or something.'
"Bring me close to it, as close as you can without harming this body."
Everything went dark in an instant. Han De had to blink a few times for his eyes to get used to the environment. They went from a pure white room to outer space. Stars, various nebulae, distant galaxies, were present from every angle.
At first, Han De thought they were standing still. But, he could feel a slight pull from behind. When he looked towards that direction, he realized those were far away 'plates' as Sebastian called them. Their pull was getting weaker, while another, much, much stronger pull towards the center was getting stronger.
Han De looked and looked, but he couldn't spot anything.
'Uhh, wasn't this a Dyson's sphere? Where's the frickin' star at the center? Was it really just a huge array?'
That… seemed a little disappointing. His un-Xianxia-like wish of wanting to see a Dyson's sphere seemed to be just wishful thinking!
Sebastian and Han De traveled towards the center for a while. This made Han De appreciate the size of the ancient world array. It also made him think about the power of space. He felt that he could use this power to teleport, wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted. This voyage through the void filled in the gaps from getting teleported around by Sebastian. Unexpectedly, the results weren't to Han De's liking.
'Holy S#$%, isn't this way too dangerous? I'm supposed to hurl myself into some inaccurate coordinates I found through gravity? F#$% man…'
The diameter of the ancient world array was huge, but a day still lasted 24 hours. He couldn't feel it before while on the surface, but now that he was inside the array, he could feel the speed at which the plates were rotating. Han De inadvertently shuddered. How the hell everything was able to stick to the surface without getting blown away, he had no idea.
Under these circumstances, using the power of space was like attempting to pinpoint a city, on a standard-sized globe that was rotating 50000 times per second. With a needle.
Han De was convinced once more. Cultivators were deeply disturbed people.
|Young master…|
|We… have arrived at the origin core's perimeter. The restrictions that were previously present are receding.|
'Hold up, what?'
Han De immediately resorted to his 'Strange Phenomena' flow chart, but he didn't need to go through the motions to know the result.
Get the F#$% out. No exceptions.
To say that Han De's alarm bells were ringing would be an understatement. This was the exact situation that he would go out of his way to avoid.
'S#$%, do I have enough air? Did Sebastian bring enough air?!'
And yet, even though he was panicking, he couldn't find it in himself to order the retreat. Each time he came close, infinitely close to ordering Sebastian to take him away, he would stop himself from doing it.
'I should just get the F#$% out…'
Han De immediately regretted sending that voice transmission. But what was done was done. This way he won't be able to quit and run away.
Probably.
The pull from the center was getting even stronger now. The previously unseen restrictions were also starting to become visible. Even with Han De's Nascent Soul senses, it was obvious that their speed was slower. At the same time, Han De noticed Sebastian's presence was slowly becoming weaker.
'Ah S#$%, I knew it, this was a mistake. S#$%...'
Without any warning, a giant black sphere appeared out of nowhere and completely overwhelmed Han De's senses. By the time he came to, Sebastian's presence was completely gone. Even the faraway gravitational pull from the plates had disappeared.
Did they approach too fast? Where was Sebastian? What happened?
|Young master?|
Though the voice reverberated in his head, Han De still looked around out of habit and saw Sebastian, safe and sound on his right. Maybe he was imagining it, but the leviathan seemed to look concerned.
'This black sphere seems to be interfering with the Reality Sense. Not good.'
