Chapter 585 - Dreadline (IV) (Patreon)

Man, that's one thick window.

A thick window.

It's been a while since I've gotten a window as thick--okay, that's too much of 'thick'.

But sheesh. Seriously. Took me nearly two minutes to just casually read through it, and I've barely wrapped my head around most of the rewards. Before I could read through the rewards in more detail, the orb retracted and out came a reformed woman!

--well, not really. She looked practically the same, with the exception of her eyes being perhaps a minor shade darker. While everyone stayed silent, I walked over and in front of her, catching a glimpse of odd melancholy in her gaze before it vanished.

"Congratulations, Lan'er," I said, putting on a smile. "On breaking through and managing to slowly begin unlocking your full potential."

"Thank you, Master," she smiled right back, bowing. "As always, I could not have done it without your help."

"Nonsense. You would have done just fine. I merely just gave you a slight push. How do you feel?"

"... hmm," she mulled over it for a moment before replying. "Strange. I mean, I know I've gotten stronger... but it's more that I also realized how weak I was and still am, ultimately. I... simply feel humbled."

"Did you speak to him?" I'm not actually sure what exactly happened in the orb, but if the talisman did reanimate the soul in that eye, there was a good chance that she may have spoken to him.

"I have," she nodded. "I... I thought that I would die, to be honest. But he was... unexpected."

"Unexpected how?"

"... he was more similar to you, Master, than to anyone else I know," she replied. "Not in your gentleness or brilliance or greatness or handsomeness--"

"--Lan'er."

"Khm. The air about him... it lacked the hubris and arrogance I expected. But maybe that's just how they used to be in his age? He did mention that there'd be nobody who would remember him as he lived and died so long ago."

"Hm. Regardless, congratulations, again," I said. "You should rest for a bit and stabilize. We'll talk more after."

"Yes, Master!"

As she went ahead, the others immediately besieged her, kinda shooting the whole 'you should rest' advice I gave her in the foot. Regardless, as soon as I heard the laughter, I couldn't help but smile. They were growing up, faster and faster it felt. Soon enough, most won't even be kids, but simply young adults. And I--

"--it's kind of creepy seeing a middle-aged man smile at a bunch of happy children."

"Only if he's as ugly as you. If they're as handsome as me, it's not creepy."

"Aha," Lao Shun rolled his eyes, staying oddly quiet for a moment before continuing. "That girl... do you know what her bloodline is?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"Eh? You don't know?"

"I don't?" he looked at me rather strangely. "That's why I asked you."

"Ooh! I thought you were doing that whole, 'Do you know what her bloodline is? You do and you're still supporting her?' spiel."

"Haah."

"Why? She terrified you a bit?" I asked.

"... more than just a bit," he replied. "It was just for a moment, but the sensation that overwhelmed me... it was incomparable."

"Well, it makes sense," I said. "That was the remnant of an Emperor's Will, after all."

"..." he stayed silent, and for a moment I thought he was simply nodding along. However, when I picked up on a rather heavy breathing, I glanced over and nearly screamed at the absolutely horrid expression he was making. Like one of those exaggerated faces you'd draw for humor, except it wasn't funny, it wasn't exaggerated, it was just fucking creepy.

"Hey?" I waved comically in front of his eyes, trying to snap him back to reality.

"W-w-what did you say?"

"... judging by your reaction, I should probably just say I misspoke, huh?"

"Was, was that really an Emperor?!"

"A remnant," I reminded. "Not even of a person, just their will. So, when you think about it, the fact that you endured so beautifully was marvelous."

"... haah," it took him a moment, but his expression recovered. "Fine, fine. I've already made my peace with the fact that I'll go insane if I keep traveling with you. Sure. You have a Disciple with an Imperial Bloodline. No, I imagine you have at least a few of those. I'll just... I'll just go bury my head in the sand."

"Ah, before you do," I quickly procured the 100 Qi-Restorative Pills and the 50 Qi-Gathering Pills that were rewards and handed them over. "Could you check through these and then give them to the kids? I found them rolling in a corner of one of my spatial rings."

He took them, looked over them, sighed, rubbed the bridge of his nose rather relentlessly, and then looked back up at me.

"You found these? In a corner of a spatial ring?"

"Hm," I nodded.

"These pills that not even World-Gathering Rank Alchemist could concoct with such quality?"

"... hm," the confidence of my nod diminished slightly.

"These pills that would have the entire Alchemy Tower waging a war within itself just to get their hands on them for studying?"

"..."

"..."

"Hm," by now, I had to look away--the pressure of his gaze was that sharp.

"They were just there, in a corner of a random spatial ring?"

"I know. So weird."

"The only weird thing here is how I still retain a semblance of sanity," he said, scooping the pills into his spatial ring. "Any lesser person would have long since gone mad, you know? Look at that poor newcomer boy," he said, pointing to Han Yimu who did seem to be reexamining everything he ever believed in. "You're breaking his mind, and he hasn't even been with us for a year."

"He'll get used to it."

"Right. Of course. Well, I'm off. I fear if I stay here any longer, I might give into the temptation to hurt you just a bit."

"..." I shuddered at the 'just a bit' because it sounded genuine, but had no time to say anything as he was immediately gone.

I didn't immediately go back to reading through the rewards as I also expected Long Tao to come find me... but he never did. Rather, oddly enough, he was off with the kids, chatting with Lan'er about one thing or another.

Seeing that I finally had some free time, I went back to the reward windows and carefully read through them all.

[Qi-Restorative Pill -- a set of perfectly-concocted pills. Ten can be used subsequently without incurring any backlash][Qi-Gathering Pill -- a set of perfectly concocted pills. Most useful during breakthroughs. Can rapidly gather all World Qi within a hundred mile radius without turning it turbulent][Wayward Talisman -- ripping the talisman will cause a directional sensation within, linking the person who ripped the talisman with the nearest Divine-tier and above treasure. Note that the talisman cannot discern between an ownerless artifact in the wild and one already in possession of another martial artist][Blank Page (???) -- Host-bound item. Host can fully copy an incomplete martial art or cultivation method, whereupon it will be fully developed and completed and automatically taught to the Host up to Perfected Comprehension. Will work on '???' tier arts and methods and below][...][Dreadful Form (Legendary) -- a full-body set of skin-layer armor suffused with a trace of Dread Qi. Once worn, it binds itself to the wearer for life. By nature, it massively increases the wearer's defenses, regenerative properties, and resilience toward Qi attacks. However, as it contains a trace of Dread Qi, there is an extremely high chance of complete and total corruption of the body leading to death. The armor also comes with an innate art, its namesake--Dreadful Form--whereupon it externally triggers the trace of Dread Qi, forming an avatar-like projection for 10 minutes. The wearer gains an immense boost to their prowess, scaling up to five major realms. Full corruption is all but guaranteed unless the wearer has a natural protection against Dread Qi][Cage of Eternity (???) -- though its name implies a form of prison, Cage of Eternity is more of a sanctuary. Due to the precisely 9,999 perfectly-woven arrays carved into its body, it forms a field of 'stasis'. A living being weighing up to 500 pounds can be stored within the cage for an indefinite period of time, whereupon all their wounds are temporarily put in stasis, too. Note that this does not prevent the natural aging of the body, merely wounds inflicted externally. Secondary note is that the cage works on the principle of relatively--one year on the outside is one second in the cage][Soul Communion (???) -- a small, damaged trinket that allows for the taboo communion with the spirits. As long as the user knows the full name and date of death of their target, and as long as their Soul was not removed from the Cycle, they may form a connection--even if the Soul in question had undergone amnestic reincarnation]

... huh.

Goddamn.

A few of these are... they're a bit nuts, aren't they? It's not just me, no? Especially that last one.

Speaking of.

... what the hell is an 'amnestic reincarnation'?!