Chapter 851: The Spoils Of The Two Suns World (Patreon)

For the past few months, we had shared the same body, eaten together, bled together, did basically everything together. And now the time to leave the fate of the world entirely in his hands had come.

“There's no need to thank me,” I said. “We’re both the same type of person. We push forward when giving up would be easier. And I know that if I ever need someone to have my back, you’ll be there for me.”

“Definitely,” he nodded without hesitation. “You can always count on me. I promise.”

It looked like he was about to say more, but then for a second, his eyes went unfocused, and he stayed still with his head tilted as though listening to something.

“It’s the world,” he finally said, noticing the confused expression on my face. “It wants us to gift you something, as though I didn’t think of that already.” Looking down at the body in his arms and then back up at me, he continued. “So, do you…do you want his power?”

For a moment, I wondered if I heard wrong, or if the boy was playing a joke.

Without a doubt, if I absorbed the power of a Rank 9, my soul would explode. It didn’t matter if I had a Genesis Seed, it wouldn’t be able to save me. And even if it did, it would take the power for itself and then turn me into a tree. A very large, very powerful tree, but still a tree. Either outcome didn't seem too appealing to me.

“It sounds like you’re trying to kill me,” I laughed awkwardly.

“No, no,” Tomas shook his head frantically. “I didn’t explain it properly, that’s all.”

Seeing my raised eyebrow, he continued.

“You’re a breath away from Rank 6 Golden Sun cultivation. I can give you the little bit you need to break through. If you want?”

I had to admit that was a tempting offer, and most cultivators would have agreed without thinking about it, but my situation was delicate. At the moment, my qi, my Blue Sun energy, my Red Sun energy, and my Golden Sun energy were all at different levels of the Stellar Realm equivalent, which was pretty balanced for me.

If I broke through in only Golden Sun cultivation and reached equivalent to Life Realm, that would create a significant imbalance. Maybe that wouldn’t be a big deal but that was unlikely since scenarios like this usually caused serious issues in the inner world, some apparent and some insidious.

Honestly, I just couldn’t take such a risk for a quick power up.

Tomas seemed to read the hesitation on my face, because he shifted the body in his arms to free one hand and closed it into a fist. When he opened it again, there was a small, round pendant made up of Golden Sun energy resting in his palm. In the centre, there was a tiny sun with three rings circling it, one red, one blue, and one gold, carved into it.

“I think this will be good for you,” he said. “This has the energy you need to reach Rank 6, and you can use it whenever you find it convenient. I wanted to give you more, but there wasn’t enough space, because I thought you’d prefer the other little gift in it.”

“I’m guessing it has something to do with the tiny sun and rings circling it?”

“Yes,” Tomas nodded. “That represents the knowledge of all three paths all the way to Rank 9."

I couldn’t help my eyes widening at that.

Sure, it wasn’t instant comprehension. That would be too overpowered, but this was more than enough. The knowledge on how to cultivate all three paths to Rank 9 was something that anyone in this world would kill each other over.

“You…you didn’t have to do that.”

“We did. The crystal wanted to give it to you itself, but after everything that happened, it doesn’t have the energy to see anyone right now,” he said. “But please be careful. If you absorb it all at once, your soul might shatter. Just take it little by little when you actually need it.”

When I nodded, the pendant floated off his palm and floated over to me. As it touched my chest, I allowed it to sink into my soul and settle in my inner world. I could feel that at any moment I wanted to, I could absorb the energy within it to breakthrough to Rank 6. That would be equivalent to Life Realm! I couldn't wait to see the look in the face of the guy who was unlucky enough to push me to use it mid-battle.

"What will you do with him?" I asked, looking at the corpse of the old man in his arms.

“I know he wanted to kill people and rule the world,” Tomas murmured, looking at the withered face. “But he deserves a proper burial. I think everyone does.”

I agreed. It was a human answer. Exactly what I had expected from the boy I’d come to care about through our time together.

“This is it,” I gave a sad smile, meeting his eyes. “Goodbye, Tomas. I hope we get to meet again in the future.”

“I’d…I’d really like that,” he smiled with wet eyes. “Goodbye, Ke Yin.”

Honestly, there was a lot I wanted to say.

I wanted to tell him to make the most of the time he had with his family and loved ones. To eat his mother’s stew every night, to help his father at the mill, to keep an eye on Kal’s farm and maybe get chased by Turnip, to look after Lady Laelyn for me, and to make sure that Master Molric was handling everything well.

But I didn’t have to. He knew all of that stuff. He had experienced it all with me.

So, instead of lingering, I finally let go.

As my soul shot upward, the capital shrank beneath me, then the continent, then the sky itself peeled back, and for one last moment, I saw the Golden Sun hanging whole and bright over the Two Suns World, then everything turned black.

***

When my senses returned, the first thing I noticed was the smell of incense, then the hard stone floor under my legs. Opening my eyes, I found that I was back, and that everything was exactly as I remembered it.

This was the secret room in the Sect Master’s quarters. I was sitting in the centre of the room, right over an array. And there were those walls surrounding me that were lined with formation flags that were still too complex for me to understand. But what made me flinch was Sect Master Yuan’s face a few inches from mine as he stared intensely into my eyes.

“Ke Yin,” the Sect Master said, his hand gripping my shoulder hard. “Did you succeed?"

Before I got the chance to try explain everything, the loops, the Otherworldly Beings, the suns, the goats, the chicken, Azure’s voice rang in my mind with alarm.

“Master, there’s something in your inner world,” he said. “I think it’s been there for the past month, maybe longer, but I couldn’t sense it until you returned to the Cultivation World.”

My heart started to pound in worry. “What is it?”

“You should see it for yourself,” Azure responded.

The Sect Master must have understood that something was wrong from the expression on my face, his eyes narrowed, but he let go of my shoulder and took a step back. With a nod of thanks, I closed my eyes and descended into my inner world as a spiritual manifestation. My eyebrows scrunched in confusion when everything looked normal.

The Ancient Oak stood tall with its roots spreading wide as it tried to swat away the bees that were hovering over its head, and Yggy was curled around one of the roots, still sulking a little from leaving its friends behind. The Lithari were hard at work in the mines as they always were. The Stone Emperor’s voice rang through my inner world as it was in the middle of delivering a lecture. Little Bloom was gardening. The new souls in my inner world were all scattered in different quadrants, fortunately not causing any issues at the moment. The sky above was clear. The energies of the three suns and my qi flowed through the land in their usual patterns. In the centre of it all stood the Genesis Seed, its branches folded tight around its trunk.

“What’s going on?” I asked Azure. “It looks fine to me.”

When Azure manifested silently beside me, he didn’t say anything, all he did was raise his hand to wave it towards the Genesis Seed. Against the tree’s will, its branches began to open one at a time, and when the last branch pulled back, I saw it hidden in the very heart of the Seed.

There was a small ball of purple energy, no bigger than my fist, that pulsed slowly.

From the tiny stem forming at the top, I realised what was going on – it was turning into a fruit.

Floating over to it, I reached out to touch it. It caused a shiver to run through my entire soul. The energy was cold, old, and very strange. But I knew what it was. I had felt it before from the being that had been trapped in the Red Sun.

"This is magic," I whispered, my eyes widening in shock.

With this, I would be able to enter the World of Sorcery, which was a world that had given birth to Otherworldly Beings such as the lich.

When my Golden Sun avatar had taken the form of Yggy, and I had channeled the power of the Genesis Seed through it, I remember it had bitten off a chunk of the lich-like being. However, after the battle, there was no sign of that purple energy in my inner world. Which was why I had thought it had taken back by the tiny yet terrifying thing when it had devoured a part of my avatar, but clearly not.

The Genesis Seed had kept a hold of it, but why was it hiding this from me?

If Azure hadn't forced it open, how long would it have kept this a secret, forever?

Did the Seed not want me to go there?

If so, was it trying to protect me because the World of Sorcery was too dangerous? I had to admit, a whole world full of beings with the potential of the lich was a scary thought. But if so, why would it create a fruit in the first place?

Or did it not have a choice? It could only create a fruit because it couldn’t risk the purple energy being left untouched in my inner world? Was there something in that world that the Genesis Seed didn't want me to find out about?

I didn't know, but one thing I did know was not to trust the Genesis Seed.

A/N

Hope you all enjoyed that!

We return next Tuesday (6th October) and will continue with the Cultivation World storyline.

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