"What is the difference between good and evil?"

How am I supposed to answer that? Does this world have some universal philosophy that could get me through this question? Or should I answer according to my own beliefs?

Wait, didn't the "Witcher" franchise with all its games and books by Sapkowski's pen gave me a perfect answer to this question?

"Good is good and evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling… Makes no difference. The degree is arbitrary. The definition's blurred. If I'm to choose between one evil and another… I'd rather not choose at all."

At this moment, the entire eerie atmosphere that surrounded me while I was meditating shrugged as if something blocked the air went in the servers responsible for the projection of this event. Hey God, can't you employ more hamsters to run your servers? The ones that you already have are slacking!

After a moment of this strange situation, I'm suddenly kicked out of my usual state of mind. Despite trying hard, I can no longer enter this calm state of meditation. Did I do something wrong?

Wait… If we go by the names, then the first phase that I went through while improving my cultivation was the surfacing one. From what Stella said, it was supposed to feel as if the energy was bursting out of its usual pathways.

Well, let's check that. I'm almost sure that if I actually cultivated only through my internal paths, the process would look exactly as she described it. I can't expect everything to be the same when I'm already far stronger than I was supposed to, not speaking about my dual circulation at all!

If we draw this titular analogy, soul hazard level would apply to this strange burst of sensitiveness that overwhelmed me while I was playing around with the master. But even if I want to understand it further, since I'm not sure if this moment of the world blanking out is still considered a part of the soul hazard ordeal or the hurdle designed for mind menace experts.

You can't blame for not knowing this. The knowledge that I gained back in my local family amounted only to virtuous deeds of various cultivators, with descriptions only about levels up to surfacing one. My intuition on the other side allowed me to clear all the hurdles without any problems, but never draw the definitive line!

For now, I think I can safely assume that my cultivation rose to mind menace realm. That means that I only have two levels to go before I will not only become on par in official strength with sect master but also I might be able to shatter the bottleneck on my system!

Ever since the end of the fight with the penguin, Bonger appears a lot calmer than it used to. While I don't want to worry about it too much, I need to consider an option that at some point, I won't be able to use it anymore. But instead of being a discouragement, I would rather treat it as an additional motivation to work hard!

Well, I know it might sound funny when said by someone who took entire three days to advance from pitifull no-one to a being fully qualified to join the core of the sect, with the prospects of catching up with the absolute cream of the top in close future. But what if Bonger disappears right now? Or in the next hour? What if there is a time limit for how long can I use it? Or maybe it's just a guidance tool to help me get through the first cultivation realms?

"Blop!"

"System is a gift from God, making it an eternal tool for host's usage."

"System resources are exhausted after the fight with the boss of the small forest area."

"Cooldown of the system: 13 hours, 42 minutes"

"You can refresh the system for 50 attribute points."

"Do you wish to proceed?"

Oho, as greedy as always I see. No, I obviously do not wish to proceed. I like it when you are calm and silent. I will let you rest for now.

With that out of my mind, I take a quick look at my status window to check if any strange changes happened because of my advancement in cultivation.

Apparently, there is something new! It seems that exhausting Bonger not only blocks its constant suggestions but the information popups as well!

But well, obtaining inner circulation and advancing both of them to a seventh level? Isn't that too generous? While I can compare it only to my smithing ability, it still seems it grew a little bit too fast!

Ah, maybe that's my portion of the benefits from dual cultivation! But well, that means that I only need to level it up thrice before I will break the bottleneck with my attribute points! Maybe that will finally unlock a cap on my stats!

Just when I want to get back to my circulation to improve as soon as possible, the doors get open with Stella dressed in her usual robe entering the room. While I call it usual, you can't find anything close to how it looks on earth. With two wide belts of a fine material wrapped at her hips and chest level, a long piece of see-through, delicate material covers her belly and back, while being held in place by aforementioned belts.

While it doesn't show anything undecent, with the only parts left in the open being her sides and arms, it still gives off a slightly sensual feeling. I wonder if I didn't notice it before or did the act that we shared changed how do I perceive her? Maybe I was just soo overwhelmed by my focus on Eve that I failed to notice it?

"Spare me those looks. We just did it. And anyway, don't you have a lovely little bird, waiting for you in her bedroom?"

Noticing my stare, Stella can't help but laugh out loud. After having her fun for a moment, her face turned serious as she brought her arms to her chest.

"In fact, there is something I want to talk to you about. I heard that you are going to duel with Baxhar? I guess it was caused by his jealousy over Eve, am I right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

Since she brought it already twice since we met, there is no point trying to keep it in dark or deny it. In the end, I was the one getting provoked and the duel was forced on me by my seniors. There was nothing I could do to prevent it!

"There is an insanely important tournament happening in next month. As a really promising youth, he received a token of participation, allowing him to represent the sect in his own cultivation realm. Since it is already too late to apply for another of those tokens, I would be highly indebted to you, if you managed to snatch it from him somehow and take part in this tournament in his place!."