The latest chapter. - My apologies again for the delay. Thank you for your understanding!

Eric couldn't help smiling with awe and wonder at what was now most definitely a high roller suite fit for a king. It was beyond spacious, with its cathedral-like high vaulted ceiling. And the ceiling frescoes made him wince and look away, almost positive he had never looked quite that noble or heroic in any incarnation where he was almost certain he had been desperately fighting for his life or just to get through the day far more often than he had been leading a charge in any epic battles or levitating in a lotus position, cultivating upon snow capped mountain peaks. At least his suddenly bare feet could delight in the plush animal skin rugs he sensed had been claimed from the most exotic Gold tier spirit beasts, now gazing with wonder at the exquisitely filigreed cabinets made of ivory, wood, and jade, and the most comfortable looking leather chairs and sofas imaginable all but inviting him to relax in their embrace and perhaps invite friends over to play any of the innumerable board games of multiple worlds laid out on the obsidian tables, bejeweled pieces flashing invitingly. In addition to having quintupled in size with a vaulted ceiling thrown in, the central room of his quarters now had open doors leading to adjoining rooms, each with windows overlooking luxurious private gardens just beyond, permeating the air with Silver tier spiritual energy he would definitely be upgrading in the days to come.

He shook his head with a soft chuckle. “These quarters could easily fit a family. Perhaps an entire clan,” he said to himself.

“Correct, my lord,” said a soft feminine voice, just feet away.

Alex then turned to smile fondly at the gold-inlaid table groaning under the weight of what looked to be an imperial buffet, several stunningly beautiful and clearly sentient servitors favoring him with beaming smiles and deferential bows. But before he could surrender to the tantalizing aromas, he felt himself falling into a bed so plush and luxurious it felt like he was being caressed by silken clouds as he surrendered to sleep at last, nod easing away the cares of an entire world as he dreamed sweet dreams of his favorite world building games, imagining glorious empires covering realms vast beyond comprehension.

Much like the world he had left behind.

Chapter

At first his sleep was filled with the madness of battle. The desperate fight, just to survive. Dreams that sent his heart racing with exhilaration and dread in equal measure.

Dreams he refused to ignore, for all that his palatial treasure would allow him to lose himself in the most wondrous dreams imaginable, up to and including living a life within his dream that would be the envy of any isekai adventurer, did he but wish for it.

Instead he embraced his dreams, and all the lessons they could give him, as he endured perilous combat time after time.

Seeking to perfect the winding parry of his fangtian ji, forcing opponent’s weapons off line before the tip of the spear head dove in for a kill.

Sensing as well how close he had come to getting his own throat sliced open over multiple occassions, pulling back from his own vision to study his form like a 3-D computer rendering, seeking to understand the correlation between the feel of the battlefield and his actual movements, pleased despite himself to see that his body was as much riding on currents of spiritual energy, Water and Steel most specifically but White Qi as a whole as well, relying on that as much as his Silver Tier attributes to survive encounter after encounter.

Fights where, had he hesitated for even a moment, or failed to embrace the savage frenzy of battle, would have seen him buried in an unmarked grave, save for his head, a trophy for a dark prince’s pleasure and the howling mockery of the gods above.

Alex’s heart would always pound as he glimpsed those awful truths. But he did not stint in learning the lessons they provided, knowing they too were key to mastering his Unified Martial Art. Eternal Fox Kung Fu now being integral to the success of the two girls he adored.

Disciples he was devoted to teaching. To bettering. Knowing that even Gold sheen, as much as some might consider that the most glorious of goals, was itself indicative of flaws in his own techniques. Techniques he sought to master, as countless days of desperate struggle, up to and including desperately dodging the searing hot rays of Fire Qi from a Gold tier general so utterly beyond him it was absurd. And what a fool he was for thinking he could ever take on any Gold for even a heartbeat he didn’t somehow get the drop on. Golds he know was all but certain were only recently risen, for all their potential, who had spent their years in cultivation, not combat, counting on their Golden core to smash through any Silver’s resistance, no matter how well trained.

And perhaps they had been right, until they had met Alex.

Until the day he was foolish enough to actually cross a battle-hardened Gold.

But at least he was wise enough to learn from the experience, his desperate struggle to dodge General Li Jaw-Longs deadly Gold tier ray of flame. Costing him three limbs, had been the price of his humility, a far steeper price than even Duo Ku had to pay, for daring to underestimate Alex.

At least, Alex thought with a bleak smile, he had the benefit of a Divine tier restoration technique.

And a unified martial art he could sense getting ever closer to rank 9 as he allowed himself to embrace a slumber he had no doubt was lasting days.

Having no doubt that he needed the rest, and whatever insights he could ring from the visions now flooding through him.

Visions of himself sneaking in the library late at night as images of child mages with English accents superimposed themselves over visions of powerfully built men and women wearing changshan tunics and silken kimonos, melodious voices discussing their material just as animatedly as children in a world that never was, their books overlapping in the exact same places.

And when a young boys jolted tome caused a cultivation manual a world over to flip a page, no one upon either overlapping table seeming to notice.

Alex felt chills racing down his spine, somehow certain that this library was far more than a simple dream.

He turned his gaze to his Divine Librarian.

Aiko had the gall to wink, handing him exactly the tomes he had asked for. “Focus on the task at hand, Alex. Super-positional realities are quite beside the point, for any boy who can’t at least achieve Gold,” said the goddess in his dream.

Alex grinned, turning his attention back to his own project, the air lighting up over a handful of Jade and Gold tomes lying on the high-tech looking table before him, with holograms containing both 7 and 12 cable configurations projected over each one.

He peered carefully at the Golden cores that both seemed like impossibly dense orbs of gold and pools of quantized energy compressed to unfathomable degrees, oscillating between energy states at superluminal speeds.

And for all that this was but a dream… he thought it also the perfect environment for daring to crack open tomes that would be his downfall, anywhere else, Aiko, or at least his dream of Aiko, the perfect assistant, helping him bring each visualization to life.

And just like any program, he could bring whatever he visualized into his dream without having to worry about conservation of matter, energy, or simple probability.

It was nothing to visualize holding a Golden soul stone, having torn out so many for his own use over a terrible year he was as happy not visualizing at that moment, merely the Golden core in his hand, imagining feeding streamers to each of what he chose to thought of as containment fields for lack of a better word. And the golden streams effortlessly flowed passed the Silver Cables humming like the strings of a lute, feeding each of those perfectly identical cores.

Alex carefully noted how each of the golden cores grew, slowly turning ever more opaque, the Gold color somehow intensifying in ways he had no words for.

He could sense it then, as mist began to form over all of them, the transformation to Jade beginning to occur.

Before stepping back with a frown when over half the Silver latticeworks began letting out strained discordant sounds, as if strings stretched to their absolute limits, before bursting in flashes of brilliant light Alex just knew would have wiped out entire provinces, had those been real Gold Titans attempting to break through to Jade.

The twelve cable configurations still held, he was happy to see, as the impossibly dense Golden core they each held somehow transformed to darkest jade. Jade he kept feeding visualized cords to, the light green darkening to the point it turned pitch black, and Alex, for the first time, felt a chill running down his spine.

He turned to Aiko, now smiling brighly at him in a brilliant white labcoat, complete with name tag and steel rimmed glasses. “Are we sure this is safe?”

She grinned. “This is your dream, Alex. Where else are you going to safely forge singularities?”

Alex swallowed and nodded, heart in throat as he continued to feed the increasingly compressed Jade cords, heart starting to race as he slowly noticed a transformation… the Jade turning inky black as even the twelve cable matrices began to ring discordant. Only this time they weren’t in danger of exploding outward, but rather crumpling inward, as one Jade core after another compressed to a point of inky darkness, the matrice immediately collapsing. And a heartbeat later, an impossibly brilliant explosion roared through existance itself, for all that it seemed to be impossibly far away, not just a hologram floating above his table.

Aiko looked thoughtful. “Near instantaneous singularity decay. And the eruption resulting from a Jade’s failed attempt to achieve divinity would tear apart an empire, if the fool didn’t at least have the grace to step in an adjoining realm before making the attempt.

Alex winced. “Yeah, that did not seem like a pretty way to go.”

“Instantaneous, however,” Aiko noted.

Alex grinned. “True.”

Aiko peered thoughtfully at him. “Does this help?”

Alex frowned, saying nothing, replaying the scene again and again. Noting the point of failures, doing his best to understand with visualized models what might take months or years to glean from any tome he didn’t wish to risk losing himself within. Because right now it was all about studying methodologies of containment. And for all that he had seven, not 12 major meridian gates, he still thought it useful to study outside the box, and see what useful insights he could glean beyond the failings of seven cable configurations.

Before lurching back and shaking his head, heart racing with the exhilaration of a sudden epiphany, gazing at a smiling Aiko with sheerest wonder. “I’m being an idiot. This whole time, I’ve been a shortsighted fool!”

Aiko raised her brow. “Care to explain?”

He chuckled ruefully, shaking his head. “Here I am, thinking I’m thinking outside the box, when I’m thinking of doing exactly what every other cultivator in the Golden Realms has done for countless thousands of years! And after I generated tri-state degenerate matter cords unlike anything you’ll find in these tomes.”

Aiko nodded. “Cords of such tensile strength they were able to forge a supercable that, arguably, would be strong enough to form a stable ring around a planet.”

Alex smirked. “Yet so thick and unorthodox that there is no way in hell I can replicate the feet another six times to form a cage fit to hold any sort of core.”

Aiko sighed. “True. And we can see from our tests what happens if you deviate too far from the idealized models. Models that limit the thickness of any cable, implying that even gods have a limit to how deeply they may compress their cores, without risking their own destruction.”

“True, but only with we hold to their paradigm,” Alex said, in a breathless, excited rush. “Who says we can’t do something completely different?”

Aiko frowned. “But we already know that five strand configurations are hopelessly flawed. Too big a gap between the cables to generate sufficient force to keep the Golden core contained.”

Alex just smiled, clearing the tests they had run for something completely different. This one showcasing a single dark particle and what seemed to be a hazy field around it. “Do you understand what this is?”

Aiko furrowed her brow, shaking her head, before suddenly freezing, truly looking at what Alex had summoned with his mind’s eye. “Is that… Alex, is that an atom?”

Alex grinned. “A single proton, or my visualization of it. With a single electron containing that singular proton.” He held Aiko’s gaze. “Do you understand? That singular electron is able to generate an electromagnetic field, containing it in its entirety.”

Aiko gazed at Alex for long moments. “Because it’s moving. Effectively moving at the speed of light. A wave as much as a particle.”

Alex smirked. “Of course its not a perfect metaphor, cultivation is both a spiritual metaphor and far larger a phenomenon than any quantum interactions. But still. If there’s even a chance…

Aiko all but squeeled, squeezing Alex’s shoulders so hard bone broke, before being instantly repaired. Alex winced, surprised to feel pain in his dream.

“Sorry,”

Alex smirked and shook his head. “Alright, let’s give this a try, shall we?”

He closed his eyes and visualized his massive supercable of degenerate matter in all its glory. Daring to visualize it not as a compact loop, but rather a cord stretching around an impossibly dense core deep in the starry depths of space.

At first, dense lumpy core and cable were both inert. Lifeless.

Then, at first infinitesimally slowly, then with ever increasing speed, his ring began to accelerate.

It began to spin.

Spin like a race car looping an endless track.

Spin like a satellight orbiting Earth at incredible speeds.

Spin like the icy rings of Saturn about its gaseous heart.

Spin like the impossibly hot accretion disk of a black hole. Spinning so fast spacetime itself was dragged in its wake as it approached speeds exceeding 40% the speed of light.

Alex wanted to howl with awe and wonder at his visualized creation, feeling a surge of exultation, knowing he was on the right track as the dull lump of potential he stood upon began to slowly compress from the dull lead of countless lifetimes of potential ending in bitter failure to the increasing luster of Gold as probability began to shine with possibilities he had never unearthed before.

And still there was more he could do. Much more.

Like the electron that was both particle and wave and surrounded its core three dimensionally, so too Alex’s accretion disk began to flip about even as it spun, now moving in all three directions with ever greater speed as the lumpy core of countless unending failure was transformed the Golden shores of triumph to the brilliant Jade of ascension.

Alex howled with joy, but before he could say another word to his beeming librarian he was sucked into his own creation and spat out in a shuddering, sweat covered heap upon his luxurious bed, waking up with a gasp and racing for the study, where he spent a furious hour scribbling his notes madly, his mind clearer than it had ever been before, only then making his way to the buffet table, both awed by the display of gustatory delights before him, his eyes immediately darting for the deep dish pizza with the crispy cheese edges and the rich savory tomato sauce covered in sausage and pepperonis. He took one heavenly bite before flushing at the sight of the pair of servants eyeing him with such devotion it made his skin crawl.

“Um… please tell me you weren’t both standing there all night, waiting for me to get up?”

The closest girl flushed and lowered her eyes, though her inviting smile made it clear she had done just that, and would be happy to gaze at him for a hundred years, if he wished it. For how could she not adore the god who had forged her from the sad cold rivers of a dream without end?

Alex winced at the girls’ sudden palor. Both of them were most definitely alive, awake, and fully aware, both clearly haunted by memories of whatever had come before.

“And this is why Grandmother Yi Wang has such an important role, easing the memories of all the lives that came before,” Alex said softly to himself with a sad smile, as he gazed at the girls now kowtowing before him.

“Are you alright?” he said, with a louder voice, giving both girls his warmest smile. “Please, have some food for yourselves. You’re really alive now, right? You both eat, use the bathroom, that sort of thing?”

Both girls flushed and smiled, kowtowing with his words.

“Yes, we do, Child of the Heavens,” the pair said in perfect synchronicity.

Alex grinned. “Well, that’s great! Then by all means, help yourself if you’re hungry and um...you’re always welcome to go outside and enjoy the warm summer days, smell the flowers, take a walk in the woods, that sort of thing.” He shrugged. “I always found walks in the park and garden really helpful when I was dealing with my illness in my first life, before it got the best of me. And the wonderful thing for you girls is… the past, whatever it was, is behind you. You’re safe in the here and now, and that’s got to count for something, am I right?”

Both girls nodded animatedly as they pulled out a plush chair, scooping out vanilla icecream alon with his favorite brand of rootbear and making him is absolute favorite float, which went smashingly well with his pizza, he thought, devouring the repast, so exquisitely delicious as his mouth exploded with flavors tangy and sweet that he thought he would cry, even as his vitality was temporarily boosted another Rank, bringing him up to Silver 5, between his sleep and repast, his mind never having been sharper, his Scholarship ratcheting up to an astounding 17. He felt like he always did, save for a certain crystalline clarity where things were otherwise the slightest bit jumbled. The revelations he had chanced upon during his lucid dream resonating most clearly of all.

And he couldn’t deny that his excitement was tinged with a certain amount of vindictive glee.

He was beyond eager to test out his theory and see if it could possibly work, and he most definitely wanted to be in the Golden Realms to do it.

So a certain bloated bastard would bleed six-fold for every step he took in securing his ascension. After all, his nemesis card had done nothing to warp his sanity or outlook. Because he already hated that gloating bastard as much as any man could in a single lifetime.

A hatred so hot he dare not even visit the girl he now loved like a grandchild in truth, for all that he was a year or two younger than her.

Because he needed Iron hard focus to temper his fury, about to embrace a feat unlike any he had ever dared before. A feat unlike anything his entire library even mentioned.

And if he was going to play with the equivalent of nuclear fire…

He sure as hell wasn’t doing it in his own back yard.

“Seneschal Dong Xiao, what’s the word?” Alex asked between bites of cheesecake, and between one moment and the next, the man was bowing before him, as if he had always been just a tilt of the head away.

“Fantastic news, my lord. Our staff have fully awakened to their responsibilities and duties and have absolutely no complaints. Only gratitude to their god… I mean, ahem, employer, and the sincere hopes that they serve you for endless years to come.” The pair of servitors quickly bowed and made their exit with a dip of the head from their senior, and it was just Alex and his seneschal once more.

Alex gave an awed shake of his head. “If I didn’t know better… they seem just as aware and in the moment as the people we rescued.”

“They are,” his seneschal concurred. “As much as any citizen of the world you left behind.”

Alex blinked at that, recalling one particularly bold smile the leftmost girl had flashed him. “Then that means...”

His seneschal grinned. “Fear not, my lord. All those you gifted with true life have pristine Gold potential. Should you grace any of them with your favor, your offspring will be healthy and strong. No need to worry on that account.”

Alex blinked at that, before immediately changing the subject. “I have to go for a bit. On the off chance my attempts at Silver ascension results in planetary destruction… I sure as fuck am not doing that in my own back yard.”

His unflappable seneschal immediately paled. “My lord...”

Alex grinned. “Don’t worry, I think the chances of that are pretty much infinitesimal. Mostly I’m jumping over because over there, my enemy gets to pay 6/7ths of any spiritual energy tab I ring up.” He flashed a positively evil smile. “And I plan on ringing up a tab so massive even gods would shit their pants.”

His seneschal gazed at Alex for long moments. “Might this one inquire as to the exact nature of your enemies?”

Alex smirked before devouring some fresh saltwater crab. “Sure. The very gods that will be shitting their pants by the time I’m done over there.”

Hong Xiao cleared his throat. “My lord, I recommend against interpantheon conflicts. For though your power reigns supreme within your own realm here, over there...”

Alex nodded. “I’m nothing but a Tier 1 Silver. I know. A situation I aim to correct as fast as I damn well can.” He took a deep breath, his snarky demeanor turning grave. “Seneschal...”

“Your descendant lives, my lord. As to how well she will recover...” He gave a sad sigh, shaking his head. “I have done what I can, but the scars she suffered are beyond the physical. I’m afraid she lost her kits.”

Alex’s blood ran cold with those words, a silent scream resonating through his soul even as he forced himself to deadly calm.

He turned his seneschal’s way. The man paled, immediately dropping into a kowtow. “Please spare this unworthy one’s life, Child of the Heavens. If you destroy me, I will be unable to keep your great great granddaughter stable.”

Alex clenched his jaw so tight a molar cracked. He really needed to get on that bone strengthening technique, a tiny corner of his mind noted, even as he choked down his howls of fury with icy calm. “I have nothing but respect and gratitude for you, Dong Xiao. As for my enemies in the world I will be returning to...” he flashed a bleak smile. “I might be gone for a bit. Please tell Elder Ru to continue with the competitions. For all that the flood of Gold tier rooms are, ultimately, for the refugees I invited into my realm, no prize unearned is fully appreciated. They will have to earn credits and compete for every week they wish to savor palatial comforts. However, as far, far more rooms are available, we can make those prizes available to anyone devoted to bettering themselves. So long as they never grow complacent, and never take an emperor’s luxuries as their due.”

His seneschal bowed once more. “Elder Ru’s thoughts precisely. Fully half of all the students and the entirety of the teachers will be awarded beds, so long as credits are earned and duels fought. And the rest will still enjoy accomodations beyond that enjoyed by outer disciples in any school in the world you left behind, for all that the shelters still need a bit of work. The sunny weather invites outdoor cultivation, and the sea of Silver tier spiritual energy is soothing to most souls, I’m given to understand. Of course, Elder Ru does suggest we eliminate all duels with edged weapons. Your remarkable performance the other day...”

Alex sighed. “I know. I came close to killing some of the very students I was originally intent on rescuing. I agree. Edged weapon practice does have its place, but it was madness to incorporate that and killing intent in pursuit of prizes any of them would literally kill for.” He gave a resolute nod. “The well being of the collective, a brother and sisterhood that transcends competitive spirit, is what we need to be united as a community. As a tiny nation. Very well, Follow Elder Ru and Lady Chun An’s recommendations, so long as they are reasonable.”

The seneschal cleared his throat. “My lord are you aware that your realm now harbors a Goddess of Knowledge?”

Alex nodded. “I know. She was my former librarian a lifetime ago, before her bastard of an ex killed her. First girl I ever fell in love with.” He shook his head. “In my heart of hearts, I always dreamed of somehow going back in time and saving her…” he flushed. “Well, I guess I did just that.”

Dong Xiao’s eyes continued to widen. “I… see. The goddess is here by your design. Very good then, Child of the Heavens. Are there any policies or restrictions I should keep in mind?”

Alex shrugged. “I don’t think so? Aiko’s a sweety. As long as she’s just giving cultivation pamphlets that comprise the absolute best path forward for any of our guests, we’re all good.” Alex turned and shouted in the air. “Hey Aiko, you’re not planning any sort of Divine coup to kick me out of my palace while I’m gone, are you?”

Alex heard a distinctly feminine snort. “And how the hell am I going to get any fresh, delicious tomes of lore, history, or cultivation if I do that, Alex?”

Alex grinned at his alarmed looking seneschal. “See? The sacred cycle of self-interest strikes again. Besides. Aiko has a strikingly rare attribute few others can claim that leaves me far more comfortable with her presence here than I would be, say, any other deity save my mentor.”

“And what would that be, Child of The Heavens?” asked an increasingly worried Dong Xiao.

“She’s not a complete self-centered ass. Now, before I forget, can you whip up a palanquin and a month’s worth of rations?”

Alex frowned at the package suddenly before him. That had always been before him, his seneschal giving him a gracious bow. “Of course, my lord.”

Alex grinned, before opening a portal revealing brooding storm clouds over a roiling sea. “Give my warmest to my friends, will you, Dong Xiao? And please tell Zhu Bi I’d be by her side right now, but...”

His seneschal understood. “I understand, my lord. For if the fires of your wrath burned any hotter, you’d be good for nothing more than a berserker’s frenzy.”

Alex flashed a bleak smile. “I knew there was a reason why I kept you on. Toodles!” With that he jumped through the grate, plummeting toward the green sea of endless forests below.