Ryu stood his ground and ignored the enticing offer. He had various reasons not to accept it. There was no trick to this seductive offer of enormous power. Most people would grab it on the spot. It was the dream of many to chance upon rare treasures that would help them advance to the next level. The tyrannical power in front of him was made of abnormal pure energy. This alluring energy was unlike anything Ryu had encountered before.

Is this some kind of essence? Ryu couldn’t help but wonder. The rainbow triangular prism in front of him radiated a form of energy similar to Qi but much more oppressive. Ryu had never seen it before. He had seen the essences of Saint Domain beings from Prince Na’Vi’s group but even that doesn’t come close. Their essences had transformed into a gaseous state and then into a solidified state from a Qi reservoir. Perhaps after there were more transformations after that?

However, this tempting power in front of him also made Ryu feel uneasy. Ryu could see that this power thirsted for more power. This power wanted to be flaunted in front of others, dominate others, and force others to acknowledge its superiority. In fact this power reminded him of the Judgment Tome’s abilities to subjugate others except that it is encouraging Ryu to do it. It was practically begging Ryu to accept it and use it to dictate over others.

“A… Divine Core…” A clear voice spoke this time. It came from the crimson warrior that managed to suppress the invisible pressure that’s thrown against him and pinning him down. His expression contained no more confusion and his attention shifted to the triangular prism in front of Ryu. A crazy look of desire and determination can be seen from his eyes.

The crimson warrior’s physical body started changing and the hazy aura around him seeped back into him. His eyes shined with a purple light that grew stronger by the second. A pair of majestic horns protruded from his forehead and curled into a crescent shape. Two vampiric wings shot out of his back and stretched around him. Black tattoos suddenly appeared on his skin and slithered all over his body. A ghastly flame discharged from parts of his body. Although his silhouette was similar to that of a humans, people would view him as something like a devil king.

“Even now part of their rebellious legacy can be found… It seems like some heretic inherited the demonic art from those damned pagans. Or should I say ‘had’ inherited.” An amused voice came from above. It seemed like the unworldly beast whose size could rival countless cities was completely unconcerned about what was unfolding.

“It’s mine!” The crimson warrior shouted out desperately. He flew over instantaneously with overbearing power, if this was the physical world than nothing in his path would have survived. A third red eye appeared above his forehead, this eye was almost the size of a fist. He reached out with his right hand that had a slit over the palm and zealously touched the all-powerful source of power. An expression of mixed madness and pure bliss could be seen across his face. A moment passed and nothing happened.

Ryu’s ghostly apparition was still just a step away from all this. Without him noticing, his three tomes appeared behind him and circled in a defensive manner. All he could do was watch awkwardly as the demonic crimson warrior grabbed onto the so called Divine Core, occasionally readjusting his grip, but nothing was happening. A muddled expression slowly appeared on his face, it seems he was expecting something to happen but the triangular source of power did not react to him in any way. Slowly he shifted his attention to Ryu.

“You… you stole what’s mine!” He shouted frantically as he realized something was wrong. Piecing together what was happening and the words spoken by the divine beast, Ryu guessed that the Destiny Defiance skill that previously belonged to the crimson warrior was taken by him. The crimson warrior’s arm shot for Ryu’s neck but right at this moment the Judgment Tome flipped open and released a radiant golden light directly at him. The luminous light overwhelmed any aura that the crimson warrior gave off and extinguished the fiery energy he was discharging.

“AHHHHHHH!” Shouting out in excruciating pain, the crimson warrior was forced to kneel in front of Ryu. His features slowly reverted back to those of a regular human. The grandiose horns retracted, the domineering tattoos vanished and the demonic wings disintegrated into thin air.

“Impressive… I don’t know how but you managed to subdue a Celestial soul.” The impossibly massive beast hovering above them said in amusement. Ryu was surprised to hear that the crimson warrior kneeling in front of him was a Celestial being. At level 100, one goes through Rebirth and enters the Saint Domain. At level 200, one goes through another Rebirth and enters the Deity Domain. Only after another hundred levels does one enter the Celestial Domain! Even a distinguished and legendary figure such as Prince Na’Vi only reached the peak of Deity Domain before he was backstabbed and nearly assassinated by his own brother.

“Oh where are my manners, it seems like your baby soul isn’t mature enough to materialize your spirit in your own spirit world.” A spec of power shot towards Ryu’s apparition and instantly he could feel a change within him. His apparition materialized quickly in this odd dimension.

“There. I am the Guardian of the Gods, the invincible Qilin! I only appear with the imminent arrival of an illustrious ruler. Do you know how fortunate you are? What’s your name boy?” By the tone of the beast’s voice, it seemed like it was a great honor for Ryu to be in his presence.

“Ryu.” He replied humbly as he bowed.

“Why did you not take this power?”

The so called Divine Core floated around Ryu, jesting him to grab it. However, Ryu did not desire to obtain such a domineering dictatorial power in this fashion. It’s like giving an infant the position of the King of a monarch, what good will come of it?

“That power… it’s not mine. It’s filled with malicious and ambitious intents, I will not be able to control it.” Ryu kept his answers short, he was still weary of this beast that was over a thousand times larger than himself.

“Does it matter? This absolute power will allow you to take on the world! The pathetic heretic that relies on stealing what’s not his doesn’t even amount to one percent of this power. The dark forces of this world also use the same method to gain the powers they have today.” The Qilin laughed out loud. If the tomes were not protectively shielding him, Ryu was certain that he would have disintegrated from the lethal shockwaves caused by this laugh. Ryu stayed silent during all this, he felt uncomfortable with the Qilin’s proposition.

“What is the difference between me and the dark forces if I accept this power? All I would have done is found a way to become the next dark force. Absolute power will corrupt absolutely.” Ryu’s answer seemed to have surprised the Qilin slightly. He wasn’t sure if the kid in front of him was extremely wise or just extremely naïve.

“Only one other person before you refused to take this Divine Core. He was an idealist man similar to you but his destiny was cut short after realizing his dream. There were countless more experts back in the days. That foolish man was the first emperor of the Qin Empire, struggling to unite the lands for the greater good… sigh.” It seemed like the beast was reminiscing about a distant past.

Qin Empire? Ryu had never heard of such an empire.

“The other five owners managed to rock the world and shake the heavens by wielding and accepting this power. Their resolutions were absolute and the revolutions they caused were magnificent. However, ever since descending to this world no one had the qualifications to wield such powers. I don’t even get an ounce of respect anymore.”

“You are not like my previous partners. You are extremely quiet. I sense no ambition in you, no desire to conquer. Nor do you wish to rule over others. Perhaps you want to change the world? No, you do not wish to be omnipotent either. How did fate arrange us to meet? This is odd…” The beast above Ryu gradually shrunk as he spoke. “You have the talent and certainly the luck needed to defy the Will of the Gods. However, remember that even with talent and luck, what’s more important is an undying tenacity to strive forward. Not everyone with talent and luck succeed in their journey for immortality but all who succeeded are hardworking and have a goal. Seriously… how did you appear before me…”

Ryu frowned and felt a tinge of guilt. Although he worked fairly hard up until now, he did not train as hard as he could. As a kid, his ambitions were nonexistent, he just wanted to live peacefully with his grandpa. If it wasn’t for the fateful encounter with the tomes and certain powerful figures that were nice enough to impart some of their skills and wisdom upon him, he would not have reached his current level.

“The only redeeming feature is your soul… it’s not of this world. Ever since the laws of the world had changed with the new governance, no one should be able to achieve this state unless they’ve attained immortality.” The Qilin said as it looked directly into Ryu’s eyes. It’s as if he could peer into every part of him and determine his abilities but oddly he appeared to not see the tomes at all.

“It seems like you don’t know much about yourself yet. You seem to have grasp some obscure power that even I can’t identify. Twenty-one years old only… not bad but I’ve seen other monsters besides you in the past that accomplished more. Let me ask you again, what kind of power do you desire?” A mythical hooved chimerical creature could be seen now. It had scorching eyes with thick raging eyelashes, fiery manes that flowed upward and a majestic silver beard. A fully scaled dragon-like body and a set of shining cloven hooves was revealed. It was as if a mythical creature came out of a painting. Ryu couldn’t help but feel admiration for this noble divine creature.

“Honestly, I don’t know yet.” Ryu replied truthfully after a moment of silence. He disliked all the evilness and killing that goes around in the world but he does not wish to reform the world forcefully.

“I suppose it is a bit too soon for someone like you… given your rate, the road to immortality would be at least another million years away. I will tell you this, even if you are a Chosen one. There are others out there like you. In the end few will prevail. I don’t know what divine powers have intervened and gifted you with luck to defy the heavens but sooner or later all the luck in the world won’t save you if you don’t get stronger soon.”

“Thank you for your advice.” Ryu replied.

“Let me ask you another question then. Who are you? Not how other perceives you but what you think of yourself.”

“I…” Ryu responded to the best of his abilities. The Qilin beast was silent once again, the answer had surprised him. The Qilin beast then proceeded to ask Ryu a series of questions which Ryu answered honestly.

“He says the same things as that person… interesting…” The Qilin beast muttered to himself.

“Although this Divine Core was not a test, I’ve taken a liking to you. I’ll be your first contracted spirit. For such a clueless kid, you are really too lucky. If other Divine Spirits knew of this they would laugh at me for the next millennium straight! Quickly subdue other Divine Spirits in the future so I don’t feel so pathetic okay?” As the Qilin spoke, Ryu felt a burning sensation within his primary Qi reservoir. An indiscernible link seemed to have formed.

“A Divine Spirit?” Ryu said in surprise. He recalled that Prince Na’Vi had a treasure called the Key of Babylon and with that he too could summon a Divine Spirit for Spirit Fusion. It was the greatest treasure of the Sky Continent.

“This Divine Core is actually just something I formed from all the evil doers I have ate in the past haha. If I had not formed a contract with you and had you chosen the Divine Core then you would never be able to see my true power. Although that Divine Core is already enough for most to fulfill their ambitions. This is my true power.” The Qilin said proudly. It seems to want Ryu to know its true might. A golden crystalized mountain slowly emerged from the ground, creating ripples of Qi waves as it did so. Many streaks of brilliant silver streams coursed through it. Ryu had many encounters with what he thought were endless supplies of power but this had to top them all. Even if a thousand Deity Domain essences were stacked together, it wouldn’t even amount to a fraction of what he was seeing.

“Wow…” Ryu was left speechless. He could sit and marvel at the endless source of Qi emitted in front of him for years.

“As the second person I’ve chosen, you’ll be able to wield my true power if you ever enter the Divine Domain. Since you can do Spirit Fusion, you can draw out a minuscule amount of my might if you like. Until then I can only guide you slightly on your journey. To be worthy of acquiring me as your guardian spirit, you must get stronger much faster. You cultivating methods are not bad but you do not have any essence or soul refining methods. Your soul is already at a perfect level but it can advance even further. I’ll impart you with this little gift then.”

A stream of knowledge rushed into Ryu’s mind and suddenly a profound method for refining the essence and soul entered his mind. Unlike absorbing other skills in the past where he had it in memory but not understanding it, Ryu knew this method inside and out. There was no need for him to comprehend it later. The skill was called Path to True Immortality and describes how to build the perfect foundation for the road of cultivation. Without a good foundation, one will most likely be unable to progress later on.

“It seems our time has run out. To forcefully enter your own spirit world with your current power is too much. If you need to contact me again in the future, you’ll have to go through a Rebirth at least. The other method is if you absorb another spirit into your soul.” A door emerged beside Ryu as the beast turned around, motioning Ryu to leave.

“This spirit world resides inside yourself. Come visit me once again when you are strong enough. This little Celestial human has been subdued by you, you can use him however you want in the future.” Before Ryu could replied, he found himself back in the physical world. Ryu understood then that this spirit world he was in was somewhere deep within himself. He wasn’t inside the piece of bone previously when he encountered the crimson warrior for the first time, he had absorbed his spirit into his own soul. The same happened with the Qilin. Without the its assistance, Ryu couldn’t have materialized properly in the dimension.

The beast now alone in the spirit world within Ryu started speaking to itself. A worried expression was seen on its face. The previous calm and majestic demeanor was nowhere to be found.

“I have a bad feeling about this… is this a foreshadowing of the inevitable doom that is bound to repeat?”