The youth walked alongside a corporeal Jian Gong. They walked upstream in the hopes of exiting the forest before the beasts come back. As they walked, they made casual banter.

"He shouldn't have tried to fight me…" he sighed once again. "Just, why?"

Jian Gong remarked, "The records must have been very important."

"That doesn't explain why he thought he could take me on."

"Probably has to do with how you fought sneakily. Perhaps the chief thought you had a weak foundation."

"But he could still sense that I had a higher Cultivation Base, right?"

"Having a higher Cultivation Base means very little if you don't have the proper foundation to compliment it. It's kind of like comparing a short tower made of logs with a long tower made out of sticks. Sure the latter is taller but it isn't stronger."

"I see…" the youth stroked his chin. "So, sneak-attacking is good?"

"Fuck, no! Do you think you're the only one who can sneak attack? One day, you're going to meet someone stronger and smarter than you, and get boned as a result of that."

"Haah~ what do you think I should do then?"

"Learn, motherfucker, learn!" Jian Gong slapped his head. "The Celestial Monarch's Cultivation Art has so many techniques and you've learned fucking none of them!"

The youth rubbed his head and glared at him, "Do I look like I'm in a position to learn anything, bitch? I understand that my fighting skills might be a bit weak but at least let me get out of this place first."

"A bit weak?" Jian Gong sneered. "You need to have fighting skills first if you want to call them weak. You're training Li Chyou might help you in formal duels but won't help you at all in actual fights. What do you think she learned in the Jade Rose Sect?"

"Fine, then what do you want me to do?"

"Wait, hold on." Jian Gong reached out and tapped on the air.

"What are you-?" before he could finish his words, a blue screen appeared in front of him.

[The Quest Tab has been updated.]

He glanced at Jian Gong who urged him to check it out. With a sigh, he ordered [Status] to open.

Status

Quests

Search

Settings

Upgrade

Main Quest: Kill the King of Ninth Heaven (+)

Optional Quest: I) Create the Immortal Devil Transformation Pill. [Available] (+)

II) Search for the woman’s husband. [Complete]

Immediate Quest: Learn all the Cultivation Techniques recorded in the Celestial Monarch’s Cultivation Art [Mandatory] (+)

Side Quest: I) Investigate the Truth behind the murder of the couple.

[Available] (+)

II) [Locked]

III) [Locked]

He clicked on the tab and the text changed.

Immediate Quest: Learn the Recorded Techniques-

The Celestial Monarch’s Cultivation Art contains many techniques which have been further refined millennia after millennia. They not only provide combat strength but also great utility. Without them, defeating the Divine King of Ninth Heaven is only a pipe dream.

It is imperative to learn them.

Reward: [Strength]

Failure: [Death]

"Death? The System can kill me?" The youth looked alarmed.

Jian Gong shook his head, "No, it can't. That just means you'll die no matter what if you don't learn them. Even if you hide, you'll die if you don't learn them."

"That most certainly sounds as though the System can kill me."

"Take it as predicting the future. Like it's only saying something inevitable."

"So, that means I'm going to die quicker if I don't learn them, did I get that right?"

"Yep!" Jian Gong nodded.

"…fuck. You're really leaving me no way out."

"Not me. The world's leaving you no way out."

The youth sighed and relented, "Fine, what should I learn first?"

"Try learning to hide your Cultivation Base first."

"Oh, is that exclusive to my Cultivation Art?"

Jian Gong looked at him like he was an idiot and then burst out laughing, "Hahaha! Who are you kidding!?"

The youth's mood became gloomy, "So, I take it everyone has it?"

"Sort of. Anyone can do it but not everyone can do it right. Most people can do the most basic form of just lowering their Cultivation Base by one or two stages. Those with Top-Grade Cultivation Arts can lower it by an entire realm while those with Superior-Grade Cultivation Arts can lower it by two or three realms. While both you and the Divine King can freely control your Cultivation Base."

The youth's eyes lit up, "Doesn't that mean I can appear super powerful?"

"Uh, no. You can only lower it and not increase it."

"Oh." The youth calmed down. "But isn't that super busted?"

"Well, that would be the case if only there wasn't a weak point of the Cultivation Art."

He raised a brow, "And that is?"

"During the unstable portion after finishing a breakthrough, you radiate Qi that instinctively lets the other know who you are."

"The other as in the King of Ninth Heaven?"

"And vice versa."

"I don't think that's much of a downside. I mean, the world's really big. What're the odds we meet each other right here and now? We might never meet before the final confrontation."

Jian Gong smiled at his words but didn't say anything more.

The youth didn't pick up on any peculiarities and asked, "So, how do I hide my Cultivation Base?"

"Use the search function."

The youth called up [Status] and clicked on the [Search] tab. A simple search box appeared in front of him with an icon of a magnifying glass on the right side. He clicked on the search box and a keyboard appeared underneath.

"How to hide your Cultivation Base," he mouthed the words as he typed them down.

As soon as he pressed the 'Enter' button, a wall of text appeared in front of him.

Search:

How to hide your Cultivation Base

There are 5 possible results:

1. The Celestial Monarch’s Cultivation Art’s Process

2. The Divine King’s Immortal Arts’ Process

3. Compiled process from various Superior-Grade Cultivation Arts

4. Compiled process from various Top-Grade Cultivation Arts

5. Compiled process from various Esoteric Cultivation Arts

"Huh?" his eyes bulged out. "Why is the second one there?"

Jian Gong replied, "I think it was the Sixth Monarch who obtained this."

"Huh, how did she-"

"The Sixth King was her lover."

The youth fell silent. He had a feeling that this story did not have such a happy ending.

"You're wrong in thinking that, you know?" Jian Gong saw through his thoughts.

The youth glanced at him, his expression full of curiosity.

"They spent their entire lives with each other. Even in the face of adversity, their feelings for each other never faltered. Together in happiness, together in pain; they saw many things, experienced many things, and lost many things. Not for a single second were they ever apart from one another."

"That's…-" the youth smiled, "-sounds like the perfect life, doesn't it?"

"Right, for the most part, they were happy. No, actually, even as they died in each other's arms they were happy."

"Did they kill each other?"

"Double Suicide. They died at the same time."

The youth stopped talking. Jian Gong's words kept spinning in his mind. He sighed. "Even for destined enemies, it's possible to live a happy life. So, I should be able to live one too, right?"

"Now's not the time to think about it," the youth shook his head and bookmarked the first result before moving his fingers over the keyboard.

"What are you doing?" Jian Gong peered over and looked at the screen.

"Just looking at something else," he finished typing and pressed 'Enter'. The texts changed once again.

Search:

How many techniques are there in the Monarch’s Cultivation Art?

There are 1 possible result(s):

1. There are eight Techniques in the Celestial Monarch’s Cultivation Art- Monarch’s Command, Ruler’s Vision, Monarch’s Regalia, Tyrant’s Wrath, Monarch’s Benevolence, Monarch’s Armament, The Monarch’s Subjects, and Ruler’s Resolve.

The youth sighed helplessly, "That's a lot of 'Monarch' in one place."

"Tell me about it…"

"So, as each of them developed by the Eight Monarchs?"

"Yep, guess which one was developed by which?"

"Uhh…Monarch's Command by Feng Hua, Tyrant's Wrath by Han She, Ruler's Vision by De Jing, Monarch's Benevolence by Ran Jing, Monarch's Regalia by Di Yu, Ruler's Resolve by Dao Qing, The Monarch's Subject by Cang Xue and lastly, The Monarch's Armament by Wang Tai."

"Wow, did you guess what the techniques were from their names?" Jian Gong looked pleasantly surprised.

"I mean, it's not that hard to do." He searched for something new again.

Search:

How will Hell or Heaven merge with Spiritual Haven?

There are 1 possible result(s):

1. After the Duel of End Times comes to a close, Heaven or Hell will connect with Spiritual Haven’s acupoints and forcefully superimpose on Spiritual Haven. Gates form on the acupoints allowing the inhabitants of the former to travel to the latter through means of teleportation.

The inhabitants will be given three weeks to evacuate through the gates otherwise, they will, theoretically, be superimposed on existing species of Spiritual Haven, giving birth to a new, completely different lifeform.

- From the voice Di Yu heard in their dreams.

"I wanted answers but am instead, ending up with even more questions than before," the youth rubbed his face, feeling irritated. "Just what the fuck is the 'Duel of End Times'?"

Abruptly, the text on the screen changed.

Search:

Just what the fuck is the Duel of End Times?

There are 1 possible result(s):

1. The Duel of End Times refers to the final confrontation between that generation’s Monarch of Hell and King of Heaven. Both of them have to declare their willingness to participate in the Duel for it to be counted as such.

Upon doing so, the Sovereign’s Throne will rise beside them as they battle for it. The victor claims the Throne as well as the right to rule over all worlds while the loser has their worlds destroyed.

The phrase to start the Duel is- “I, [insert name here], welcome the World’s End.”

"Oh, for fucks' sake!" he closed the screen without hesitation.