《Into the void》Chapter 27: Progress
Advertisement
Getting back into the groove of cultivation had been easy. It was as if I'd never stopped in the first place. The qi flowed naturally with only the barest of guidance, and my inner realm didn't look like it had been used as a playground for my demon.
Truthfully speaking, returning to cultivation was probably one the happiest moments of my life. Not to say that I'd had a life scarce of things to be delighted about.
Instead, I saw it as a testament to how much I loved the challenge and reward of cultivation. I have never been averse to grinding at an objective as long as I felt the reward was worth it. The strength granted by cultivation was definitely worth it to me.
During those two years that had passed without cultivation, I hadn't realized how much I missed it. This was, of course, due to me distracting myself with other things, but even then, there had been a little frustration.
It now made more sense to me why characters in those cultivation novels would sometimes spend centuries meditating. It wasn't the most enjoyable thing to do but the feeling of progression that it gave made up for that.
Truthfully speaking cultivating was probably one of the most addicting things ever.
Very tedious and very painful, but also supremely addicting. It just made me feel better.
That is if you're able to bear the pain. Though it could just be that way to me. Anything that provided an increase in my power, strength, or just anything related to my wellbeing was addictive.
Plus, the freedom that is given to those that cultivated also aided in that factor. If one was strong enough, smart enough, or had the right resources, they could make their own path.
That was what had allowed me to form my foundation with a continent worth of qi after all. Granted that it wasn't something many other beings could do, it was still very much an aspect of that freedom.
Deventus's thousand-fold refinement was part of that.
That also wasn't something that many non-divine beings could do, but my point still stands.
Though I must say that I think my achievement is just better. Refining your body is much less impressive than gathering a continent's worth of qi. So 1-0 to me.
To defy the heavens and grow stronger was the point of cultivation. Though there currently wasn't any heaven to defy. The universe wasn't stopping us from growing stronger.
Though it did make me wonder if that was something I should implement into the universe. I still had one chance to alter the rules of reality with that book.
What was cultivation without divine tribulations?
That was definitely something I had to do once this century passed. A challenge always made things more fun.
My titles had also played a rather significant part as to why cultivation had suddenly become so easy. Since I'd realized that I had them, I'd been abusing them to the maximum extent possible.
The abilities that they granted were just too good to not be abused. If we look at the title [He Who Hangs at the Precipe of Annihilation], it's not hard to understand why I'd gained that.
Advertisement
It's clear to see that I gained that title because of the risks that I took when it came to cultivation.
I had used my divine power to keep me from being ripped apart due to how much qi I was using. This put me at the precipe of being atomized, the only stopping that from happening being my powers.
Hell, I'd had to lock myself in space for a couple months after doing it because I hadn't stabilized after that.
As the name implied, it was given to me because I hung right at the edge of folly. So it was easy to understand what it granted me. It essentially just rewarded me with the ability to withstand such things even better.
It allowed me to hang closer and longer at that precipe. Something that I abused every time I broke through.
My other title [The Great Pretender], was the one that boosted regular cultivation. That was given to me because I was good at lying and acting. Of course, the real clincher for that title had been lying to the prophetic goddess. Like the previous title, it was only due to my powers that it'd been possible, but the universe didn't look at that.
That's not to say those were the only reasons I gained those titles, but I would bet money that they were the most important ones.
It hadn't taken me long to figure the effect of that one. Just as the name implied, I became better at pretending. Any action that wasn't the truth was made to be more believable.
But that was the passive ability, the one that took no effort and didn't drain me. The actual important ability was that it would grant me the powers and mannerisms of beings that I acted as.
There were limitations to that, of course. There was a limit on how powerful the being could be. There more powerful they were, the more draining it was for me to pretend to be them. Using their powers would leave me feeling exhausted and sometimes led to me passing out. I considered those to be fair limitations because even with them, it was still a game-changer.
The change of mannerisms had been noticed by Deventus. Though all I do to ease her worries was feed her the lie that acknowledging my origins had "solidified" my existence.
Whatever that meant.
Honestly, a prophetic goddess shouldn't be that gullible.
So, in order to boost my cultivation, I pretended to be a cultivation genius.
Not only did it work, but it worked well. It was why I had managed to break through so many realms in such a comparatively short amount of time.
It wasn't something I could do all the time since that would lead to me passing out constantly. But when I did, my cultivation speed was nearly fivefold what it usually was.
Even though some of my progress was removed whenever I stopped pretending to be a cultivation genius, that still left me with a 3 fold increase in cultivation rate.
That power was abused beyond belief.
It took me 20 years to get to the first 2 stages and only another 40 to reach the 9th stage.
Advertisement
It was due to that speed that I allowed myself to take a break. I was reaching the limit of cultivation knowledge in this world. There were other schools of power that I could look into, but my interest in them had waned. Plus, even though I enjoyed cultivation, I didn't want to add another stressful road just yet.
When it came to all those systems of power, there had been little growth.
This is why I was currently focusing on the game of the chosen. I'd wanted to nudge my pick in the direction of upgrading the cultivation levels, but that wasn't making any progress.
He just wasn't all that bright when it came to cultivation, and even though he was a grown man, he was still stuck at the 4th stage. Not bad when compared to everyone else, but not all that good. It was only due to his charisma and my abilities that he was significant amongst his people.
Deventus's chosen had a lower cultivation level, but his influence rivaled if not slightly surpassed that of my mine.
My plan to oppose the single deity focus of the people had gone off without a hitch. When I successfully completed it, the chosen had been given the title of [Messiah of the Storm]. Not by me but by the universe. He had been tied to Tena by the universe.
It was an odd feeling being connected to a mortal. Though it only happened when I acted as Tena.
Nevertheless, I was at a significant disadvantage.
I probably should have been suspicious as to why Deventus hadn't opposed my plan. But by the time I realized that fact, she had already established herself as the head of the pantheon.
She had actually made it easier for the belief in Tena to spread. She had sent visions to her chosen and had even had him speak of the arrival of the messiah. She spun tales about how the pantheon was slowly reuniting and becoming one again. However, she had made it seem that in the hierarchy, I was the one beneath her.
In doing that, she had capped my religious influence. I could never grow to be more relevant than her. As long as there wasn't some major shift in religion or culture, I would always be the god birthed by Deventus.
Tena the guardian of Deventus.That's what they called me.
My chosen, of course, had no idea of this and simply thought that he was being accepted by his community.
The worst part is that any attempt undermine her religious influence would be seen as a betrayal to the "pantheon".
Which wouldn't help me in the slightest.
Even if I succeeded in that endeavor, I was sure that she had backup plans just in case that happened.
Since I had been focused on cultivating, I hadn't noticed any of this happening until the very last moment when her chosen accepted mine with open arms.
She'd birthed a friendship between them that had reduced my chosen's drive to oppose him.
It had been an insidious plan, and I hadn't noticed it since she had disguised it as me just being good at spreading a religion. I honestly had to give props for the maneuver. It had been one of the cleanest things I'd ever seen.
I'd managed to recoup my losses once I noticed. But as I said, there was now a cap on how much influence I could have religiously, and with the friendship, there was a soft lock on my chosen's social position.
I was losing the game. It wasn't a complete blowout by any means, but it's clear to see that I'm falling behind. With a tribe this small, there's already only so much influence that can be gained. Even though the population had increased in these 40 years, that still didn't change much.
That's not including the fact that we weren't the only major faction in the tribe. The sly bastard had created a buffer faction to limit how much influence I could get. Which should have affected her as well, but the leader of that faction was close friends with her chosen. And he wasn't all that impressed by mine.
So, now I had only a third of the pie while she had, by proxy 2 thirds of it. Nobody ever said she wasn't smart. It's actually kind of horrifying what she's capable of. Yet she was still so childish.
Fucking Precogs.
Like who even thinks about creating a buffer faction?
Deventus apparently.
Though I must say that I've been enjoying myself. I had 40 more years before it was time to head back. My memories of Earth were already quite foggy. I'm pretty sure I've forgotten a couple passwords already.
But there are always things to do.
I wasn't too bothered by the thought of returning. I didn't want to be an active player in this world anyway. So, returning was probably the best option.
I'd only have to wait a week or so for them to advance cultivation, at which point I could return.
Entering into this world had honestly given me perspective. In fact, I'd say I wasn't all that worried about cancer anymore. I'd lived for almost up to 80 years now. I still wanted to get rid of it, but I wasn't someone who vied for immortality.
My main goal wasn't to get rid of cancer, even though I would continue to try and do so. Instead, I was now focused on seeing how far I could take this universe. It had been one of the original goals, but now that I'd lived in it, it had taken charge.
The only real problem that I was desperate to solve, at least for now, was the cyclical depression.
However, it wasn't time to return yet. I still had to reach this tenth gate, and then I planned on taking another shot at that conceptual fragment.
Advertisement
Fun and magic
Jason Riley was an ordinary boy from modern earth, until he inexplicably died falling from a cliff. His soul traveled worlds and finally settled in a world vastly different from his own, a world filled with magic and muggles, oh and Harry potter. {Releases are twice a week} {This cover isn't mine, got it from the internet. If whoever it belongs to wants me to remove it, just inbox}
8 200The Arthur Paladin Chronicles
Arthur Paladin doesn’t fit in. Not at home with the ultra-strict grandmother who raised him after his mother died and his dad disappeared. And not at school where the teachers think he’s trouble and the other kids think he’s a freak. Every night he peers into the sky with his telescope, sketches spaceships, and dreams about learning amazing things, the sort of things you need to know to save the world. Then Arthur finds out his grandmother may send him to military school, which leads to a fight with his “perfect” cousin, which leads to the mysterious plate over his heart getting broken, which leads to his whole world turning upside down.Shadow creatures appear out of nowhere to kill him. An angelic being from another dimension begs for his help. He takes refuge in a house that looks like an English cottage on the outside but is actually a mansion on the inside. Packed with shadow creatures, the manse immediately soars away from Earth and across the universe. Arthur is trapped, and he’s only got Morgan Apple to help him. Morgan Apple, a girl who apparently sits beside him every day just to call him a moron.That’s when life gets really weird for Arthur. That’s when he gets an energy sword and a raygun and finds out he’s the next Multiversal Paladin.
8 69my favorite star | sim jaeyun ✔️
"i don't want my feelings to break them apart so as long as they're happy, then i'm happy"in which her childhood best friend and crush ends up falling for the new student in the schoola sim jaeyun fanfiction©chqnhee[COMPLETE]
8 790Corpse Crawler
Ludwig Lock wakes up in a hospital bed to find a weeping woman at his side. After some crying, more weaping and confusion, Ludwig discovers that that lady was his ten year old sister, and that he's been in a coma for fifteen years. He also learns that the world he had grown to know was no more since heroes, villains, and super powers inhabit the streets, being regarded as a lot of things withing an endless spectrum. Just when he was about to finally get started with his new life, Ludwig faced a streak of bad luck, the last event of this chain setting him up to die so a vigilante can save himself. After suffering the worst beating of his life and experimenting the incompetence of the law, Ludwig decides to use his own hands to achieve justice. He will face difficult challenges, traumatic situations, and probably horrible stuff to get his life rolling. But at least he's got a friend to help him. Not a normal one though. ---- IMPORTANT: I personally identify powers as a fantastical element, which is why I don't find weird the addition of other elements of the same vein if it stays within the logic of the world. New and old chapters get updated with relative frequency, (new chapter every week, though it may be delayed a day or more to problems or some other reason) and the story is in a draft-like state, meaning it will probably stay the same but there will be changes on the prose or writing. Also, I would apreciate if it is known to me (Respectfully) which points should I improve on.
8 113Tale of Tales
* Tale of Tales is a High/Epic Fantasy saga based on the motifs of ancient myths, legends, and forgotten fairytales * Senka is no hero, but you never know what is coming for you. And if that burns down your house and family, while you are left blinded by your house’s guardian snake, the outlook becomes grim. So Senka clings to her dog’s back to survive, unaware of the fateful prophecy and the great changes to come. But when a wandering warrior becomes her protector and mysterious strangers join their hounded party through a series of seemingly chance encounters, they all begin to discover that all is not as it seems. What is pursuing her? And why? Can the strange characters gathering around her on her desperate quest save her from doom? Are they mere puppets of a young, beguiling witch guided by her own hidden motives, or are forgotten shadows rising again from the immeasurable depths of time? A tale of folk fairytales and myths, of swords and sorcery and mythical beings – a unique story of dark times and unsung heroes who may light your way. Book one, A Strange Bunch, features leading characters of various ages. This is a fantasy with their progression happening slowly throughout the series, with occasional spikes in character power after certain encounters that may or may not be random. Although the book series is written with adult and young adult audiences in mind, it is, in the tradition of such epics as “The Lord of the Rings,” suitable for all ages. Excerpt from the scene depicted on the cover of the first book: “Above this hellish pack and the rider at the forefront, flurried a ghastly sight – a cloud of dark, endlessly bustling bodies and wings, a swarm of creatures that, through their almost infinite number, produced that great din which had first reached the ears…” RELEASE SCHEDULE is about once a week. The entire series should take around two and a half years of weekly chapter episodes, so do encourage me by reacting and following. Ratings are greatly appreciated!
8 168The Elven God (Hiatus)
Follow an Elven man who has awoken to a different time that he knows nothing about anymore. He who has lost everything that's important to him only because of one selfish reason he made long ago. Watch as he changes the lives of those around him as he journeys into this now forgotten world that he once knew. Will he bring the maw of darkness? Will he bring the light of life? Or will he stay in the shadows to control everything as he sets up his webs of secrecy? Maybe he'll just watch as the known races of this world evolve into something glorious?WARNING: The Fiction's story will be going in a VERY slow moving pace, so beware if you're going to read it. A lot of tragedy in this. ALL kinds of Mature Content will be shown, so beware, again.
8 60