A cold wind blew across the peak, while the darkness that enveloped the peak increased in intensity. Myra was not paying much attention to his surroundings. He had covered the entire area with his divine sense before sitting down in a cross-legged position. His eye sockets were turned off as if he was closing his eyes in a meditative trance. Currently, the only issue was that it was dark, so he couldn’t absorb qi for cultivation.

With his “eyes” closed, a video clip was playing again in his head. In this video clip, there was a middle-aged man who was wearing a golden robe.

BEEP. BEEP. Memory mode unlocked. BEEP. Replaying VidPXN01.mp4.

“You might not remember much, but if you’re playing this clip, it means you’ve managed to unlock some of the locked videos”, started the middle-aged man. He had white flowing hair, and his eyes revealed a stern gaze. If you looked at him, it appeared as if he was looking through your soul.

He continued, “With each rise in cultivation level, you will unlock more of these videos, as well as a martial technique. Always remember to use these techniques to protect the matrix, and the one who wields it.”

There was a slight pause in the video. “Once you reach the Heaven Step level, you will be able to use Spatial Resonance. This technique was left behind by the original Azure Immortal. Not only that, but you will gain full sentience! Once the wielder of the matrix reaches the Altering pulse level, take him to the Exquisite Martial House. Make sure you leave him there; he has to reach Core formation for him to leave the Valley.”

BEEP. BEEP. End of file.

Myra’s “eyes” brightened, as he appeared to be focusing. There were troubling times ahead. However, he remained sitting in the same position. He wanted to play the next video clip, but then:

BEEP. BEEP. File locked. Cultivation level insufficient!

Myra sighed. Rather, he tried to. For as long as he could remember, he has always wanted to sigh. However, he was built differently. He was an automaton, a machine. He did not have lungs and a nose for drawing in air. Thus, he could not sigh. Maybe he could sigh if he used a transformative martial technique to transform himself into a human. It was a pity that such martial techniques could only be used by Heaven Step Immortals.

Meanwhile, Ryan was finding it difficult to sleep. He looked at the clock, and to his dismay, it was only two o’clock in the morning. He woke up and decided to go jogging. Ever since his breakthrough, he had an insatiable hunger. No matter how much food he ate, he never felt full. He began to wonder if it had something to do with his cultivation.

He went outside the house, making sure to minimize noise. It was eerily quiet outside, with a full moon hanging out. He had made sure to wear his track suit since there was a cold wind blowing outside. Another weird thing was that he felt cold. Didn’t Rogarth say he’d be invincible? So why was he feeling cold?

He started jogging slowly, feeling the cold wind hitting him in the face. He hadn’t activated the roc chasing the wind technique yet.

‘I wonder who that stranger was. He seemed to know everything about me and my family’, thought Ryan. He ran past a tree stump. ‘Right, if I remember correctly, I’m supposed to cultivate the dancing dragon fist to the maximum. Currently, I can only use the Dragon subduing fist. The other day I unconsciously managed to use the Divine blazing fist. That explains why the forest was on fire.’

He stopped jogging. ‘I have to get stronger. I’m not yet invincible. Until the day I find out what’s been happening, I have to keep cultivating!’

After sitting down in a meditative position, he appeared in a different space. Rogarth was waiting for him as usual, while sitting in a meditative position.

“Greetings, Ryan”, he began.

“Oh, hello. Long time no see. How have you been?” asked Ryan.

“You are late!” berated Rogarth, ignoring Ryan’s greeting.

“Wait, what?”

“You are late! What took you so long to get here?”

“I don’t know. How did I even get here?”

“That does not matter now. We need to proceed with training as usual. Show me how you use the dragon subduing fist”, spoke Rogarth, standing up.

Ryan walked up, and the scene changed. They appeared to be in a forest surrounded by dense trees. Ryan approached one of the trees and started taking steps. His movements were swift, and with each step he took, he threw what looked like a casual punch. Rogarth did not appear happy. His gaze was stern, and his expression changed into a frown. Ryan on the other hand, was enjoying himself, lost in the intricacies of the martial technique. He didn’t notice the frown on Rogarth’s face. As he took his last step, his fist began to glow with a wonderful golden colour.

He targeted one tree, and using all his might, he struck it!

BAM!

The tree trunk simply exploded into a million wooden pieces. Ryan looked very pleased with himself. Everyone would have agreed that, what he had achieved was a masterpiece, a marvellous work of art. Well, Rogarth would have to be excluded from everyone. After all, he was frowning and he didn’t appear to be pleased.

“What was that?” he asked.

“The dragon subduing fist!” answered Ryan with utter confidence.

“Terrible. How long have you been practicing?”

“Wait, what? Terrible? Can you demonstrate it for me?”

Rogarth didn’t say anything. Instead, he walked over to one tree. Without all the steps, his fist glowed with a radiant, warm, golden colour. He struck the tree, and to Ryan’s surprise, the tree didn’t explode into a million pieces. Instead, it kept on standing straight. Ryan walked over and touched the tree, which then developed cracks, until it fell in large chunks.

“Did you see the glow on my fist?”

“What about it?”

“How you gather momentum and release it determines how powerful your fist will be. I do not know what you were trying to do, but how much time do you have before you are attacked by someone?”

“Wait. You’re the one who taught me this way!”

“When you are teaching a child to walk, do you run?”

“Oh well. Riddle me this!”

“Enough!” declared Rogarth, with a sigh. “Let us do this, I will teach you the next fist once you have managed to use flow like silk to control the amount of strength you exert in each fist.”

“Flow like silk? What’s that?”

“It’s a formula for controlling qi circulation. Well, ultimately, it is used for controlling qi circulation. However, you do not have any qi in your dantian as yet. That does not mean that it is useless to you. The first stages will help you to store momentum and release it flawlessly. Do you understand?”

“A little bit.”

When Ryan came to, the sun was already shining in the sky. He checked his phone, and then he realized it was already ten o’clock.

‘I guess I have to go back now. I have a date at three. Speaking of which, how exactly is this going to work? How do I pick up someone who’s staying in my house? And whose car am I using? My grandfathers’? This is not getting any easier. I’m beginning to think I made a mistake. Calm down Ryan! This is not time for this!’

After a few minutes of calming himself, he concluded his jogging session. It hadn’t done him much good, except for the unexpected cultivation session of course.

Time flew by, as it usually does when one is dreading to do something. Ryan finished all his preparations, and weirdly enough, so did Rose. She had to drive to town to get something decent to wear. After her shopping spree, she returned to the farm, and started preparing for her ‘date’. She couldn’t believe she was actually doing this. Anyway, she had to know what his decision was. It didn’t help that she already knew what to expect from that decision.

The duo got into the red classic sports car which belonged to Rose’s grandfather and drove off into the sunset. Rather, they drove off into town to a restaurant called the Golden Sunset. After they had settled, there was a lengthy, very awkward silence.

Ryan coughed and then commented, “I have to say, that’s a lovely dress you’re wearing.”

Rose rolled her eyes before replying, “That’s like the fourth time you’ve commented! Besides, what is this really about?”

“Can’t I ask a beautiful girl on a date without extra--”

“No! Cut the crap, tell me why we’re really here.”

Ryan sighed. “It appears you didn’t have much education in this department.”

“Neither did you!”

“Wait, what?”

“The daffodils! Explain how you knew about those!”

Before Ryan answered, a waiter came by holding a bunch of flowers. He handed them to Rose, who looked at Ryan with suspicion.

“Flowers for the lady”, spoke the waiter. He then continued, “May I take your orders?”

“Can you even afford this?” asked Rose.

“Are you forgetting that my father was a billionaire? And right now, I’m basically a millionaire. Besides, my father owned this island.”

“Your father this, your father that! If he owns the island, why is there a town for crying out loud? There are people who live here!”

“Ahem! Orders please?” asked the waiter, growing impatient to the young couple’s constant bickering.

After taking their orders, the waiter sighed with relief, and then left.

“So, Mr. millionaire, how did you know about the daffodils? And how do you know Cyberpunk05?”

“He’s my friend. He dug around the Sky Haven database and gave me more information on you. From your first mission, to the Alan Paige clean-up.”

“You did this because?”

“You didn’t tell me more information about you! I wanted to know about your relationship with my mother. I wanted to know if I could really trust you!”

“When did you do this?”

“Back at the cottage, before we found … eh … what was his name? Right, Hezron.”

“How did you get in touch with him?”

“I found an old satellite phone in one of the rooms.”

“Is that so? How did you--”

“Hey hey, this is supposed to be a date, instead of an interrogation.”

Rose sighed, before asking, “What is your decision on the whole Cerberus thing?”

“Do you ever listen? Anyway, what do you think my decision is?”

The waiter brought their food and placed it on the table. He made sure to hurry off after making sure everything was in order. He didn’t want to be caught up in this young couple’s endless bickering again.

“I was afraid of this. Let me guess, you want to know everything about Sky Haven from me before you try to join it!”

“Spot on!” said Ryan, after clapping his hands a bit.

“Nightingale is really going to kill me for this”, spoke Rose, in a silent whisper.

“By the way, you haven’t explained something. Who’s Nightingale?”