"...And when the harmony between the Life and Death is broken, the dead shall walk amongst the living." — Visions of Limbo by Auspeus Taba, circa. Year 10699.

No one can escape the inescapable passage of time, for all things and creatures born on this tender Earth were destined to wither. It was a natural fate shared by all in the world.

In reality, the Death was an imperfection that the Heavens had bestowed out of kindness to the Earth... or so the sages of yore had written in their archaic journals. In an unclean world rife with so many evils and temptations, the Heavens took pity on the creatures of the poor Earth, and in an act of selfless charity...

The Heavens imparted the Earth with the Gift of Mortality, that is, the capacity to die.

Thus, Death graced the Earth, and a single path of deliverance was extended to all living beings, a definitive conclusion to the unending misery begot by the Great Wheel of Samsara.

Greed. Hatred. Delusion. — As long as these defects existed in a person's heart, they would never be able to shake off the mortal coil. Nor would they be allowed to pass the Gates of Heaven...

A weary sigh escaped Laude's lips as he read a moldy scroll on the third floor of the Spring Pagoda. The more he thought about the passage of time, the more he despaired internally.

Nine seasons had come and gone since that fateful day that lightning bolt had struck him.

Two years, one month, and five days had passed through his hands like grains of sand. Enough time had passed that Laude had finally come to terms with his life.

He could not die, nor could he grow any older. He was a static being in an ever-changing world, a facet that had given him unique insight into the cruelty that came with the curse of immortality.

"You're making that face again, Laudie. You have to stop letting your emotions get the best of you," said a soothing voice, pulling Laude out of his downward mental spiral.

Belladonna deftly snatched the old scroll Laude had been reading and peeked at it for a second before she said, "The Meditations of Sage A'zara, Volume One? Why do you always choose the driest texts? There are better manuscripts that explain the same content without also putting you to sleep, you know."

Laude shook his head and said, "The dullest texts generally offer the most unbiased perspectives. The more palatable, colorful literature is usually marked with bias and is, therefore, less trustworthy. Take that as a piece of hard-earned wisdom from an ex-Imperial official..."

Fancy, embellished stories belonged to the realm of fantasy. Sometimes, reality could trump fiction in terms of strangeness, but incidents like that were exceedingly rare.

But when it did happen, though, well... anything was possible.

The more Laude learned about the world of cultivation, the more he found reality even weirder than the wildest fantasies his overactive imagination had cooked up when he'd been a child.

He discovered that the sages of yore had once used the power of the Heavens to break mountains and part the seas. And not in a metaphorical sense, but an utterly literal one.

And that at one point, the most outstanding scholars and sages united and built a floating metropolis, the lost city of Masento, which had once been home to the largest and most influential Society in recorded history — the Garden of Eternity.

Hell, even the afterlife was a real place you could visit... if you knew the way, of course. Ghosts, wraiths, demons, devils, and all manner of intelligent Beastfolk still roamed the world, though they had begun to slowly disappear as the drought of Spiritual Qi continued around the globe.

The path the Heavens had made for living beings to escape the cycle of Samsara had begun to close, and with each star that disappeared from the starry sky, a single chance for someone to ascend was lost...

And when the last star in the sky faded into darkness, the Gates of Heaven would permanently close. No one would ever be allowed to escape the Eternal Wheel.

When Heaven and Earth were finally separated, the advent of the Two-Path Conflux would engulf the Earth. The land of the living and the dead would intersect and eventually blend, creating a deathless, static world in which nothing would ever be born again, nor would anything ever die again...

"A world without the mercy of Death, where the living and dead perpetually wander a stagnant world," muttered Laude to himself as he thought about the Departing Prophecy.

Belladonna knew that Laude had become increasingly obsessed about the Departing Prophecy over the last year, to the point that he'd nearly gone off the deep end. She'd tried to assuage his fears numerous times, but nothing she told Laude had gotten through to him.

"No one can say with absolute certainty what the future holds for us, Laude. Not even the greatest Oracles can see the full breadth of possibilities that exist within the river of time. So don't let that ridiculous prophecy mess with your head, okay...?"

Belladonna's nose crinkled a bit when she got a little too close to Laude and thought to herself, Judging by the smell, I'm guessing about three weeks? It's not gotten to the point where it's intolerable yet, but it's getting there...

"...Come on, Laude... you promised. You shouldn't have to be told to bathe at your age, much less by a girl. You can at least take an hour off to bathe every couple days... the library isn't going to disappear anytime soon."

It was depressing that Laude had fallen this low, but it was even sadder in Belladonna's case. After all, she was the one who'd actually grown accustomed to Laude's foul stench over the last two years and had even, in a freak development, become able to detect Laude's presence by smell alone.

For what it was worth, Laude generally wasn't this pessimistic or filthy, but it was hard to keep for him to keep his chin up when he'd been labeled as one of the major signs of an impending doomsday.

Still, ominous prophetic cataclysms aside, Laude had a much more pressing catastrophe on his hands — his upcoming cultivation examination.

Or rather... it would be his ninth attempt at trying to pass the cultivation exam.

It was a comprehensive exam that covered everything a cultivator would need to know to adequately fulfill their responsibilities out in the field — identifying supernatural threats, mending wounds and knowing the remedies for various illnesses, and demonstrating basic proficiency in performing Immortal Arts.

The cultivation exam was split into three parts; a straightforward written test, an in-depth dialogue about several subjects with an Elder, and finally a field test behind Acadia-Soul Mountain to test a junior disciple's Immortal Arts.

The written and spoken sections of the examination were not what Laude was concerned about, as he had passed those parts every single time without fail. Not a surprising result, given his academic nature. No, what kept Laude from passing the condemned exam was the third section regarding the use of Immortal Arts.

To put it simply, Laude possessed more than enough theoretical knowledge to perform basic Immortal Arts. In fact, in the two last two years, he knew more mystic theory than most elder disciples in White Dew Society.

His endless studying, experimentation, and habit of dwelling in the Spring Pagoda for extended periods had earned Laude the moniker, 'Book Ghost' amongst his peers. These days, they thought of Laude as a wandering ghost that had come haunt White Dew Society's main library more than anything else...

No matter how hard Laude tried to practice the Art of Consolidation, he could not sense what was referred to as his "spiritual core," or the nucleus of his inner heart.

By locating his spiritual core, Laude would be able to theoretically connect to the Heavens above, which was required to perform Immortal Arts. It was the literal first step in any cultivator's journey in their long journey toward enlightenment.

It wasn't that cultivators imposed transformations on the Earth, but instead, they borrowed that power from the Heavens.

To put it simply, all Immortal Arts — whether it involved sealing demons, invoking supernatural phenomena, or projecting all manner of strange abilities — it was all based on borrowing power from the stars, the Heavens above their heads.

The whole point of Consolidation was to strengthen one's connection to the Heavens by nurturing their spiritual core with Spiritual Qi and establishing a relationship of trust with them.

In a way, it was a two-way transaction between Mankind and the Heavens.

Man on Earth offered Spiritual Qi to the stars, and the Heavens offered humanity a fragment of their power in return. The larger the offering of Spiritual Qi, the greater the compensation one would receive from the Heavens.

It was also important to note the connection a cultivator had with the Heavens. The stronger the bond a cultivator possessed with the Heavens, the less Spiritual Qi they'd have to offer for Immortal Arts, and the more power they'd be trusted to draw from the Heavens.

The way Laude comprehended it, the spiritual core was an 'antenna,' Spiritual Qi served as both 'fuel' and 'building material' for building a bigger antenna, and the Heavens were the recipients of his signals.

Cultivators broadcast signals toward the Heavens, and they'd receive those signals, sending their responses back down to the Earth — those responses manifested as a myriad of phenomena to known cultivators as Immortal Arts.

The problem is that I can't find my blasted spiritual core! There's nothing like that in my body! No matter how hard I try, I can't find the damn thing! The meditation sutras don't work at all!!!

In the beginning, Laude thought that the problem had lain with him.

Perhaps he'd not sufficiently understood the theory behind Consolidation, or he had not entered a deep enough state of meditation to perceive his spiritual core, but...

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months without a single inch of progress.

As the seasons passed, Laude's theoretical knowledge and practical skills continued to improve. Still, the most essential skill to every cultivator, the ability to Consolidate, had not improved in the slightest.

For all intents and purposes, Laude had hit a wall. Unable to locate his spiritual core and form a connection to the Heavens, he couldn't even perform even the simplest Immortal Arts.

Stubborn as he was, Laude refused to go to the Elders for their help on this matter. It was not out of a vain sense of pride or arrogance but because he refused to accept any further charity.

Ever since Laude could stand had been able to stand on his own feet, he'd never given up on a single goal that he'd set for himself. If he wanted to learn something, master something, or become something, he'd see it through, come hell or high water.

Many in Haalo thought his success stemmed from his brilliant mind, but not once had Laude ever attributed his triumphs to his intellect.

No, Laude understood that all of his accomplishments stemmed from his unwavering resolve, his indomitable will to make his dreams come true. He considered that his greatest talent, not his sharp mind.

A man can be born with all of Heavens' blessings, but if he doesn't have the will to make something out of himself, he'll still end up nothing more than a beggar. On the other hand, even a penniless fool with a will to make something of himself will still have a chance to die a lord...

Though Laude was immensely frustrated with his lack of progress, he was by no means was he ready to call it quits anytime soon. Not by a long shot.

Determined to find a solution on his own, he had scoured the Spring Pagoda for every single book, scroll, and piece of scrap paper that discussed the art of Consolidation. Over the last year, Laude had methodically consumed everything he could get his grubby hands on, from the first floor to the third floor.

Metaphysics and Immortality: A Two-part Dialogue About Consolidation — by Beatrice Kaleem

Divinity Sundered, Reflections of My Path of Consolidation — by Indral Gallo

An Oral History on the Art of Consolidation — by Sepharo Maasateva

The Art of Consolidation: Five Easy Steps To Become An Expert Cultivator — by Landana Olsem

How to Practice Consolidation: A Simple Guide For Dummies, 8th Edition — by Teddie Blontro

His reading list went on and on and on, but nothing he read had helped...

Laude spared no expense in his search, even if it had come at the cost of his sanity. By the end of the last month, he'd finished reading over two hundred and forty-seven different pieces of literature, seemingly to no avail. Not a single thing Laude had read worked, which only drove him further into his spiraling madness...

Even Belladonna, who was an avid bibliophile herself, found Laude's fanatic obsession with reading every book that even mentioned the topic of Consolidation unsettling. She had never met someone quite like him before in her life. And sure, there were a handful of tenacious, over-achieving disciples at White Dew Society, but none were as ridiculously obstinate as Laude.

Had the stubborn disciples Belladonna knew been in Laude's shoes, they would've long since given up on trying to find a solution on their own and turned to the Head Elders for help. Not Laude, though. He'd die before he'd give up. Fortunately enough, he couldn't die anymore...

Truth be told, Granny Tilia, the custodian of the Spring Pagoda, found it highly unusual that the Heavens had chosen someone like Laude.

Laude's behavior... his stubbornness, obsessiveness, and contempt of norms were traits more commonly found in rogue cultivators who had forsaken morality, rather than orthodox cultivators like themselves at White Dew Society.

To be fair, though, the traits Granny Tilia noticed were harbored by many famous cultivators who'd left their mark on history. Some were orthodox, and some were rogue — all of them eccentric individualists at heart.

That, in particular, concerned Granny Tilia greatly. Types like Laude could easily switch to the other side if it meant it would better fulfill his goals. In the end, it all depended on how driven Laude was to achieve his goals...

When Granny Tilia saw Belladonna forcibly dragging a frazzled Laude out of the Spring Pagoda, she subtly gave the young lass a slight nod of approval. The boy had been essentially living on the third floor of the library for the past three weeks It'd gotten so quiet up there that at one point that Granny Tilia once wondered if the damn kid had died up there.

Last thing she needed was for the damn boy to actually become a ghost and haunt the library. In any case, it was high time the boy went outside and got some fresh air for once... and maybe a bath or two as well. Only the Heavens knew how awful the third floor of the library smelled...