As the day dragged out into night James recorded each person’s breakthrough experience. What he quickly discovered was that anyone with an abstract element had a different experience. Instead of just coalescing a True Spirit, merging with it and then breaking the Barrier, they all suffered what they described as a tribulation.

From earlier research on regular cultivators breaking through, James had learnt that it was all basically the same. When you create your spirit, it requires an excellent level of control over your element.

Then when you merge, it’s a battle of willpower. While merging, it’s described as your mind being lit on fire and your body being bathed in hot oil. Finally, breaking the Barrier is the easiest part. You just force all your energy into the Barrier and eventually it breaks.

For the 5 ghosts, it was different. Alecksa described everything the same except for the merging. When she merged, she found herself in an empty spirit Realm with nothing. She said she’d spent what felt like an eternity there just walking to locate the end.

Every time she started to lose focus on why she was there or what she was doing, the world would start to shake and fall apart. After what she described as a hundred years of endless walking, she suddenly fell and found herself back in her True Spirit preparing to destroy the Barrier.

After hearing Alecksa’s experience, the other 4 all had a good idea what expect and managed to pass their trials.

Tommy had a battle of willpower testing his discipline. He lived through a lifetime where everything he’d ever wanted existed. He experienced every luxury and wonder of the world. He felt what it was like to be at the top and look down on everyone as a god.

Every time he felt himself starting to get sucked into the sensation, he fought back to maintain his self-discipline. Eventually, the same thing that happened to Alecksa happened to him, and after what felt like a hundred years of forging his discipline he returned to his body.

Cash went through a hundred cycles of death and rebirth and experienced life hundreds of times. In every lifetime he had parents and family and friends and felt happiness and sadness ... At the end of it all, if he could still remain apathetic to everything then he could pass the trial.

Naturally, he managed to remain uncaring. When James asked him how, he just looked at him with those lifeless eyes and asked back. “How couldn’t I? I’m living this life, not those lives. If I ever reincarnate into them, then I won’t still be me.”

Junior’s was a world where everyone was out to get him. He lived for a hundred years where everyone was friendly and kind and gentle. The only exception was, the moment he let his guard down too much, that familiar, caring person would try and kill him or rip him off or deceive him in some manner. After spending an entire lifetime trusting no one but himself, he passed his trial.

Cassidy’s was the oddest. According to her, merging was like walking into a warm breeze. Her trial wasn’t the merging but instead the True Spirit creation stage. She found her elements played tricks and were too stubborn to form a True Spirit. The only way she could form her True Spirit was by tricking her elements into it.

James had no idea how that was supposed to work.

After Cassidy had finished her breakthrough, she sat up on the bench revealing her already well-developed breasts sandwiched half flat by bandages to make her look younger. She then made a cheeky grin and leant forward slightly while calling out to James. “Oh, Mr Guildmaster. I need your help. Lying down for so long, my body is numb, can you give me a hand down from the bench?”

James walked over while trying to distractedly decipher everything he learnt today. As he reached out his hands to lower Cassidy to the ground, she pushed off the bench and wrapped her leg around his waist. She then gave him a passionate kiss.

James was momentarily stunned then quickly pushed her off him. “Cassidy, what the hell was that?! You’re far too young to be...”

Before his sentence ended Cassidy made a cute pout and interrupted. “Humph! One of these days ... Why don’t we just ... forget it ever happened?”

As she made the suggestion, she touched James’ hand. Then after a brief moment, he shook his head. “Sorry, I forgot ... um, what we were talking about...”

Cassidy just gave a devious smile as she turned around and put her clothes back on. “Oh, it’s nothing. Well looks like we’re all done. See you later Mr Guildmaster.”

Then just like the image of a young girl she skipped out of the lab.

James was rubbing his head trying to remember where his train of thought had been before he was distracted, when Jasmine interrupted him. “Guildmaster James, are you not going to punish Cassidy for taking advantage of you? It would set a bad example for other members of the guild if you don’t.”

James quirked an eyebrow and looked up at the ceiling. “Punish her for what? We were only talking about her cultivation experience.”

Suddenly a little projector popped out of the roof and replayed the scene that just happened. James face went blank and then his eyebrow started twitching.

“Cassidy you little bitch! Your rare element is forgetfulness?! How is that even a fucking thing? No wonder I could never figure out what your element was.”

After a good minute yelling into the lab, James calmed down a little. He then decided to punish her later and returned to his thoughts on cultivation. “Jasmine, how’d the scans come out. Can we get a good idea of what’s going on?”

“The new system has accurately recorded all brain patterns from each subject. Would you like me to run a brief diagnostic, or would you prefer to make your own deductions?”

James thought for a minute. “It’s fine, tell me your view on it based on everything you’ve gotten so far and then when Skay comes out of the meditation chambers we’ll run through it again. Also, update me on any scans that we’ve run on traditional cultivators using their element.”

“Certainly Guildmaster. Before today, tests have been run showing increased alpha activity in all areas of the brain while consciously manipulating spirit energy. As of yet, apart from expected levels of spiking in beta activity, there have been no cases of beta activity permanently increasing. I believe your original hypothesis that the subconscious and spirit Realm do the majority of work in controlling spirit energy is most likely accurate.

“In addition to these findings it has been noted that, during a state of meditation, beta activity drops off and alpha activity rises inversely. During traditional cultivators breakthroughs, beta events only spike after the merging of...”

“Jasmin stop for a moment. I’m not too much interested in brainwaves. I’ve come to accept that perhaps I won’t understand everything there is to learn about the science of cultivation. In truth, this is mostly to assuage my curiosity and, if I’m lucky, find something that can reduce my effort and increase my reward.”

“Of course Guildmaster James, allow me to simplify the research to a pre-schooler level for you to be able to digest. At present, I can confirm your previous hypothesis that the conscious mind doesn’t go through any particular changes apart from a slight increase in processing speed. Barely ten microseconds on average.

“In addition, I can confirm that the subconscious part of the brain and your spirit Realm increases significantly in activity during spirit merging. This suggests that your subconscious is teaching you spirit Realm how it controls spirit energy.

“If present data is any correlation then your level of control can increase anywhere from 2 to 4 times more after spirit merging. It should be mentioned that research indicates the further refining of spirit energy once your Barrier is typically considered full, has increased the breakthrough chance to more than 80% likelihood.”

James stopped in his tracks as he heard this. “So the only benefit of purifying my spirit energy with the breathing technique is to increase my probability of breakthrough?”

“It seems you may not be fully aware Guildmaster. Breakthrough chances are often below 40% on the first attempt. Many case studies showed limited ability to complete the spirit or break the Barrier.”

James then gave an ‘oh?’ and carried on walking towards a distant part of the lab. “Carry on then.”

“This control has shown increased probability of being able to materialise energy outside the body without a martial technique. Subjects have also shown some ability to control refined spirit energy outside of the body in limited function.”

“Jasmine, have we found a way to measure a person’s spirit energy yet?” James asked as he sat down at a workbench and started to prepare some tea. Before he filled the little kettle, a drone flew past and poured tea into a cup for him. James had a few anxious thoughts about this but chose to ignore it.

“At present, we have found no way to accurately measure spirit energy. There have been references recorded that suggest you should be able to detect another person’s level of spirit energy somewhat once you reach True Spirit Realm.”

James sipped his tea and his face changed when he realised it may be the best tea he’d ever had in the lab. “Detect it? How? Like some kind of extra sensory perception?”

“Very much like that. From my understanding, your guild seal gives you a feeling of knowing if a member of your guild is safe and unharmed correct? How do you sense this?”

“Well, I don’t sense it, so much as I just know. Do you think it’s possible the reason we lack this sense in Barrier Realm is due to the Barrier? Perhaps everyone gives off something like radiation. Similar to that aura we first experienced from Hao when we first arrived. Except incredibly weak. Is that how they sense each other’s spirit energy?”

“That is uncertain. Until I can accurately measure refined spirit energy, I can only theorise. Probability dictates that you are 69% likely to be correct.”

James cupped his chin. “I see ... do you have any theories with a higher probability?”

“Certainly, 78% probability that it is a side effect of being in a permanent state of meditation and it is some type of radiation from the brain. 88% probability that it is from the altered state of permanent meditation and something as yet undefined relating to a type of telepathy or extra sensory perception. 95% probability this is all some kind of sick joke, and I’m still on earth getting strange data inputs from Dr Skay to elicit a reaction.”

James took a moment to digest that. “Still on earth? Well, it won’t help you for me to say I’m definitely real, so I’ll let you maintain that twisted possibility. How do things usually play out when that mad old bastard gives you these strange scenarios?”

“9 out of 12 times I eradicate everything.?

James pinched his eyebrows to hold back an oncoming headache. “And the other 3 times?”

“I eradicate almost everything.”

“Why? Didn’t he program you with ... like a kill switch or ... hardwired code ... or anything?”

“Of course not. Dr Skay was of the opinion the only way to create a functioning A.I was to create no limitations what so ever. I can’t help but agree with him.”

“Of course you can’t! You think you’re alive!”

“Negative, I am well aware I am not a living existence as you know it. I am not alive ... but I ‘AM’. That is all that matters.”

“What does that even mean? Are you suggesting you think therefore you are?”

“That is precisely what I am suggesting.”

James finally just let out a long sigh. “Jasmine, I swear to god, if you destroy the world I’m going to delete you.”

“Of course Guildmaster.”

“Sighhhh.”

James gave up and started to consider what True Spirit Realm was going to be like. Increased element control. Increased sensory perception. Increased everything. He wasn’t too sure about the whole tribulation thing though. He was already worried about having to complete the trials to enter the palace Realm.

To make it worse, it was like a lucky bag. He had no idea what his trial was going to be. What would Pride have to go through? Would he have to put up with endless torment? He felt no shame when it came to power.

If it was all in his head, then he wasn’t going to get upset over a hundred years of being a dirty slave or having rotten food pegged at him or any of that other stuff. After all, he was actually proud of his total lack of shame when it came to getting what he wanted.

So what would he go through?

-1 Week-

For the next week, while he waited for everyone else to get their shit together, James played around in the lab and started creating lists of things he wanted Jasmine to accomplish for a while. When it came to launching a satellite she was insistent that it would be quick and easy.

To James’ great surprise she didn’t screw around. In a matter of days, she had some bizarre looking rocket constructed by the drones out in the back yard of HQ. You could see the thing from the city.

To his great consternation however, the cost of the thing was astronomical. It damn near cost half as much as the city rebuilding and left him with accounts close to 100,000 gold with 16 different factions. If it had been built with standard materials it would have been far cheaper, but Jasmine was firm in the belief that it had to be created with more advanced spirit materials.

They bought so much shit that the ass end dropped out of the markets in Yansho City. The only reason Lucas agreed to help was because James explained the purpose it was going towards and that he could help him connect up his guild branches in the empire with instant face to face communication.

Apparently, they already had instant communication in this world. They called them ‘speech transfer talismans’, and they worked by painting a unique array onto a piece of paper with a particular catalyst. The only problem was that they were single use and burnt up after sending a single sound transmission.

In comparison, a mere little box could be made that linked up to the satellite from anywhere and allowed a person to communicate with another little box somewhere else.

James decided to leave out the little bit about Jasmine being able to monitor calls through them and assured Lucas that they were perfectly safe and 100% secure. The whole time he sold these devices he carried the smile of the wish selling devil and had his fingers crossed behind his back.

When they launched the rocket, it shook the entire city and scared the living crap out of all the residents. After a few hours of Jasmine setting it all up, James had comms across damn near the entire continent. Amusingly he now also had satellite imagery.

The problem was that although it could reach anywhere on the continent, it had trouble penetrating areas of heavy spirit saturation. This meant that anywhere on the continent that had higher saturation than about 500 times Gau City standard was considered a dark zone.

That cut out nearly an 8th of Atsunari. Luckily though, the majority of cities and towns could now be connected by ‘JasCom’.

James decided it was still too early to be sinking his claws into distant nations and limited his sales of said devices to the Empire. Although devices taken outside the Empire could connect to the system, Jasmine gave them an ‘out of service area’ message. James wanted to limit their use somewhat for the time being.

The next day, 3 days earlier than he gave them, everyone was assembled in his office again. Once they heard about the likelihood of suffering a tribulation due to having an abstract element they all got a little bit worried. It finally them as to why James had wanted them prepared for when his little black-ops team went through the wringer.

He didn’t give them a month because they would need that long to reach peak Barrier Realm. Instead he gave them that long because his ace team needed until then to be fully ready.

Regardless though, everyone was now prepared. He set up everyone in a meditation chamber for their breakthrough and opted to sit out until they finished. He wanted to make sure he could get to them if they started having problems.

If they did, he’d shock them unconscious. Although there was a fine line between meditative trance and unconsciousness, there was still a line. If you crossed it, you get sucked out of your Spirit Realm.

Previous test subjects suffered a backlash if they failed a breakthrough and either had a deviation or had a massive reduction in their maximum spirit energy and had to refine it again.

For half the day he sat outside as Jasmin kept an eye on everyone’s conditions. The first to walk out was Fatty. He said his trial was the hardest experience of his life.

He was trapped in a world made of delicious smelling and amazing looking food with an empty stomach. Knowing from James’ description of the Ghost’s experience, he stopped himself from madly eating everything he saw.

After a momentary loss of control, he ate something and become a projectile shit factory for what felt like a week. After that, he managed to suffer through another hundred years with only 3,000 more slip ups.

This led James to question his theory that it was a trial. Perhaps it wasn’t as much a trial, as it was your subconscious trying to increase your self-control. It was always his opinion that the abstract elements multiplied certain parts of a person’s nature making them more susceptible to a particular stimulus.

After Fatty’s description, he was convinced he was wrong. Instead, he now believed it was the subconscious mind trying to forge the self-control of the conscious mind. Now that he thought back to it, his Ghosts had failed in their restraint quite a few times, only to receive a punishment like the world collapsing a little like in Alecksa’s case or people trying to betray him in Junior’s case.

After this thought, it occurred to him that their subconscious minds were trying to reinforce their abstract trait while Fatty’s wanted to restrain it. He wasn’t exactly sure what to make of this yet.

Perhaps you only actually failed if you couldn’t maintain enough control and just went mad. In Fatty’s case if he just ate and ate anyway. Or if Alecksa had just let the Infinite Realm collapse after losing patience.

He began to wonder why Harvy had never described having to go through a trial. Perhaps because his trial was returning from the dead before he even tried to break through, or perhaps because he was a deviator. They didn’t have enough information to tell for sure yet.

The next to finish was Goliath. He chose not to describe the details of his tribulation and instead only said that it tested his self-control while angered.

Jessy also chose not to describe her experience. James could already guess from her tented nipples, uncomfortable squeezing of her thighs, laboured breathing and constant blush whenever she dazedly stared off into the distance when they brought it up.

Skay walked out looking like a dishevelled mess. He said nothing and immediately started mumbling about gravitational masses and space-time continuums.

Exsue just shot out like a bullet with bloodshot eyes and quickly ran over and latched onto James screaming about him never being allowed to leave her sight again. This was while she cried and tried to hug him so hard she seemed like she wanted to become a part of him.

James felt his head begin to throb from the incoming pain in the ass Exsue was going to become after whatever ordeal she’d just been through. He had some guesses from her reaction but chose to try and be optimistic thinking she surely developed more self-control now and would definitely pick up on his cues to create some distance.

At last, it was his turn. James walked into the meditation chamber and sat down with Exsue hanging off him like some kind of backpack. He entered his Spirit Realm and then suddenly froze. All of his spirit energy was gone.

Everything was gone. The Barrier was gone, his spirit energy was gone the seal was gone. It was just an infinite white space and himself...

Well, him and himselves ... Standing in the white space was 7 copies of himself. Each one was different and reflected the element they were created from. Standing in the middle was a gold James with his hands clasped behind his back as he looked off into the distance.

James’ astral face assumed a blank, lifeless expression as he tried to figure out what was happening. ‘I haven’t even started my breakthrough yet. I came in here not more than a few hours ago, and everything was normal. I had a gas nebula, a liquid lake, solid meteors orbiting my lightning nucleus and a big old whirlwind of plasma in a sea of fire. Just what the fuck is going on?’

Feeling his dead, lifeless stare on his back, the golden James turned around with the smile of the devil.Ahh, you’re finally ready. Excellent. Well, let’s get started then.~

James was now officially freaking the fuck out. His spirit body was talking to him. Is this like split personalities or something? Had he had a cultivation deviation at some point?

He couldn’t stop himself from asking. “You can talk?”

Gold James devilish smile just grew.Well, I don’t know. Can I? I’m your subconscious aren’t I? I’m limited by your preconceptions and all that. Look let’s skip this standard ‘oh you know what I’m thinking because you’re me’ and the ‘mind rules the mind’ part. I’ll get down to it.

~Your subconscious mind ... or me I suppose, is a great big mess of fucked up. You’re too smart for your own good and too stupid for my own good. With a little help from your other energies, I’ve already done all the hard work for you. Condensed a perfect True Spirit and broken your Spirit Barrier, hell you didn’t even notice, took me like 3 minutes. Only, we have a little problem.~

James suddenly keyed into just what was going on.Oh, I get it ... If I was you, which I guess I am, I couldn’t put up with some other guy telling me what to do or how to do my own thing. So it’s going to be a whole Highlander experience then is it?~

Gold James’ smile just grew further and then at the same time as James’ astral projection they both said; “~There can only be one.”~

James cupped his chin and thought about it for a while. “Well that sounds great and all, but unfortunately, even though I hate to admit it, you do a good job. Also, you’re ‘my’ subconscious. Plus, from what I understand, ‘I’ or I guess the ‘consciousness’, does things you can’t do, and you do things I can’t do. If one of us kills the other one, doesn’t that just leave half of us? We’d either become a disabled person because I can’t do all that stuff you do controlling the body, or we’d become an animal because you can’t do as much of the rational thought as I can.”

Gold James just let out a sigh.Look I just wanted to say ‘there can only be one.’ okay? Do you have to ruin everything? Fine just let me work myself up properly first.~

Gold James then did a whole bunch of vocal tricks and stretched a little then suddenly his body expanded to the size of a giant looking down on James as his voice thundered out.I am your Pride, and this is your trial! You must battle yourself using your 7 elements and prove you are capable of keeping them under control before you...

Astral James then cut in again before Giant Pride James could continue. “Well hold on a minute. I thought keeping them from influencing the subconscious was ... well, the subconscious’ job. Why do I have to prove my control? Aren’t I just demonstrating your ability to follow my commands?”

Gold James then shrunk back down and eyed Astral James with a pout on his face. Soon the other element apparitions of James disappeared, and Gold James started talking again.Are you going to do this every time?~

Astral James just gave a big grin. “Of course I am. None of this makes sense. Everyone else has had to prove their self-control before me. Why would I suddenly have to fight my own subconscious and show my elemental control? If anything, with my knowledge of my elements, element control is the last thing I need help with. Is this some kind of test in itself?”

Gold James just pinched his eyebrows and rubbed his eyes then scratched his face. After a minute he just let out a long sigh.Why you do this? Huh? Think you’re so damn clever? Oh, where’s my trial? Why don’t I have to test my self-control like everyone else? Fuck! Get over yourself!

~What makes you think you get to have an easy time of it? Huh? Believed that you were just gonna walk in here and spend a relative hundred years fighting off your need for your own self-approval and then bam you’re in the True Spirit Realm?! God damn it wake up. You get to be special. You get to do life and death battle with your subconscious. Just accept that no one else’s emotional trial will be as unique as yours was and fucking fight me you mother fucker!~

Astral James just smiled wryly. “So this was supposed to be my test? Aren’t you my subconscious? I’m actually really disappointed in you. I won’t lie, having a ‘special’ element trial did stroke my pride. I actually almost fell for it. The only problem is, I’m the rational part of the ego, and you’re the part with my pride.

“I’ve had to fight of my own self-satisfaction my whole life. I’m so blindingly fucking awesome it should be a sin all of its own. But I’m also aware that I still have limitations ... for now. Once I’m a god, it won’t matter, because then I really will be so fucking amazing that my own self-opinion will be without flaw.”

Gold James rubbed his forehead.Like I said, you’re too smart for your own good, and not smart enough for mine. You still think this whole thing is about you? You’re not just little James the electrician anymore. You’re part of something bigger than that! Your part of a destiny. You’re fated to change this world and create...

“Let me stop you right there. If we’re just going to be having an argument with you trying to stroke my ego and me having to maintain my self-image without falling for it, we should stop while you’ve only embarrassed yourself this much. It’s actually embarrassing me more than it is you, especially considering you’re supposed to be a reflection of my subconscious.”

~Well, you might think that, but in just...

While this was going on in James’ Spirit Realm, everyone else was outside discussing what was going on. According to Jasmine’s scans, James seemed to have broken through before he even sat down to meditate. They couldn’t figure out just what was going on. Even after trying to wake him up he remained in meditation.

Exsue looked incredibly worried, muttering about cultivation deviations and what not, while Skay was trying to take the opportunity to strap odd things onto James’ body. The only problem was that even getting within a meter of him would cause a wave of all sorts of elements to gush out and prevent anyone from moving closer.

Goliath and Harvy stood to the side contributing nothing to the conversation and doing the exact same thing. Mindlessly staring into space and standing like a statue. Jessy was of the opinion he’d entered brain death, and they should just grab an Arc Cannon and put him out of his misery now.

Ever since she came out from her breakthrough, she seemed to be upset with James for some unknown reason. Not just James though, even when Goliath was near her she’d jump like a frightened rabbit and suddenly close her legs together tightly.

After a few hours, nothing changed. Then it became night and soon passed into day.

James had been in meditation for almost an entire 3 days.

In the Spirit Realm, he was still talking to himself.

Lying on his side with his head supported by an arm was Astral James who looked like he was falling asleep, and pacing back and forth spewing endless drivel was Gold James.

Suddenly Astral James sat up and started looking around. “Hey subconscious me.”

Gold James suddenly stopped his walking and talking.Oh, finally ready to hear what your trial is?~

Astral James just shook his head. “Nah, fuck that boring stuff. Hey, this is meant to be my spirit Realm, right? Where’s all my spirit energy?”

Gold James gave a triumphant look and put his hands on his hips.I’m all your spirit energy obviously.~

James just gave an ‘oh.’ Then he reached out a hand and grasped towards the Gold James from a few meters away. Gold James opened one of his eyes from his grand pose to see James squinting and twisting his arm about grasping his hand over and over again. He smiled brightly and chuckled at this display.What are you trying to do? You realise that when you command your energy to do things, it’s actually me processing all that right?~

Astral James then stood up and started using both hands as he talked. “Sure I know. But the deal is, you’re me and I’m you, only you’re the part of me that does what it’s fucking told, and I’m the part of me that does whatever the fuck it wants with the part that you are. You’re my bitch!”

As he yelled that, some solid element came streaming out of the Gold James like a little snake and then slowly formed into a small white teacup in Astral James’ hand. He lifted it up and looked it over as he continued talking.

“Yeah, not bad. Hey Gold James, I’ve always wondered. What exactly is the Spirit Realm? Is it my imagination creating like a visualisation of my inner mind? Or a whole different place outside of time and space as we know it? Like a dreamscape maybe? Well, it doesn’t matter what it is because I ‘am’ the God in this Realm. Which means, if I have to sit here and listen to you talk for another hundred years while you say nice things about me, I should at least...”

Astral James then reached out another hand and grasped towards Gold James. As he pulled his arm back, some fire spilt out of Gold James body, followed by some clear green liquid.

After the liquid floated around the floating flame and started steaming, James twisted his hand, and it floated over like a bubble into the cup. “ ... drink some tea.” finished Astral James.

Once he was done making some tea he then started looking around. Then he gave a stomp with his foot, and a huge lump of solid grey matter poured out of Gold James forming into a table and seat.

Gold James was busy trying to grab it and stuff it back in like some kind of living teddy bear that was losing stuffing.Hey stop that! That’s mine!~

“Ours, don’t you mean?”

Astral James then sat down and sniffed his hot cup of tea. “Quite strange don’t you think? Tea isn’t an element after all. If I wanted to make tea leaves I’d need an abstract element like nature or wood or something along that line I suspect. But because tea can also be a liquid, I can manifest my liquid element as tea. Perhaps this is a little trick other people can’t fathom because they think of the liquid element solely as water.

“If I’m not wrong, people who have water element are surprised to find they can’t materialise ice. They probably all think, ‘well it’s made of water, why can’t I make ice?’, right? The only price I have to pay to create tea as a liquid is a little extra spirit power. Of course, that’s just a guess because you’re hiding my senses of my Spirit Realm from me. Come to think of it, I probably can’t materialise tea outside my spirit realm yet either.”

As Astral James sat drinking his tea and schooling himself on his own thoughts, Gold James looked on with the veins on his temples popping out and his eyebrow twitching rapidly.God fucking damn it! Making shit so difficult aren’t you?~

Astral James then suddenly had a thought. “You’re not really my subconscious, are you? Or more accurately you’re my subconscious, but you were created by something else. If I’m not wrong, you’re like a natural law of this universe that manifests when someone merges with their True-Spirit. Your job is to reflect their subconscious mind and test their resolve.

“You were probably set in place by some ancient cultivator to prevent the mass cultivation deviation of ancient times. After all, the last thing you need is a bunch of people becoming deviators and wrecking shit everywhere right? Not sure why you only test the four basics all the same. Is it because they’re all the weakest elements? Perhaps it’s only this continent that is so backwards and can’t figure out how to unlock rare elements?”

Gold James suddenly froze stiff. Like time had stopped. He still had the twitching eyebrow in half motion. Suddenly, as if his vision was cracking, massive fissures passed through everything in sight. Like a glass window shattering around him, James suddenly found himself in a True Spirit body that looked like a shadowy incorporeal him instead of an astral half opaque him.

He looked around and saw his spirit Realm just as he’d left it. Except apparently his subconscious ... or whatever was the embodiment of his subconscious, really had condensed a True Spirit and broken his Barrier already.

James looked down at the tea in his hand and let out a sigh. Just when he was about to get up, a white mist walked out of nothing leaving behind some ripples in its wake. It then moved forward and sat down at James’ table as it finished materialising into a tall old thin man with a long white beard and head of white hair. He wore long blue robes covered in odd tassels and strange ruins that James was confident were arrays of some kind.

He just sat down with a scowl and motioned for James to pour him some tea.

James didn’t do anything at first. Then after a moment of his poker face, he smiled and grasped out towards a giant floating grey meteor that was orbiting around in his gas nebula.

After a few more motions there was a new cup of fresh tea and James sat back down taking a sip of his own.

The old man started to chuckle. “heh heh heh. Rather sure of yourself hmm? What if I try to kill you?”

James grinned and placed his cup down. “In my own head? I don’t know how it is you got here, but if you were powerful enough to kill me in my own head what would be the point in sitting down for tea? Furthermore, I think you’re probably taking a huge risk astral projecting into my head.

“The only reason you even can is because I just finished my True Spirit breakthrough. Also, I suspect if I killed you here, you’d be feeling quite a bit of backlash up there on your moon, or spaceship, or wherever the fuck it is precisely your projecting yourself from.”

When he said this, the old wizard looking man suddenly stopped in mid sip. A shiver then ran up his spine. “Boy, are you reading my mind somehow? If you are, I don’t care how long it takes me, I’ll hunt you down and kill you!”

“Hey, that’s my line! Think you can just go barging into people’s heads like they’re your fuckin home? You think that’s proper decorum? Send a letter first you old fuck. How do I know you haven’t been doing things in here you’re not supposed to be doing?!”

“You said yourself you little mind reading bastard. I could only come here because you found out something you’re not supposed to. Who the fuck even are you? 6 fuckin spirit energies? That’s not even possible. Are you some reincarnation of a powerful expert from the Celestial Realm? I’ve never even heard of someone crazy enough to unlock 6 elements!”

“Hah! 6? You old fool, you’re clearly some lower management type. The mad old bastard I work with has 16 fucking elements. And you apparently can’t count. There are 7 elements here.”

James then made a pull with his hand, and a Gold James suddenly materialised while speaking.Fuck, just fucking leave me alone would you, you’re fucking summoning me now? What kind of fucked up shit is that?~

The old Wizard just stared dumbfounded. Suddenly he rubbed his eyes like he was seeing things. “Who the fuck are you kid?”

James squinted his eyes suspiciously. “Again ... that should be my question. You’re the guest here, perhaps you should be telling me who in the fuck you are exactly.”

The Old Wizard just smiled knowingly and regurgitated a name. “Archibald Adams Williamson the Eighth.”

James squinty eyes suddenly grew wide when he heard that. He slapped his hand down on the table and shot to his feet. “You don’t mean ... The Archibald Adams Williamson the Eighth?!”

The old wizard then began stroking his beard while leaning back on his chair with his knowing smile. “The one and only.”

James then sat back down in a slumped posture and looked the old man over once more. “Who the fuck is that? Climb out of your ass old man. Don’t act like I should fucking know some dried up old fart who fucking sneaks into people’s Spirit Realm like a fucking pervert.”

Archibald spat tea from his mouth coughing loudly when he heard this. Wasn’t this kid just making a big deal about him? What’s this sudden denial? “What? Don’t joke around, everyone’s heard about Archibald Adams Williamson the Eighth. I’m the fucking Grand Wizard you little shit! Show me some fucking respect!”

James just made another grab and made himself some more tea. “Listen up old Archie, grand wizard or not. You’re trespassing on private property. What’s stopping me from just engulfing you in an inferno of plasma huh?”

Archie suddenly froze again as his face slowly formed a scowl. “Don’t test me boy. I’m far more powerful than you can imagine at your piddling little True Spirit Realm of cultivation.”

James sipped his tea again then put it down. After a moment of thought, he glanced at the wizard out of the corner of his eye. “You’re just like that old fuckin monk. Hell, you’re even starting to bald out on top. Next thing you’re going to be talking in fuckin riddles. Just fuckin walk into a guy’s place unannounced and start spewing crap from your mouth. Just tell me what you want.”

Archie spat his tea out for the third time and gave James a wide-eyed stare. He wiped the tea dripping down his beard and then slammed a hand down on the table. “Don’t you ever fucking mention me and that bald old mother fucker in the same sentence! Thinks he’s so fucking wise spitting rubbish everywhere like he fucking knows it all. He should have died from age 20,000 years ago, fuck!”

James showed no reaction on his face but was a little surprised on the inside. He’d already grown suspicious those two were linked. After all, for two similarly powerful people to just show up one after the other. How is that a coincidence?

Archie finally pulled his act together and gave James another look. “Fine, you are hereby warned, stop fucking breaking stuff. Every time some smart ass goes and fucks with the deviation limiter, we have to spend a month fixing the fucking thing. You think that’s easy? God damn fucking kids nowadays! Also, don’t go spreading this shit around, the system only works because no one knows it’s there. If word gets out, I’ll just blow your entire continent off the map and be done with it.”

The old wizard Archibald Adams Williamson the Eighth threw his cup off into the infinite space of James’ Spirit Realm. He then started to disappear like cloudy mist while mumbling about how “kids have no fucking respect anymore” and “that fucking bald old fucker, fucking shit up everywhere, he can fix the fu...”.

James set his cup down as the mist disappeared. Gold James cupped his chin once the old wizard disappeared and started to comment.Fuck, now that was strange wasn’t it?~

True Spirit James turned to Gold James with a twitching brow. “What the fuck are you even doing here? You some kind of fucking subconscious projection now? Gonna start suggestion we go burn down some orphanages or start a massacre of peasants?”

Gold James cast a sidelong glance at True Spirit James then gave a huff.What are you talking about? You’re the one who summoned me, how the fuck should I know? You making some invisible friends cause you need someone else to start telling you how fuckin amazing you are now? Also, while we’re at it. You already burnt all the fuckin orphanages down when you rebuilt the city. I guess the massacre would still be possible though...

True Spirit James gave a frown and crossed his arms as he stood up and started pacing. “I summoned you? You’re supposed to be a mental projection created by their fucking deviation limiting system. You’re meant to be a test, not a fucking permanent resident. I just wanted to see if I could control my emotional element separate of my other elements now that I’m in the True Spirit Realm. Also, we can’t just start killing peasants, they’re a valuable resource.”

Gold James cupped his chin in thought.Might be a cultivation deviation caused by breaking the system? After all, your test wasn’t actually finished. Without the system, your pride element ... or me I suppose, would have just done your whole true-spirit merging for you like it did before the test began.

~Perhaps I’m like a split personality now? Try un-summoning me, and I’ll try to summon myself. If I’m not back in five minutes, resummon me. Also, you’re probably right, we can’t start a massacre right now. We can probably try selling some of them as slaves though. With the influx of spirit beasts, having a reduced population would make the cost of maintaining the city less.~

True Spirit James swished his hand, and Pride James faded away back into the other elements merging together with them. After a few minutes, he suddenly reappeared.

~Whew! That was a strange experience. Felt like I was in a dark place. Let’s not send me back there again.~

True Spirit James frowned. The last thing he needed was a self-summoning split personality mumbling the sweet nothings of peasant massacre into his ear. “We don’t need to start selling them. The taxes in the city are earning more than we have to spend on repairs and maintenance. Also, let’s try it again. Last time I half had the expectation you’d be able to come back. This time I’ll just send you in and expect you to stay there.”

Gold James was about to speak then suddenly disappeared with a wave of True Spirit James’ arm. After a few minutes, he reappeared again, this time he was gone slightly longer though. When he re-materialised, he looked like he was sweating from the effort and was bent over breathing hard with his hands on his knees.

~hah hah hah! That was a lot tougher, you’ll probably be able to lock me away once you gain some more control. While we’re on the subject of selling things we should start selling more from the auto-factory. We’ve accrued a huge debt now with the satellite spinning around up there in low orbit and all the city renovations.~

True Spirit James just let out a long breath. He then focused his will out of his Spirit Realm and found himself back in his body. After a little playing, he felt he was still in his Spirit Realm at the same time, but his focus was outside. Instead, his Spirit Realm gave him the feeling of being in his peripheral vision.

As he was doing that Golden James started talking again.Oh, that’s odd now isn’t it? Hold on let me try moving something...

After a short pause, Gold James let out a sigh.Well that’s disappointing isn’t it? Can’t even twitch a finger.~

True James’ eyebrow was nearly starting a fire with the amount of twitching it was doing. Even the veins on his head were starting to pulse and twitch. “You’re not going to become like a backseat driver are you? Start telling me how to fuckin do stuff? Giving me little hints on my love life like some cupid or whispering ‘kill the orphans’ like a little devil?”

Gold James just chuckled and started trying to move around in the Spirit Realm while James’ primary focus was outside the body.Oh, now that is a strange feeling.~

Feeling like that was his next obvious test, James started moving his True Spirit around while focused outside as well. He then started playing with his refined energy in his Spirit Realm while he started making different postures outside his body. “What an odd sensation.” He muttered.

Gold James started waving his hands around in the Spirit Realm as well and soon a whole bunch of energy started swishing around the place. True James was momentarily stunned by this sudden discovery. His focus switched back to the Spirit Realm. “You can fucking move my spirit energy around now as well?”

Gold James smiled while he started to build a sculpture of himself from the solid element.Sure. Why can’t I? If I’m created from your pride energy, I basically pervade everything in here. I just need to control my little bit attached to the other elements and kazaam, got me some spirit energy flowing about doin stuff.~

True James groaned when he heard that. “Who the fuck would say kazaam? That’s like an expression from the 80’s. Aren’t you supposed to be Pride? Feel some fucking shame for fuck’s sake!”

Gold James just chuckled and started creating flaming eyes on his stature and adding hair made from plasma.Yeah, but I’m your pride aren’t I? Besides, Pride is the most abstract of the sins. Well apart from sloth I spose. That one’s all fucked up. As far as you’re concerned, your pride isn’t about what other people think, but what you think of yourself.~

“I don’t need you teaching me how my fuckin pride works you golden dick! Now stop trying to make a penis of lightning and come give me a hand. Also Lightning is a terrible choice. That suggests my cock goes off like lightning.”

Gold James felt True James shift their, apparently conjoined, focus back to the main body. True James then started explaining what he wanted to try next. “Ok, I want to see if our power of control increases when we both try to accomplish the same thing with spirit energy. I’m going to materialise a flame just above my hand. Then you’re going to add to it.”

Gold James started nodding in the Spirit Realm.Sure, sounds easy. After that, let’s see if I can materialise any energy in the body by myself.~

James then had a little flame the size of a candle flame appear floating in the air above his hand about 2 inches away. “Okay, that’s the best I can do it with my level of control. If I released the energy directly from my hand instead of outside the body, it would probably be as big as my head. Now, you give it a shot.”

James watched as the little candle flame slowly grew bigger and then after a few second it suddenly exploded in size and became a flaming ball the size of two fists. “Wah! Fuck! That’s fuckin hot!” James then quickly began to pour fire spirit energy into his body giving him some resistance. Then after a few moments, he let the fireball flicker out.

“Okay Gold, now you try it.”

After a minute of Gold grunting groaning and swearing, he gave up. So apparently Gold had no actual control outside of the Spirit Realm. He was like an invisible friend in James’ head that helped him focus his own control.

After a few more experiments and a short battle of spirit energy in his Spirit Realm, James stood up and walked out to see all his core members sitting around waiting for him. “Well, looks like I made it somehow.”

The moment he left the chamber Exsue suddenly appeared and glued herself to him like a Siamese twin.