Upon entering a full state of meditation, Herman's body relaxed under the watchful eye of Celeste, giving off a faint sound of breathing, currently, the only thing proving that he was still alive.

Seeing his level of trust, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and smirk at his foolishness. It only took a whisper from her to ensure that his cultivation would deviate and go berserk, so it was surprising to see how much belief he placed on her.

[Hmpf! Truly foolish...](Celeste)

Even while saying that, she used her powers to cover and isolate Herman's room from the rest of the dwelling, ensuring that there won't be anyone or anything to interfere with his breakthrough. Looking at the tribulation clouds gathering above the building, she whispered a 'good luck' under her breath and left to tend to the rest of the facilities. She considered him a good seed to grow and a relatively fun person to watch the development of. Who knew what kind of entertainment he would later bring about...

In the meantime, the person responsible for the entertainment of the powerful lady was sitting across an immense snake coiled up in a position that made it appear ready to jump at Herman any second now. The titanic reptile looked closer to a flood dragon than a snake at this point, with its eyes narrowed into slits and a formidable pressure emanating from its very being. The unblinking gaze was measuring a punny opponent, obviously aware of his intentions.

After gaining sentience and separating itself from the main portion of the soul, it didn't want to return and disappear into nothingness once more.

*HISSS!!!*

Herman actually laughed at its threatening pose, shaking his head in disapproval. Seeing this, the creature was actually taken aback for a second, not knowing how to react further.

"There's no need to pretend. It's just the two of us here anyway."

[...]

"You've been watching me quietly for a while now and you've heard the conversation between Celeste and myself. What are your thoughts on the matter? It's true that it won't benefit either of us to have two minds in one body..."

[...]

"I've been thinking for a while now, ever since you appeared instead of the bull projection we used to have. I've been questioning myself endlessly about why would you appear instead of it. Finally, I think I have the answer."

Looking around himself, Herman couldn't help but click his tongue at the impressive view in his Dantian. The Spiritual Roots and the Dantian are (more or less) imaginary spiritual things inside an illusionary mental realm. However, once he purchased the Qi-gathering array from that terrifyingly strong administrator, it became a realm at the border between reality and illusion. Behind the snake, the background had a small blue sphere, surrounded by five hexagons of different colors. He determined with a glance that the blue sphere was his spiritual world - or the mind palace/thought sea or any other names it had in the Immortal World - while the hexagons of different colors should be the five spiritual roots. Directly above the thought sea, there was a hexagon made out of pure gold, glittering with pride, and lording over everything else akin to a tyrant. To its right and slightly lower, there was another green hexagon bursting with vitality. All around it, there were branches with leaves intertwining themselves and creating a most vibrant picture. This was the Wood Spiritual Root.

Directly under it, in the right corner, there was a blue hexagon of the same aqua-marine color as the spiritual world, representing the Water Spiritual Root. In the left corner down, a hexagon was burning in flames so bright that it was appearing to compete with the Gold Spiritual Root, being the Fire Spiritual Root. Finally, directly above it on the left side of the spiritual world blue sphere, the plain and normal looking Earth Spiritual Root.

With such an epic looking background, Herman wondered if somehow he entered a dungeon game and this scally fellow was the final boss or something. Opening his gigantic maw, no words were coming out, yet a voice reverberated throughout the imaginary space and in Herman's mind.

[Speak then! What conclusion did your cowardly self reach?](snake)

"*Sigh* In our past life, I ground my bones into dust trying to catch up with the elites after failing to enter the Immortal World many times in a row. That's probably when I developed an inferiority complex, always comparing myself with those out of my reach. Once the grueling Immortal World accepted me, the gap widened considerably throwing me into a pit of despair. Without any straws to grasp at and all opportunities stolen by those with higher strength, I surrounded myself with failures similar to myself, wanting to be the flower on the pile of horseshit, thinking that it would somehow alleviate my sense of inferiority. Only after hundreds of years passed did I realize how stupid that notion was and how much of an abyss was created between myself and those monstrous geniuses. Actually, even those that entered at the same time as myself into this world had already left me in the dust..."

[...](snake)

"By the time I woke up from my reverie, I thought that only hard work could help me build the bridge which would take me over the abyss I allowed them to create. That was also foolish of me to believe since no amount of hard work could bring me closer to the level of someone like LinkWill or Bian Hua. We could only watch them from afar and nurture the disciples I took it in hopes that sometime in the future, they would become so famous that our name would also resound throughout the Heavenly Realms. How foolish..."

[...and the bull projection?](snake)

"Another foolish and misconstructed belief in my 'hard-working' personality, when in fact, that bull wasn't anything else but a symbol of stubbornness and narrow-mindedness. It wasn't until you appeared that I started to realize that."

[...and now?](snake)

"I said it before, didn't I? From now on, the same abyss that separated myself from those geniuses will exist once more. The only difference this time around would be which side we'll stand on."

[...and myself?](snake)

"A symbol of our desire to be strong. A snake eating its own tail is a symbol of immortality and the infinite. Once you appeared in that form, I started to realize just how badly I screwed up in our past life. Not only that, but I was starting to do the same in this one. Nevertheless, with two minds pushing towards different directions, we won't reach either of our goals."

[...so I should allow you to devour me? Don't think me blind or deaf! I can see the tribulation clouds outside.](snake)

"What use do I have of them? Destroying your spiritual body and my own with Soul-Annihilating lightning wouldn't do us any good. A mashed version of ourselves comprised of endless shards... our cultivation would be crippled. All we need to do is merge once more of our own volition and defend against the lightning."

[...so you want me to return to nothingness.](snake)

"Nope! I want you to return to me. How can a whole be created without combining the two halves? When you merge with me, you become me and I become you."

[...and why do you believe that I won't devour you instead?](snake)

Before those words even ended, the snake already coiled itself around Herman, requiring only a slight squeeze of its body to weaken his counterpart's spiritual body and devour him whole. Nevertheless, Herman was right. Without them merging back into the same unit and becoming a complete soul, the cultivation speed wouldn't be as high as the other geniuses with a Spirit-defying Body, much less one with a Body of Blessings, despite the huge amount of Spirit Jades at their disposal.

Slowly, a sizzling sound akin to acid burning through paper could be heard, but there was no sign of pain on either Herman's or the snake's face.

Seconds before the lightning could even descend on their body, both pieces of the soul became blurry and incorporeal, appearing to slowly merge into one. Due to the process being lengthy and how defenseless the two of them were at the moment, they continued the merger inside the spiritual world. The Soul-annihilating lightning began pouring over Herman, but no amount of damage was done to his flesh. On the contrary, an outer shell began forming on top of the blue sphere by drawing Spiritual and Primordial Qi and creating a five-fold barrier with five different colors. Lightning struck against it, quickly cracking layer after layer in search of the souls within.

Inside the small blue sphere, a silhouette was forming out of the void in the form of a human. Its gigantic shadow seemed to dwarf the round mass of land created through an endless amount of condensed Primordial Qi. The giant's hands reached out with its hands, covering the entire small planet.

"How far do you think we can go this time around?"

[...in our past life, the gold core we condensed was still bigger than an average cultivator's by at least 200%. The amount of Primordial Qi we could intake became smaller as a result and the size of the world we created was limited as well. That's why we were stuck at the Half-Immortal realm for what seemed to be an eternity, unable to understand the Heavenly Laws...](snake)

"...and now?"

[Judging by the vast attribute points we have in Perception and our previous vast experience, I'd say we could at least reach the level of the geniuses of the past. Or, maybe even better...](snake)

"...and us?"

[There won't be an 'us' anymore... just 'I'.](snake)

"...so you would devour me? Or myself you?"

[No. We'll just become whole again. And then, grow stronger...](snake)

"...to what end?"

[To rectify things... to make up for our previous mistakes... to right the wrongs we did onto others and to pay back the wrongs done onto us.](snake)

"...that's quite a long list, my long scaly friend."

[*Sigh* Seems like it's time for me to go...](snake)

"...and same for me. Which one of us do you reckon will wake up after the merger."

[Does it matter?](snake)

"I guess it doesn't, does it?"

[Mhm... as long as it's towards the same goal that we have.](snake)

"It will be so... How could the will of us two combine into anything different?"

[Makes sense, I guess. Let's get on with it then! I'm getting sleepy and we still have a core to condense...](snake)

"Well then... that's that I guess."

[Mhm... that's that...](snake)

A short period of silence followed, making the blurry silhouette more corporeal. After a loud sigh that overpowered the lightning crashing on top of the barrier surrounding the Spiritual Roots, a pair of eyes opened. In its slightly draconic gaze, there was a force acting upon the space where the small world was staying quietly. With a slight intention of will, it began contracting and at the same time forcing the Qi to ignite by forcefully compressing it.

Soon enough, from a planet that seemed the size of a football in the eyes of the giant shadow, it appeared to have shrunk to the size of a tennis ball.

"I don't know, my scaly friend... I don't feel any changes. Maybe... it was supposed to be like so from the beginning. But you were right about one thing: we can do better this time around. Much, much better!"

Exerting more force with its hands, Herman's new spiritual body continued applying pressure, further condensing the ignited ball of flames. It did look much purer and of a much better quality when compared to his previous life. But, no! The snake was right. There's no way his plans... no! THEIR plans for the future could be achieved without reaching out for something much higher than the moon and the sun. No! He had to go way beyond that to never feel that shameful thing ever again...

"Inferiority... In this life, I am no longer the 'me' from the past. With the new name I gave to myself, this Herman Roy will never be inferior to anyone under the Heavens! Let this be the first step!"

With such words being spoken with intense conviction and nothing more, Herman kept on pushing onwards while sacrificing portions of his soul. The final barrier covering the blue sphere fell at the same time and lightning cascaded towards him. Without even bothering to spare a glance at the upcoming calamity, he only focused on the small ember in front of him. By now, a small incandescent ball the size of a fist was being held in his grasp.

Letting out the breath he was holding, a wave of Qi expanded similar to a tsunami towards every corner of his physical body, reducing the incoming tribulation lightning to nothing.

Celeste also kept an eye on his progression and became a bit distraught upon seeing the final layer of defense being breached. When she felt the majestic wave of Qi almost bursting out of his body, she couldn't help but gape in surprise. Judging from the breath of Qi, the core he condensed must be at the Diamond level.

[Depending on its size and purity of Qi, the cores are separated into Earthen, Copper, Silver, Golden, Platinum, and Diamond. The difference in tiers affects the number of attribute points gained for the main four, but also Perception and Absorption. While an Earthern Core would barely grant 25 points to the main attributes and nothing to Perception and Absorption, a Diamond Core would give a radical increase of 500 to the main four and 100 to the sacred two. This kid... quite capable! Not to mention that with an engine this strong, the internal world he will create will be ridiculously powerful and large as well. Hmpf! Lucky bastard! Thinking back to how much I suffered to purify my Spiritual Roots and achieve a Diamon Core... Insufferable!!!](Celeste)

Unknown to the raging beauty, the difference between them was that Herman didn't spend any Spiritual Qi to enhance his roots, leaving them at Level 1 even after purchasing the Qi-gathering array. They were in a tabula rasa condition. On the other hand, she had upgraded them three realms by the time she reached Foundation X, accumulating many impurities and making the process of refining and condensing the core both costly and excruciatingly painful to endure.

"Haaaah..."

Exhaling a breath of turbid air, Herman opened his eyes and glanced at the world around him. There wasn't only an increase in his attributes that he experienced, but now that he broke through the first shackles of mortality there was a qualitative increase in life order. His life expectancy went up and he could now live up to 500 years if he was to stagnate at the Golden Core realm until the end of his days. But more importantly, his brain and body underwent an evolution of the highest grade allowing him to see, smell, taste, hear and feel much better than before. All his senses were improved considerably, given that now, for the first time... he could feel even Celeste's eyes evaluating him with much curiosity, despite the distance between them and her ridiculous strength trying to obscure his perception.

"This feeling... it should be at least a high Platinum Core... maybe even early Diamond. What do you think Celeste?"

[Hmpf! Hateful bastard! It's Diamon indeed. Should be somewhere between middle and advanced Diamon level. I'm more surprised to hear that you know about the classification.](Celeste)

"What can I say... With enough money, you could make the devil work for you!"

[Is that a saying from your world?](Celeste)

"Mhm. It's quite the interesting one, isn't it?"

[Hmpf! Anyway, I have better things to do now that you somehow managed to stay alive.](Celeste)

"*Chuckle* Who knew that fairy Celeste would be such a shy girl..."

[Don't push your luck, brat!](Celeste)

"..."

Feeling the strong bloodlust and the immense pressure she was putting on his spiritual world with just a few words, he didn't dare say anything else and took whatever small advantage he could get. Grinning while hearing the gritted teeth of Celeste, he opened his attribute page and took a look at the new stats.

With the Diamond-level Core he created, not only did his main attributes increase, but the bodily cultivation level also experienced a jolt due to Herman's entire organism being flooded with pure Qi.

Personal Information

Attributes

Ultimate

Pill

Name: Herman Roy

Cultivation time: 0 Years (121 days)

Spiritual realm: Golden Core I

Body realm: Soul Forming III

Ascension number: N/A

Attributes

Life Essence: 22.015

Attack: 110.075

Strength: 21.395

Defense: 106.975

Vitality: 21.727

Health Points: 325.905

Dexterity: 21.561

Evasion: 64.683

Fortune: 223

Critical Strike: 74,3

Perception: 3680 Points

Efficiency: 1840 Primordial Qi points / 1 hour

Absorption: 3370 points

Superior Qi Absorption: 1685 Spiritual Qi point / 1 hour

Character (Unlocked - please select to view)

Personality (Unlocked - please select to view)

With 500 points in the main four attributes, an extra 10 points for each level of bodily cultivation increasing all the way up to Mortal Flesh X, and then an extra 25 points for each level of the Soul Forming, he received a total of 615 increase.

His Perception and Absorption went up by another 100 and once more - weirdly enough - his Fortune also went up by an extra 100 points for whatever reason. He was at a loss of what to make about this stat and what use does it have except the critical strike increase.

For some reason, the title he gained didn't work on these gains and he chucked that at the back of his mind, thinking that it just wasn't applicable to breakthroughs.

"Maybe I can get some treasure chests once I find some dungeons to dive in later on, based on that Fortune stat of mine... the heck!? That would make this the wrong game genre..."

All jokes aside, this evolution that his body and mind underwent made his movements much sharper, wasting much less energy when compared to the 'him' before the Golden Core Realm. If before a single step would cost him, say, 2 units of energy, now he would use just one unit or less for the same action. His control over the body increased by an absurd amount, boosting his battle strength by a large margin.

If he was to face off against the same opponents as before in the Contest of Tao, he could easily defeat a hundred of them and still have energy left to spare.

On the other hand, he became a pauper once more when it came to Cultivation Base, having to spend a large amount of time to break through to the next realm. He would probably need at least two months in order to reach Golden Core II, so the Spirit Wandering realm was out of the discussion for at least a year or so...

Golden Core I

Total cultivation base: 239 / 516,605

Efficiency: (92 ~ 281) / 1 hour

While it was true that he required time to accumulate Cultivation Base by combining Primordial Qi with Spiritual Qi and reinforce his body and soul with it, would be much higher, now he had the option of dual-cultivating without the risk of injuring his body or soul, he could finally hire a blacksmith apprentice, he could join Junior-rank sects and scavenge for both skills, sutras, and ultimates, as well as more companions.

Also, he could ask for a senior of a higher realm to guide his cultivation (he would have to pay some Spirit Jades for this) and increase his active absorption of Primordial Qi by at least ten folds for a short while.

"Not to mention that I can finally begin the test to prove my worth and gain the recognition needed to challenge the Gate of Heavens. System, select the twenty worlds that I need to travel through, in order to gain those senior's approval."

Acknowledged!

Generating... calculating...

Attention! Attention! Attention!

"The f*ck!?"

Herman stood there dumbstruck, wondering what the hell did he do to break the System. Not even seconds later, his answer was granted.

For the attention of all users!

A cultivator participating in the race for Heavens has requested to undergo the Trials of Courage!

According to the regulations set in motion by ... the user, Herman Roy, has been recognized as the first cultivator to undergo this trial.

Discovered the user Herman Roy owning the special title 'Prodigy'... removing title...

Upon completing the Trials of Courage in one try, the user will receive a better title. If failed, the 'Prodigy' title would be forfeit!

Warning! Warning! Warning!

The System will undergo its first update!

The System interface would become unavailable for 24 hours!

Herman was speechless. Only now did he realize that there was a reason why he didn't get the percentage increase for his attributes upon his breakthrough. The System realized that he was about to tackle the '20 Worlds Tour', as they called it in his previous life, and didn't bother to grant the bonus points given that it removed the title.

"Do you have to be so through!? Goddamn, black-hearted merchant!"

Congratulations!

Your credentials have been confirmed to be sufficient to partake in the Trials of Courage!

Generating the coordinates for the 20 realms you would have to explore...

1. Westmount

2. Sunlit Hill

3. Bear Cavern

4. Infinity Bluff

5. Dried-up River

6. Ascension Valley

7. Pheonix Slope

8. Purity Peak

9. Orchid Spring Cave

10. Ruins of Cranes

11. Dragon Ridge

12. Mount Peace

13. Dragon Slope

14. Cliff of Fidelity

15. Valley of Goddess

16. Great Cataract

17. Misty Canyon

18. Pika Mountain

19. Origin Cave

20. Mount of Immortals

The first mission has been successfully generated!

Content: climb to the peak of Infinity Mountain!

Reward: clearance of the first realm!

"Well... f*ck..."