As Nalser was mulling there over his powerlessness, he suddenly thought of something as he asked, “Is it possible to pass on techniques in this Dream World?” The old man was surprised for a second before his eyes narrows as he asked, “You want us to give you some techniques?” Hearing this Nalser shook his head with a smile as he said, “Not give but trade.” This surprised the two, as the old man asked, “What kind of a trade?” Nalser’s smile turned a bit sinister as he thought to himself, “Hook. Line. Sinker.”

He tried to hide his thoughts as good as he could as he said, “Black Flame Angel passed quite an interesting technique on to me. It won’t be of any use to you but it would be very useful for your future generations that have just started cultivating.” This piqued the interest of the old man and the young man. They exchanged a glance before the young man asked, “What do you want in return to that technique?” Nalser answered, “I want Battle Formations, the ones that can be used by Empyrean Emperors at the helm. Also I have some other techniques you might be interested in to trade for other techniques on Formations.”

The two thought for a moment, they understood why Nalser might want the Battle Formations but other Formation techniques left them puzzled. Finally the old man said, “I understand the Battle Formations but why do you need other Formation techniques as well?” Nalser’s face turned serious as he said, “The Battle Formations are for my army to use but the other Formations are to fortify my Starry Island. That place is like my domain, my home. All my actions are discussed and directed from there. I need more formations to fortify it so other’s would not be able to enter or spy on me there.” Nalser didn’t need to continue explaining because he saw that the two understood what he meant. All of his actions were discussed and executed from the Starry Island. Just like they could keep an eye on him, the opposite side will be also able to do so. However, if he fortified it enough so that other Ascended Powers would not be able to spy inside, the chance of his plans leaking out prematurely would decrease drastically.

Thinking so deeply about it all made the two astonished. Since they had done so to their Realm, why couldn’t he do so for his own Dimension. His cunningness and meticulous thinking left them a bit baffled. They could both be considered old fogies but the person they were talking to was currently 15 years old. There had been several times when they had forgotten about that fact during their conversation. Even now, they just remembered that they were dealing with a 15 year old but for some reason they felt as though they were talking with someone who was at least as old as the young man. The old man thought for a second before saying, “Let’s do it like this, you first explain that technique you want to trade with and then we will discuss if we have a use for it. If we do, then we will discuss for how many Formation scrolls, how profound and the general type. As for the Battle Formation, consider it a freebie from me.” As the old man finished talking, Nalser’s grin turned more and more sinister.

He started explaining the Birthing Seed technique to them. The more the two listened, the more focused they became. When Nalser finished his explanation, the two fell into deep thought. From their changing expressions, Nalser guessed that the two were currently conversing mentally over the possibilities of the technique. However, Nalser had left a few important details out for now because it wouldn’t do any good to reveal all of his cards all at once. After what seemed like an eternity to Nalser, the two finished their discussion. The old man looked towards Nalser and said, “We are willing to trade for that technique. I will give you 10 of our highest grade scrolls on each of the three categories: 1. Formations to improve the Qi Quality within the formation 2. Defensive Formation that are on par with my Royal Capital’s 3. Special Formations that can be added on both Artefacts as to surroundings to either create formation traps or formations to temper people. Also I will add 4 more Battle Formations. Two, that are on par with the one I initially decided on giving you and 2 that are more profound and require more Emperor level people.”

Nalser nodded as he agreed to this. He had already made a huge fortune in terms of this trade. They both swore an oath to the Laws of the Heavens and the old man extracted a ball of light from his forehead. You could see information swirling around inside. Just as he was about to hand it to Nalser, Nalser gestured for him to stop with his hand. This puzzled the two and the old man asked with a frown, “Are you trying to back away from the deal? I remind you that it was you who suggested it.” Nalser was a bit shocked by the cold words before he put on a business like smile again as he said, “No, not that. I just find it unfair that you are willing to hand it over before asking me for the method.”

The old man just smiled embarrassedly, he realized that he had been too eager with this and had prematurely tried to give him the information. He understood, why Nalser stopped him now, when Nalser said, “I can not do that light ball thingy, neither can I pass on techniques mentally. However, this technique is quite straightforward. All you need is the Formation Diagram and you need to know a few intricacies. If you can give me paper and ink, I can draw you the formation and also add the way of activating the formation.” The old man nodded to it, he understood that Nalser didn’t try to rip them off but rather he was in a peculiar situation in where he could neither create a Memory Orb or Imprint the information on. So the only thing they could do was use the most primitive method and do it all by hand.

The old man waved his free hand and a yellowish paper alongside an ink pot with golden ink appeared next to him. There was also an old ink quill. As he eyed the things that appeared out of nowhere, the old man explained, “The paper is called a Dharma paper and the ink is called the Dharmic Ink. If you write the information on the Dharma paper with Dharmic Ink, I can absorb the information and engrave it to my soul like using a Memory Orb or direct Imprinting. It is the same outcome just a different method.” When the old man said the last sentence, Nalser let out a “Ohh.” before he picked up the quill and started drawing the formation down, while also adding a lot of key information, like how to activate the formation, what materials to use and so on.

He even added the maximum limit of the different materials. When he was all done, he carefully looked it through just in case. He wanted to make sure he didn’t leave out anything important. When he was, he nodded to himself and passed on the paper to the old man. The old man quickly glanced through it before nodding his head towards Nalser and handing him the Memory Orb. As he looked at the Memory Orb closely, he thought to himself, “So the ball of light thingy is called a Memory Orb, huh?” Just as he was observing the Memory Orb, the old man gave him a quick rundown on how to absorb the Memory Orb. After hearing the quite straightforward explanation, he closed his eyes and brought the orb closer to his forehead.

The orb was only the size of a fist, so when it made contact with Nalser’s forehead, it started sinking in. When it had completely sunk in, all sorts of different formation diagrams, all categorized and sorted, started to enter his head. As he closed his eyes, he quickly skimmed through the information he was given and he couldn’t help but be astonished. The most complex formation diagrams he had seen in the Library were like a child’s puzzle compared to these ones. Seeing Nalser absorb the orb, the old man absorbed, the paper. As he looked through the information, he produced another orb and passed it onto the young man.

The young man expertly absorbed the orb as well and also closed his eyes to look through it. An awkward scene played out, three people with varied expressions we currently sitting there, eyes closed, in silence. When they all finally opened their eyes, there was a grin on everyone’s faces. They had all benefited a lot from this trade. The old man and young man had gotten a very precious technique that can be used to strengthen their descendants several fold, while Nalser had obtained a lot of formations he desperately needed. Suddenly Nalser realized something, he had no idea what their names were.

He put on an awkward face as he said in weird tone, “This might sound odd but I do not believe that I have heard the two seniors name.” Hearing this statement brought a blank look on the duo’s face. The started thinking back and suddenly realized that they had not even introduced themselves. Suddenly, the old man let out a hearty laugh as he said, “What does it matter what our names are, you can call me Grandpa and him Uncle. From this moment onwards I will call you Lil’Nalsu and you will call us Grandpa and Uncle, okay?”

This statement completely blanked out both Nalser’s and the young man’s mind. Before Nalser could react, the young man also let out a laugh as he said, “That’s right you can call him Grandpa and me Uncle. We will call you Lil’Nalsu.” Hearing that Nalser really did not know whether to laugh or cry. He just asked for their names but suddenly he felt like he had accidentally become a part of their family, with all the Grandpa and Uncle thing. As he thought to himself, there were signs of the internal struggle written all over his face.

The old man just let out a chuckle and said in a warm tone, “You don’t need to call us so immediately. I heard about your past from my son. Even though we are not related by blood, I have taken quite a liking to you and am willing to adopt you into my family as a grandchild.” The young man looked at the old man in complete shock. His jaw nearly hit the floor as his mind blanked. He knew what his father was like to even the people from his own bloodline. He was usually an Emperor, he had to keep a cold and just heart, no matter if he was dealing with a stranger or his descendant.

Only he, his mother and a few select others knew of his soft side. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that he would be willing to adopt him into his family like this. He wasn’t the only one who’s mind was spinning. Nalser didn’t have a clue on how to make heads or tails of this situation. He knew he could be a bit unpredictable with his sudden changes of mind but something on this level, he had never even heard of anything like this. Although he could see the warmness in the other’s gaze, it almost seemed like it wasn’t directed at him but something else. Feeling puzzled, he could only sit there stupidly.

As he did not know what to answer, the old man said, “Think over it for a month. In one month, I will summon you here again to give you some information to help you in your war. For now, if you have no other questions, I will send you out from here now.” Nalser could only just nod. He honestly had no idea what else to do. The old man’s eyes flickered for a moment before he said, “Also, although I said I would adopt you into my family, I don’t mean it in a way that you will be forced to live in my domain and do what I want you to do but more like you can go around doing your own things but when we meet we will be like Grandfather and Grandson. So think about it carefully.” As he finished saying that, he waved his hand and Nalser felt dizziness taking over him again as his body slowly turned corporeal before completely disappearing.

When only the two of them were left in the giant conference room, the young man finally snapped out of his thoughts and asked with a weird face, “Father, may I ask-” He was cut short by the old man’s wave of hand. The old man let out a sigh as he said, “You want to know, why I suddenly decided to adopt him?” The young man meekly nodded. The old man stood up and walked a bit further and looked up as he started narrating, “When I first became a Cultivator, I had a friend by my side, he was named Xin Fang. He was born with crippled meridians but he was very determined lad. I took him as a servant to make his life easier. Although I had no brothers or sisters, he was like a genuine brother to me. Although I am called the First in Existence, it doesn’t mean that I was the first person in existence but rather, I was the first to Ascend. That brother of mine had crippled meridians, so he was destined not to be able to cultivate. However, since I took him as a servant, although I wanted to make his life easier, I actually ended it prematurely.”

The young man could see the sadness inside his fathers eyes. Honestly saying, he was baffled. This was the first time he had heard about his Father having a friend so close, he would call him a brother. The young man stayed silent as the old man continued his story, “It happened when I was still in the Core Formation stage. During a mission for my sect, I got careless from my arrogance and charged in to a bandits hideout without completely checking it out before. The enemies also had a Core Formation Expert as their leader and he specialized in assassination. As I was haughtily killing everyone and didn’t notice the Core Formation Expert pointing a poisoned arrow at me from the shadows.”

Speaking this far, a tear appeared at the old man’s eye as he remembered the night he lost the only person he could call a brother. The young man did not know what to say but as he was about to open his mouth to say something, the old man continued, “Even though I had discarded his advise for first checking out the bandits nest, he still followed me in. He was also the person who saved my life back then. As he jumped in front of the arrow that was meant for me, he lost his life. It was after losing him only solely due to my arrogance, did I realize that I had thought too highly of myself. It was after that that I developed my cautious personality and you could say that solely due to a promise I made to the dying him, I have come this far.”

The young man finally asked, “And that person is-” The old man turned to look towards him with a serious look. He said, “Yes, it is that boy Nalser. I promised to the dying Fang that I will search through the entire Realm for his reincarnated self and I would adopt him into my family. After that incident, I started cultivating like mad to reach a high enough level to go roam around the Realm to fulfill my promise to him. However, after combing through our entire Celestial Realm, I still couldn’t find his reincarnated soul. Then Ascension came and I learned of the other Realms, it was at that moment that I realized that the cycle of reincarnation was the one and the same for the entire Cosmos and finding him would be nigh impossible. I had already given up on it a long time ago but when I saw that boy today, I felt that he was the soul I have been searching for countless years. I can finally fulfill my final promise to my Brother.”

As the old man said so, there was happiness hidden within his eyes. The young man could only give a smile to this. He understood why his father had acted so uncharacteristic and done something so impulsive. However, he could not find any words to blame him, if the situations were reversed, he would do the same. The young man stood up resolutely as he said with a hint of smile, “Now the, I will have to get back work. I wouldn’t want to fail my future nephew now would I?” As the old man heard that, he smiled as well as he swept out with his arm. The young man also disappeared from the Dream World.

The old man stood there for a second alone before taking out a crude necklace out from his robes. As he looked at the necklace that consisted of only two things, a handwoven leather strap part and fang of a tiger, the old man let out a warm smile as he mumbled, “I can finally fulfill my promise to you brother Fang.”

***

In an ancient black castle, outside the throne room stood the youth dressed in red robes. He currently had an extremely frightened face on and he seemed to be hesitating on whether or not to enter. Finally, he gathered his courage as he opened the throne rooms door and entered. The throne room was completely trashed, there wasn’t even a hint of the elegance or luxury it used to have. On the throne sat a figure.

On its face was annoyance as all his clothes were in tatters and his hair was dishevelled. All’n’all the figure seemed to be in a sorry state as there were traces of blood still apparent on his knuckles. The figure glanced at the youth and asked in a hoarse voice, “What is it?” The youth shuddered from the coldness of the voice before saying respectfully, “It seems as though the Starry Island is on the move. They contacted the Remnants to see how many were willing to follow them. As of now only the Four Generals have followed him.”

The figure looked at him in annoyance as he said, “Those four old foggies naturally followed him. There is no need to tell our spies to try and join him. He most likely won’t trust them again because of their momentary hesitation. However, keep an eye on all of their movements, no matter if big or small. There is a truly strong expert hidden on the Island. Otherwise, the fucking lizard would not have died without having even been able to send out a message.” The Prince’s train of thought was actually correct.

The Draconian was a mid stage Empyrean Emperor, who could successfully escape from a Peak Stage one. To have died without as much as sending out a message, it just showed that he met an extremely strong expert who did not give him the chance to send out a message. However, if he knew that his lustful nature and his big arrogant mouth had awakened a true Death God, then probably the Prince would have already died from anger. As the youth in red respectfully acknowledged the order, he tactfully left.

The Princd suddenly felt his chest heat up as a transmission entered his mind. The Prince’s face paled as he heard the transmission, he immediately thought to himself, “Who the fucking Hell is on that Island?” Fear crept into his heart as he thought about the transmission. It said that The Celestial Realm has completely surrounded their “Myriad Worlds Realm”, his teacher won’t be able to help him any more in terms of reinforcements. He had to accomplish the task issued to him on with the resources he currently has as they would not be able to give them any more assistance.

***

Inside the conference room on Starry Island, Nalser woke up. He put on a very amusing face, half of his face was pondering, while the other side seemed to be smiling. After having that face for a few minutes, he suddenly grabbed his head with both his hands as he yelled, “WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS GOING ON THIS TIME?” He tried to think of the motive behind the old man’s offer.

However, after thinking about it over and over again, he just couldn’t find a motive. He could just blankly push it to the back of his mind for now. He decided to ask Mei for her opinion on this when he saw her. However, for now he decided to comprehend the information he acquired through the trade. First of all, he decided to thoroughly read about the Battle Formations. They were very abstract formations that required people as the formation bases. Each formation had their weaknesses and strengths but generally the overall strength of the formation depended on the person leading the formation and the people acting as formation bases.

The stronger they were, the stronger the formation. Also the profoundness of the formation played a huge role. If two groups had exactly the same level of strength, the lower levelled formation would lose to the more profound one. Nalser didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when read about the effects of the formations. They turned the caster’s into a Primordial Dragon, Phoenix and a White Tiger. As he thought about the four camps he had, he couldn’t find a formation more suitable for them. When he finished comprehending all those formations, he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

As he let out a sigh, he mumbled, “This is truly difficult. I need to start cultivating asap so that I can imprint all that knowledge onto a jade slip, so I can pass it onto the camps. The sooner they start practising the better.” Even though the words were not directed at anyone, he suddenly lifted his head to look around. Seeing no one, he just shrugged.

Lately one thing had happened after another and he hadn’t been able to think through all the things that have happened lately. He felt as though he was juggling 4 knives at ones. He slowly exited the conference room and went to the edge of the Island. As he sat down there, he started thinking back to the first moment he came here. This place was the only place, where just by staring at the horizon, he felt himself calm down. This place was the best place for him to think. So, slowly, he fell into a mysterious state.

It was a kin to being enlightened but it was different. Usually, people would reach this state when they were a hairs breath away from their Tribulation. This state was called the “Reflection State”, it usually happened when a person cleared his mind to take on the oncoming Tribulation. They would slip into a state where they would slowly reminisce about their past. The choices they made on their road here, the things they had done, left undone and etc.