They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment.
"Using borrowed power is also beneath me," she spoke.
I almost forgot, he thought. Lyra had indeed looked down upon the system’s power.
"So don’t make me use it," she added.
He looked at her.
Then he smiled.
This old lady...
"Of course," he responded.
He then closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
Lyra observed him sleeping peacefully beside her.
She then turned her attention to the system notification floating before her.
She now had this skill.
She held up her hand and a golden energy began gathering in her palm.
I’ve always been curious about this so-called system, she thought. Now that I have my mind realm back, I suppose I should look into it.
She stared at the golden light, her eyes letting out a soft blue glow.
"Let’s see what secrets you’re hiding," she murmured.
...
Lyra found herself floating in some sort of endless void.
She looked around. Nothingness stretched out forever in each direction. No up, no down. No beginning, no end.
Suddenly, she heard a sound.
She whirled around.
Only then did she come face to face with a massive phoenix.
Its feathers blazed with bright flames, radiating a heat that felt hot yet not at the same time.
Lyra wore a shocked expression...
And then the vision vanished.
She was back in the real world.
She tried activating the vision again but couldn’t get it to work.
"Vermilion Bird?" she wondered.
She had seen an illustration of the Vermilion Bird before in the Heavenly Demon Sect’s library.
Did this mean the story about the Eternal Flame was real? And that it made the system?
Then why did it make it? And why give it to a world of weaklings?
Thousands of questions ran through her mind, but she decided not to dwell on them for now. She needed to prepare for what was coming.
She looked at her hand.
It began trembling.
She remembered the feeling of using the First Sword. Now she felt she had enough mastery to use it with relative ease. Though saying "easily" was a stretch considering the pure mana cost.
But that wasn’t what was important right now.
After mastering the First Sword, she had realized something.
It wasn’t just a sword method.
It was more like a library of sword standards. And using this standard, she could derive anything - from First Sword all the way to Infinite Sword.
She began getting excited.
This was a feeling she hadn’t felt in a while.
In the Murim world, she had grown so strong that she had no equal. She had mastered all martial arts. As a martial artist who pursues strength, this had left her feeling rather empty.
Then she had come to the cultivation world.
She was excited at first when she began exchanging understandings with the Moonlight Maiden. But then she realized that while the cultivation world’s methods were different, it was mostly just a different power-pursuing ideology. In reality, it wasn’t any better than her own methods - just different paths leading to the same destination.
But when she looked at the First Sword standards, she could feel it.
A feeling buried deep within her that she had almost completely forgotten.
As someone who pursues absolute strength, she could sense the profound meaning hidden within the sword standard. And she could see a method to improve her own theories even further - to even surpass her "perfect being" self.
She looked at her body.
Although she was much weaker than her previous self, she had modified this form when trying to save Cipher, making it compatible with both her martial arts and cultivation ideologies.
Since she was still weak and now had access to her mind realm, she decided to follow the theories in the sword standard to make herself even more compatible with it.
It would be as though it was made just for her.
...
In an unknown place, nothing but void stretched out infinitely in all directions.
A huge phoenix floated in that endless darkness.
Her body began to glow with brilliant light. Her feathers and the rest of her form transformed into crimson light particles that condensed in the center, merging together.
When the light faded, a beautiful woman stood in the phoenix’s place.
"She actually managed to perceive my existence," the woman muttered. "This girl is not bad."
She tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"Maybe if I’d used her in the first place, I’d have had better results."
She scratched her head in annoyance.
"Now I’ve lost the Lord prototype, and even the Lady has gone rogue."
She floated in silence for a moment.
"Should I just barge in there and take what I want?" she wondered aloud.
She then looked toward the east.
Her gaze crossed millions of light years, piercing through the void and layers of space, until it met another gaze - shining blue eyes stared right back at her.
"But I’m guessing you won’t let me," she thought.
She let out a soft sigh.
"Why are men so difficult? We both want the same thing. Why can’t you just listen?"
She shook her head.
"Well, no matter. Since you’re unwilling to cooperate, I’ll do things my way."
And with that, she vanished.
...
Millions of light years to the east.
A massive dragon sat perched upon a castle made entirely of treasures. Gold, jewels, artifacts - all piled so high that they spilled out from every opening. The structure wasn’t even being used as a castle. It was more like a storage room.
The dragon’s eyes narrowed.
"Hmmm. I sensed the stupid bird. What the hell is she thinking?" he wondered.
"Well, no matter," he muttered, turning to the side.
A man sat there, calm and unmoving.
"Yu Tian, what are the chances that she succeeds in what she’s planning?" the dragon asked.
"How many times do I have to tell you this?" Yu Tian responded, his tone flat. "It’s impossible to recreate the Absolute Source. Even for someone like me, with a fragment, I can’t even begin to comprehend the complexity of the Absolute Source."
"Hehehe, no need to get so worked up. I was just asking," the dragon said.
"You’re the one getting worked up," Yu Tian replied. "Why do you keep asking the same thing? Are you having doubts?"
"Ahem, of course not," the dragon replied hurriedly.
"Then you should..." Yu Tian was speaking when he suddenly trailed off.
His expression changed.
"What is it? Did something happen?" the dragon asked.
Yu Tian’s eyes flickered with something unreadable.
"Yeah. The chances of the so-called Evil God you planted surviving have suddenly turned to 0%."
...
At the Moonlight Sect, the Moonlight Maiden stood at the central plaza, issuing orders to the gathered disciples and elders.
"Ensure all formations are portable. We move within the hour."
She was preparing to head out when she noticed Lyra approaching.
Carrying the sleeping Cipher in her arms.
The Moonlight Maiden dismissed the others with a wave. "Start making the preparations."
They bowed and dispersed.
She then turned to Lyra. "Did something happen to your disciple?"
At that moment, Maya landed beside them.
"Cipher?" she called out, poking at his cheek.
No response.
"Not really. He’s just sleepy," Lyra said.
"Sleepy?" The Moonlight Maiden was taken aback.
Who was sleepy at a moment like this? War was imminent. Perhaps people from other worlds had different thoughts about such things.
"Aren’t you going to wake him then?" she asked.
"No, it’s fine," Lyra said.
He had told her not to wake him, she thought.
"Do you have a sword box?" Lyra asked. "A huge one?"
The Moonlight Maiden blinked. "I... suppose we do. Why?"
"I’d like to borrow it."
The Moonlight Maiden gestured to a nearby disciple, and moments later, a large ornate sword box was brought before them.
Lyra opened it.
She placed Cipher inside.
She closed it.
Then she lifted it onto her back.
The Moonlight Maiden stared. "What... are you doing?"
"Carrying him," Lyra said matter-of-factly. "Since he’s asleep and I’ll also be fighting, so there’s no way I could have him in my hands the whole time."
Maya nodded in agreement. "Cipher seemed a little tired. He deserves some rest."
The Moonlight Maiden looked at the two of them in shock.
She was at a loss for words.
A strange disciple and an even stranger master.
She shook her head. Questioning it would be pointless.
Internally, Lyra also found it weird.
Making me do strange things again, she thought.
But there was nothing she could do about it. Cipher’s plan was good and had the highest chances of them winning the war. She couldn’t complain.
Even then...
Well, she supposed it was fine. Only these two knew who she was carrying. For everyone else, it was just a sword box.
A swordsman carrying a sword box shouldn’t be anything strange.
"Anyway, what’s the situation?" Lyra asked, changing the subject.
The Moonlight Maiden collected herself.
"Ever since the announcement yesterday, the demons have progressed greatly," she explained. "At their current pace, they’ll likely arrive here within a week."
"The other sects and I have communicated. We’ve agreed to begin moving to meet the demon army. We’ll try negotiating first, but if that fails..." She paused. "Well, we’ll fight."
Maya raised her hand slightly. "When I was flying here, I noticed a huge dark-looking thing covering the land in that direction."
The Moonlight Maiden nodded grimly. "That’s demonic miasma. You can think of it as the Evil God’s authority encroaching on the world and devouring it."
Her expression darkened.
"That’s why we need to fight them off before they completely devour everything."
Lyra and Maya nodded in understanding.
"Alright," the Moonlight Maiden said. "Let’s move out."
The three made their way to the sect’s outer gates. A large group of disciples and elders had already assembled there, armed and ready.
The Moonlight Maiden stepped forward. "Scouting squad, go on ahead. Report back any movements immediately."
The scouts bowed. "Understood, Sect Master."
They set off at top speed, vanishing into the distance within moments.
The Moonlight Maiden then raised her hand and made a few hand signs. A formation circle appeared beneath them, glowing with pale blue light.
From it, a massive flying boat materialized.
"Everyone, board," she commanded.
The disciples and elders filed onto the vessel in orderly fashion.
Lyra adjusted the sword box on her back and stepped aboard, Maya following close behind.
And with that, they began moving toward the encroaching miasma.
...
Author’s Corner
Hi guys, thanks for taking the time to read AC, or CI and IA, me appreciate you all. Anyway, I’m getting increasingly busy with personal stuff during the holidays and will be travelling a lot. I was planning on taking a break completely but I think I still have some time so I’ll be updating a Chapter a day. Don’t worry, this just applies to 2-3 days counting today.
Happy Holidays 💖