171] – [Former Ways]

Strolling through the beautiful bright green meadows beneath the simple sky devoid of clouds, an old man was minding his own business, his sickle meeting the precious herbs within the useless tall grass. He was quite famous around these parts, an ingenious doctor of this era.

He was accompanied by a chubby boy with a clear lack of intellect from his outside appearance. But the boy was a genius of medicine as well.

Both were basked in sunlight with straw hats artifacts on their heads.

"Little one, don't go too far."

"Master."

"Hmm? What is it? Did you find a good herb?"

"No master… But over there, behind the tall grey mountain, just where the dark clouds gather."

"What about it?"

Raising his chin, the old man almost choked.

"…"

Far into the distance, past the tall mountain shielding the horizon, below the grey ominous clouds of rain and thunder, lightnings bolts rampaging across the world like dragons evolving the nine skies, a figure was seen. It was seen too well. As clear as day.

"What kind of…" Being a hidden master at the Calamity Enduring Realm, the old man was not weak. But the sight of this thing caused even him to pale from afar.

Not just him.

The entirety of Limbo did.

Dispersing the opposing thoughts, grazing the hazy mists of the intangible, under the rule of the sky, parting away the vast ominous clouds.

A titan of a being, silver colored all over, like a ghost of the most mysterious of ancestral tombs.

A gentle wave of the hand, slowly and softly, pushing away the will of Heaven.

Drifting hairs flowing along the fated gusts. A ripple exploding across all directions and dimensions.

Beyond the first stage of Ascending Might

, even above the second stage of a Transcendent Dominator

.

At the summit of the third and last stage, Mind Dominating

, a simple step away from the Eleutherian Realm.

Dancing along the howling winds and crying clouds, one with the world. Weeping away the sorrows.

A new existence seeping into the world's will. An existence now comparable to it.

"Incredible… What a strong mind… An existence so powerful and influential… and so early too!" Upon a throne, a middle aged man with eyes more incomprehensible than the unknown of few spoke.

This scene repeated itself across the Sealed Gate. Even within a sea of darkness.

A place where a red man of unfathomable might steadily ate at the world itself.

"Not bad. Breaking through the first stage and already having such a strong existence. Around half of when I entered the Eleutherian Realm? Still quite the sight."

Unware of the thoughts of myths, Alexander was still progressing…

The world embraces all, and so shall he. To rebel against it is to rebel against oneself.

Across the Core Territory. Beyond the realm of mortals, ascended from the place of Immortals. Where the weak and strong gather. Where the place of right is yet to be found.

Covering the sky with one's palm, subduing all and none. Time elusive and forgotten. Space lacking the power to restrain. Limbo unable to judge. Left without the will to deny.

Seen from all corners of the Core Territory, an image engraved in the minds of all living entities of Limbo in its entirety. A wave of domination spreading even within the Sealed Gate itself.

A phenomenon not of Heaven and Earth.

But one of Human and World.

Knowledge obtained from a certain Saint of the Void. Experimentations done through countless eras of clones. Succeeding only once.

Finally.

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A ripple of darkness spreading throughout Limbo, a mark on the great will.

A titan higher than the clouds, vaster than the sky, as tyrannical as the esoteric land of dreams. An empty mind becoming one with its grandeur.

A Divine Sense metamorphosing. Gold mixed with a blue hue, becoming pitch black. A purple glow radiating from it, this new entity unable to be seen or even felt by any within his reach.

How long had it been since then? Cultivating without stopping. It was very efficient. It was very difficult on the mind and heart, but it bore plump results.

Invisible to all, a gloomy veil enveloped them all.

Void Sense.

Void state of mind.

Eleutherian Realm's first stage, Mind Release

.

A power surging even higher, a martial prowess unfathomable compared to prior. Being able to see time and space as nothing but playthings, watching the life of creatures, aware of all fates.

'No wonder.'

No wonder Lu Olghun played around during their clash. In truth, he could see anything. He could feel everything.

If not for [Transcend], Alexander would have been decimated without the ability to fight back. He could not realize it at the time. But even [Transcend] was barely able to overshadow his senses.

What if he used it now? [Wrath State] alone would make him undefeatable in Limbo! Maybe even across the Great World!

'What a strange turn of events. The Cave Masters are really hard to fathom. Much harder than I anticipated even.' He felt liberated. Was this a mental breakthrough as well? It had to be.

Unware of his feat, Alexander did not know his victims to include another Cave Master. He was simply overlooking his feat while thunder rained down all around him.

Looking at the sky, where a titan of silver was vanishing, he sensed his hair to be returning to a dark shade of old.

'Is it my lifespan? Maybe the ability I gained?' He felt so young, so invigorated!

Before, his life wheel was already on the point of turning black, forcing him to gather some food

during his experimentations. Maybe he would have not needed to go so far if extracting his life wheel from the old Dantian did not harm it in the process.

Feeling his insides, a life wheel burst out behind his head. It was glorious, filled with the vigorous energy of life, even hearing the howls of the void and the songs of sublime fairies.

'…' Smiling, he could not complain about the color this time.

Bright green, on the verge of turning a blinding white. His lifespan had been extended exponentially. He was back to his prime. Even his silver hair, obtained through not only age but also his path, altered. Since when had his hair turned silver or white? They were now black again.

A new man with a new life.

'I want to stay here, but I sill need more information about this major realm.' Already planning ahead, Alexander was heading to the Saint Hall. He only needed to go in and out.

'From what I remember, I should be able to go back if needed. The gate should be a two way thing.' The abilities of one's existence was outstanding. Even as his former body self-detonated, he still remembered its memories.

But, speaking of memories, Alexander had lost a few without knowing.

.

.

.

Arriving at the immensely wide Saint Hall, Alexander was followed by Aurora, somewhat unwilling to leave him. Even Azvon had stopped communicating, focused on cultivating himself. So what about her?

'Ha~'

Exhaling his questions away, Alexander looked at the white Saint Hall under the faint rain. They had arrived.

'Without the saints, this place has not been cleaned.' The reason for the sky to be mostly clear at all times was because of cultivators liking it this way, dispersing the clouds on a whim. This displeased those who enjoyed other types of weather, like Alexander, but since most did not care that much, it was left as is.

Stepping forward, Alexander's vision caught onto a white robed youngster landing in front of him. His short brown hair swaying with the wind did not halter his imposing aura.

'Peak Heaven Surpassing Realm.'

Looking left and right from the corner of his eyes, Alexander noticed a couple more.

'Why are they stopping me?'

Another two women landed. One of purple hair and another of brown hair as well.

"You moronic bunch, why bother me?"

Sensing the might of Aurora behind, they frowned. As for Alexander, they were left perplexed. His attitude and atmosphere felt oppressive to the extreme, but his cultivation was invisible to them. They knew he was most likely not a mortal, but how strong could someone in here truly be?

Therefore, they needed to test it. Their greed had to test its luck. Because they wanted this place for themselves.

Because they were the new saints.

Cupping their fists, they introduced themselves.

"I am the great Saint of the Earth, Lagan."

"This mistress is the Saintess of the Undead."

'Another one?'

"And this goddess is the Saintess of Illusions."

"Alright. And I'm Alexander. Now give way, I have stuff to do here." Resuming his walk while shooing them away, Alexander did not give a crap about a few kids at the Heaven Surpassing Realm. He was already far too high up to care any longer.

"Halt! This is the Saint Hall, and as the newly appointed saints, we have the right to-"

"Shut up." Slapping the man's head right off his neck, the head smashed into the brown haired woman on the left.

Jumping at him in panic and fear, the purple haired woman had her guts punched through by a pristine fist.

Cleaning her bloodied hand, Aurora stepped back, just behind Alexander.

'Incredible. This Marguerite woman is incredible! Making women use external and men internal is not groundbreaking, but only so in theory! With the lack of scriptures and training methods for external cultivation, to have succeeded is nothing short of marvelous!'

Clear to his eyes, Aurora's internal cultivation was only in the Nihility Realm now, but her body cultivation was better than his own. Alexander's body was a Ten Thousand Calamities Body, while hers could compete with a middle first stage Dream Dominion Realm master.

Though, in a real fight, Aurora would not stand a chance against him. Hs internal cultivation was too high for it to be a challenge. Just a wave of his hand would kill three of her.

"What cultivation art are you practicing?"

Her teeth shining in happiness, she answered promptly.

"Dream Body Refining Art!"

'Sounds like a cosmetic scam. But I can't deny the potential of this. Hopefully this can go beyond the Dream Dominion Realm, though I don't think it is possible.'

Unfortunately, if the Sealed Gate, or even worse, Great World, lacked body cultivation arts, then Aurora would have to return to her internal ways.

While talking and thinking, Aurora closed in on him. He was aware of her higher speed, but did not care about it.

As for Aurora herself, she had wild thoughts rampaging around.

'He isn't reacting? Usually he always has this you better not approach me

aura, but not since his breakthrough. Can I? Should I?'

Gulping at the fear of getting her head blasted into mush, she could not resist the temptation. Taking a fast step forward, she accelerated, wrapping her arms around him. Even with her tall height, her head could not even reach his shoulder blades.

His body stopping, Alexander did not turn around, only letting it playout.

"…"

'He isn't mad, is he? He wouldn't kill me for a hug, right? Right???' Sweating profusely for the wrong reasons, Aurora still kept her arms tightly sealed around him.

"Master… can we talk?"

"…"

'I'm pushing my luck, aren't I?!'