Volume One: The Devil's Nature Never Changes
Arc: The Great Guerrilla War
While Liu Zai Hang was recovering, he thought:
(Well, I have used up two rare healing pills. I gave one to Lin Yuan, and I just took the other. But once I ascend to the Second Dimension, I will be able to obtain dozens of pills like these. The First Dimension is so poor that there is not enough power of Heaven and Earth to refine treasures, create pills, produce inscriptions, or construct formations. Because of that, such things have to be made by experts in those fields who can compress Qi sufficiently, unless they possess special techniques capable of doing so.)
After half an hour of recovery, the traces of his superficial wounds disappeared, and the bleeding from Liu Zai Hang's body stopped.
Suddenly, Liu Zai Hang noticed a gateway opening.
A white figure emerged from it.
It was the Writer.
However, Liu Zai Hang did not recognize him, as he had never seen him even once before.
The Writer snapped his fingers and repaired the damage to the existential layers, causing the White Page to return beneath the universe's layers and disappear from view.
However, he did not repair the destruction of the universes themselves.
He only repaired the exposure of the White Page and restored the Immortal Universe, leaving the other universes untouched.
The Writer then looked toward Liu Zai Hang and raised his hand.
A beam emerged from his finger and moved faster than Liu Zai Hang could even comprehend.
It pierced straight through his head.
Yet it caused him no harm…
Instead, Liu Zai Hang suddenly felt an enormous amount of energy flooding through his energy veins and Core Aperture.
He felt as though he were about to explode.
It was a breakthrough within the Path Initiation Realm.
From a distance, the Writer thought:
(Hah… Well, this is the last bit of help I will give Scarlet King. If not for the order from the manifestation of the Existential Emperor, I would not have helped Liu Zai Hang unless the Existential Emperor himself ordered me to.)
(In that case, I can only hear and obey. Otherwise, the Existential Emperor could erase me from existence and from every history across all eras with even a Ghairamengi-level erasure.)
Making Liu Zai Hang break through was extremely easy for the Writer.
Liu Zai Hang was a narrative being, while the Writer was the Absolute Master of Narrative and the master of the Mortal Dimensions.
He could erase a narrative from its very roots across all Mortal Dimensions, or create infinitely many complete narratives with fully established roots.
What the Writer had done was nothing more than manipulate the narrative of a narrative being.
The Writer returned through the gateway.
It closed behind him as he returned to his dwelling region between the Sixth and Seventh Dimensions.
Scarlet King, who had finally managed to stand, noticed that something was happening with Liu Zai Hang.
When Ikalat saw Scarlet King focusing on Liu's aura, he focused on it as well.
Scarlet King said:
"He is breaking through. This will be useful for narrowing the gap between Liu Zai Hang and Tian Lang, who may have already reached the eleventh level by now. During the auction, his aura was unstable. Either that was the result of an injury, or it was a sign that he was breaking through."
Ikalat asked, as Scarlet King's words made Tian Lang sound like a future enemy they would eventually confront:
"Why are you treating Tian Lang like an enemy?"
Scarlet King answered:
"Tian Lang is the leader of the Moon Sect. He is extremely ambitious and possesses his own logical pride. He would never allow himself to become the subordinate of someone like me, even if I am the Devil of Rebirth."
"He also would not agree to ally himself with us, even if we became a major force. We are an internal power closer to a militia, not a great power capable of competing with the sects."
"If not for Liu Zai Hang and the First Elder's support, the Dragon Gang would easily trample us."
"That leaves only one likely outcome: Tian Lang becoming our enemy, especially if our interests conflict."
Ikalat thought:
(But refusing an alliance does not necessarily mean direct hostility. He might simply choose neutrality.)
He tried to speak, but Scarlet King interrupted him.
"I know what you are thinking, but neutrality is the weaker possibility. It exists, but it is less likely than hostility."
"We are a rapidly rising force with someone as powerful as Liu Zai Hang beside us—someone who can be considered one of the five strongest people in the entire First Dimension."
"That alone would serve as a warning sign to Tian Lang. A powerful faction is rising alongside an overwhelmingly strong individual, and we may ascend to the Second Dimension while he remains trapped in the First."
"That directly threatens his goal."
"If we ascend to the Second Dimension and the sects choose us, he will remain in the First Dimension. Tian Lang is ambitious. He wants to reach the greatest strength possible, and remaining in the First Dimension means being unable to advance any further, since the Path Initiation Realm is the final cultivation realm of the First Dimension."
"That creates a conflict of interests, which may eventually turn into direct hostility."
"And we do not want that, because Tian Lang alone could wipe the floor with us even without the intervention of his sect, which is the strongest sect in the dimension."
"That is why neutrality is less likely. Hostility benefits him more."
"Tian Lang alone can crush us and halt our rise instead of allowing us to grow rapidly and threaten his throne in the future."
Ikalat asked:
"But if Tian Lang has possibly reached the eleventh level, which is the peak of the Path Initiation Realm, then starting from the ninth level, the Will of the Dimension already begins slowly expelling cultivators."
"The higher their level rises, the more violently, forcefully, and quickly it pushes them out."
"The Will of the Dimension will begin rejecting him and attempt to expel him into the higher dimension. That means he will automatically reach the Second Dimension even if none of the Second Dimension sects choose him."
Scarlet King laughed.
"Short-sighted."
"The sects will injure Tian Lang and lower his cultivation level so he can remain in the First Dimension."
"And why would they do that?"
"So that a supreme central power remains in place to control the dimension."
"If Tian Lang ascends to the Second Dimension, then the strongest person in the dimension disappears. That would severely weaken the Moon Sect, and the other powers might attack and destroy it."
"That would destabilize the balance between the major powers of the First Dimension, creating problems for the Second Dimension sects and forcing them to intervene."
"And I know what you are about to say: Then why do we not simply raise our cultivation levels and ascend automatically?"
"But that would take too long, and I want to ascend quickly. I would lose more by remaining in the First Dimension."
"Put simply, there is only one seat for ascension, and it is obtained by winning the Bloody Sect War within this universe."
"The victorious team, along with several selected elders from that team's sect, will ascend to the Second Dimension, while all the other teams and everyone else remain in the First."
"If you, Lin Yuan, and I participate and win, we will ascend to the Second Dimension while Tian Lang remains behind."
"And if we win and ascend, then once the Will of the Dimension begins expelling Tian Lang, someone from the Second Dimension will descend and injure him so that he remains here."
"If we lose, the sects of the Second Dimension will support us so that we become the force maintaining balance within the dimension."
"And even if we lose, Mo Sheng gave me a technique capable of opening an enormous Heavenly Gate at the edge of the dimension, allowing us to travel directly into the Second Dimension."
"However, that gate would be open to everyone as well."
"So whether we win or lose, the possibility still threatens Tian Lang."
"Even so, we are currently being watched. We are extremely weak right now, so we are not an immediate threat to Tian Lang."
"We are a future threat."
Ikalat fell silent and thought:
(Well, as long as we possess a fast method of ascending to the Second Dimension…)
Ikalat spoke:
"Why do we not ascend to the Second Dimension right now?"
Scarlet King answered:
"The technique requires me to be in the Path Initiation Realm, and no one other than me can use it."
"Also, if we use it now, we will lose the opportunity to rob the sects and build enough strength for a good start in the Second Dimension instead of arriving there homeless and penniless."
"Besides, it would open the path for everyone, and I want to exploit the situation however I wish."
"Do not worry. I already have a plan in mind."
Scarlet King thought:
(Everything is planned. Destroy the Dragon Gang, enter the Sect War, plant soldiers to steal resources. If we lose, we use the technique. If we win, we ascend naturally.)
Scarlet King then moved toward Liu Zai Hang, whose breakthrough had begun.
The aura of the world started gathering around Liu's body, and a powerful, radiant yellow aura formed around him.
Scarlet King spoke:
"Now let us go protect him until he finishes his breakthrough. There is no need to keep talking about Tian Lang right now. He is not someone dear to us."
The two moved and stood beside Liu Zai Hang as he continued breaking through.
Qi began gathering inside his Core Aperture, condensing into the shape of a sphere.
A beam emerged from it and began breaking through the boundaries of the Core Aperture.
Scarlet King thought:
(The breakthrough process is exhausting. It relies on gathering all the Qi within your body into a single point and controlling it until it breaks through the boundaries of the Core Aperture by any means necessary.)
(You can use a beam, or shape the Qi into a weapon and shatter the upper section so that the Primordial Sea does not collapse.)
(If you break only the upper part of the Core Aperture, it expands and becomes larger. That means your cultivation level rises.)
[Two Days Later]
Ikalat looked toward Scarlet King.
"Man, I am going to sleep. I cannot even feel my legs anymore from standing for so long."
Scarlet King replied:
"Fine. When you break through too, I will go to sleep. I am not standing around for two days for your sake."
Ikalat looked down, gathered a ball of snow, and threw it at Scarlet King.
Scarlet King responded with a laser beam that erased the snowball.
"No time to play, Blackie."
Night had fallen over the area.
No one could see anything through the darkness except the glow of the distant universes and the traces of snow falling through the ongoing snowstorm.
Suddenly, an intense yellow beam erupted from Liu Zai Hang and illuminated the entire nearby region.
When the light faded, Liu Zai Hang stood there.
All of his injuries had healed during those two days, and he had risen to the ninth level of the Path Initiation Realm.
"Hah… I feel young again. Breaking through is wonderful."
Ikalat replied:
"You are already a child. You are not even two hundred and twenty years old."
From Scarlet King's side came another voice.
"My eyes are burning. I cannot see anything."
Ikalat laughed.
"Hahaha! I have eyes on my chest, and they are covered by my clothes. I do not have any eyes on my head, so I was not blinded."
Scarlet King rubbed his eyes.
"Come on. Let us go check the two spacecraft."