“One Swing To Separate Heaven And Earth!”
I put everything I had into the attack and then some. My treasured blade disintegrated from the amount of energy I put into the attack. But I didn’t target Ix. There was no chance of hurting the demonic cultivator Ix. My earlier attack had shown how pointless that was. He was the wrong target. The words I had heard earlier lingered in my mind.
I targeted the opening in the crystal chamber holding the Gu. I was striking at the Gu. If it was damaged, I didn’t know what would happen, but I knew it would be a lot worse for Ix and I might avoid eternal torment or some other horrible fate.
“Stop!” Everything stopped in place. I could think, but my heart and blood were no longer moving. Even the metal plates rotating beyond the platform had frozen in place. The only thing still moving was the sword slash I had unleashed. And it was slow, crawling forwards at a snail’s pace.
My slash continued onwards, cutting through everything in its path, even the energy that sought to stop it. The slash was slowly diminishing, but it would reach its target, however small. What would have bisected an army was going to be a pinprick. But I knew that everything was perfectly balanced to form the Gu.
These billions of arrays plates to make up this singular formation were for one purpose. To carefully contain and compress all the energy within the Gu. There were probably other functions, but it was already an immense undertaking. The crystalline container was only to make it hard to interfere. If Ix had never gotten up from his throne to step about, this would have all been impossible. If Shen hadn’t opened up the crystalline container to try and get the Gu, this would have been impossible.
Everything had come togeather in this singular moment, creating an opportunity. Even my earlier attack had caused Ix to lower his guard against whatever I might do. He had been willing to directly tank my previous attack and didn’t think anything of it. So why would he worry about the next attack?
As for attacking the Gu itself, that thought probably wasn’t a huge concern after Shen dove to take it. Who would try to destroy the ultimate power, which in turn would see themselves and everything nearby destroyed as well? When the outcome was worse than death and there was no other option, I had taken the only chance I had.
This entire place, everything I had seen and heard, all pointed to one unescapable conclusion. That Ix prioritized the Gu above all else, even his own safety. He wouldn’t sacrifice his own life or continued existence, since a demonic cultivator valued such things too highly. But the Gu was a very close second. You don’t spend how much time building a Gu Container and drawing the ire of powerful beings just to escape and give up at a little setback.
I might not know anything else about Ix, but I knew that much about his mentality. He would never let the Gu be destroyed or damaged if he could help it. Whatever reason he needed it to reach a higher level of power, was not something he would easily find again, if ever.
Ix had been standing near me, so he was behind the slash I had unleashed. A moment too slow to stop me from unleashing my attack. Even if he also had some sort of time manipulation power, it wasn’t enough. My slash was just strong enough to not be completely stopped by him. Ix rushed forward towards the opening of the Gu Container and leapt forward. He grabbed onto my sword slash the moment the edge of it struck that black orb that was the Gu.
A tremendous of energy was released. Far higher than anything I had ever experienced. Far higher than was safe. “I will not be defeated by anything!” Ix roared as the energy surged. The sheer pressure alone was enough to increase my cultivation, but I didn’t dare try to take any energy in, otherwise my soul would probably be swept away or wiped out. If I didn’t have a body, my soul would have been vaporized instantly from the sheer amount of energy coming from the Gu.
Ix was frozen in place for a moment, as the energy released from the Gu blasted into him at point blank range. But that was not enough to slow him down or deter him. Ix closed his gloved hand and my slash shattered, doing no more damage to the Gu than the smallest of cuts. A pinprick, if anything. But the slash already had a follow up effect. The surrounding plates began to melt from the increasing energy. Space seemed to twist around the Gu itself as it released more and more energy into the surrounding environment.
I had destabilized it, which had released all the stored up energy, which in turn had disrupted the massive formation around us. The formation that was used to stabilize and build the Gu. “NO! Stay togeather dammit!” Ix roared and placed both hands around the Gu as the released energy got even worse. The damage to the surrounding formation was only compounding the problem that I had created.
“You! I swear I will have my revenge one day! Even if it takes a billion eternities, you will suffer for this!” Ix screamed in rage as I felt a profound sense of fear. I looked around for some way off this slowly melting platform and to escape but there wasn’t any. The gravity that had been coming from the platform failed as whatever array that created the environment was too damaged to continue working.
Ix brought up the Gu to his hood. It was wobbling and distorting. His black robe began to disintegrate slowly. He shoved the Gu under his hood. Please die horribly. The surrounding energy was still high, and the array plates were turning into melted blobs of metal.
“Yes. The chains that have bound me are breaking free.” I couldn’t just stand around and watch him achieve ultimate power. The Gu may have been half baked, but it was clear that Ix wasn’t worried about getting indigestion. I flew over the opening of the crystalline container to the pitch black throne and began looking at the nearby controls that were somehow still solid.
Thankfully they were labeled. The energy present in the descriptions was breaking apart, but I could just about make out their meaning. I hit a button and the lid of the crystal container began to lower. If it could hold a Gu, hopefully it could hold the demonic cultivator Ix.
“Time, space, fate, luck, destiny, useless concepts. Only true power matters,” Ix said in reverence, caught up in his issues while the lid closed on him, sealing him inside. I let out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, the surrounding energy was still massively increasing.
The formation in the inner citadel was designed to form the Gu. But the outer portion of the citadel was still sending in energy and managing the collapse of this Gu Container. The surrounding energy had stabilized to a degree. The platform was melting, but the controls, throne, and the crystalline container that was Ix’s new home were fine.
Ix seemed focused on trying to contain the Gu inside of him. I couldn’t tell how it was going and didn’t want to ask. If he exploded, hopefully the crystalline container would handle the force of such an event. It seemed quite sturdy, so I was hopeful. Or maybe someone could pick Ix up and teach him a lesson. He seemed to have an endless well of powers and abilities to draw upon.
“Anyone available for a rescue?” I shouted out but there was no response. I tried to think what would now happen, trying to figure a way out of this mess. The energy would increase and then spread outwards while the Gu Container collapsed. Eventually the outer citadel would be wrecked enough, completely collapsing the Gu Container. There was still that sealed Chaos creature and this much energy might disrupt the Firmament enough to allow other Chaos creatures to show up.
I needed to escape on my own. Unfortunately, there was no convenient path for me to escape on. Wasn’t that supposed to be a rule of these mega-structures, to have an escape vehicle like the Infinite Ring Complex? I needed to break the boundary of this place, to stop the energy build up, otherwise I might even melt. Without the previous tempering I would have melted from all the surrounding energy.
I continued to look over the controls. Ix would want to do everything from his throne. He didn’t want to travel about, or have a separate control hub. He wanted everything under his control. I needed to find a solution here at the source of power controlling this mega structure. The fact he hadn’t put in safeguards showed his overconfidence or that this place might have been created by others before Ix ate them. Regardless, his mistake was to my benefit.
Thankfully Ix had imbued the controls with labels unlike the rest of the citadel. Making a mistake on what a button did was probably too great a risk even for him. If he wanted to fire the primary weapon on the citadel, but purged the Gu instead, that would have been a huge mistake. There were controls for the rate of collapse and the barriers surrounding the Gu Container. I looked at the knobs and switches while hesitating for a moment.
If they were disabled, the Gu Container should go back into the Firmament without any kind of spatial barrier separating the edge of this place and the Firmament. That would allow anyone inside the chance to escape, but also allow interference from the outside. I was just a small fish, hopefully whatever showed up would target Ix and not me. I disabled the barriers with only this single moment of hesitation.
Everything seemed to tilt sideways as I felt a massive shift around me. A staticky display indicated that the spatial and temporal barrier enclosing the Gu Container had been eliminated. The Gu Container was no longer a container, it had emerged into the Firmament. Escape was now possible. I just had to get as far away from this place as possible. All the barriers had been completely removed and there would be no more collapse or energy channeled into this inner citadel or the Gu. I did feel the pressure of energy lighten slightly, which was a relief. I wasn’t about to melt.
Ix continued to remain in the crystalline container, which was a relief. He clearly harbored a massive grudge against me. I planned to travel very, very far away in the Firmament and keep going some more. The Firmament was supposed to be infinite and I was going to put that to the test once I left the remains of the Gu Container. Ix didn’t look he was about to explode from unlimited power any time soon, he was just focused on taking it all in.
Energy surged past me once more. I felt a profound sense of danger. Space twisted across the remains of the platform from the pitch black throne I was sitting on. A worm like creature came through. But it was twisting in ways that made it hurt my eyes. It took me a moment to realize what it was. A Temporal Hunter! I hadn’t been lied to, that Chaos creature really was after me. The energy had increased enough for this thing to break through the layers of reality to consume.
My mind raced as more and more space began to twist around the Chaos creature as it headed for me. I needed to do something! Well, there were two very dangerous things present, it was time to add them togeather and see what would happen.
I leapt off the throne and flew to the place opposite the Chaos creature, with the crystalline container. The crystal container with Ix inside of it. Placing him between me and the Temporal Hunter. If anyone could defeat Ix, it would a Chaos creature. If anyone could defeat a Chaos creature, it would be Ix. The Temporal Hunter continued to twist space in a mind bending way as it began to move towards me. I didn’t even have a sword, but I brought out two guns. I wouldn’t go down without a fight.
I had no idea if the crystalline container would stop the Temporal Hunter. Everything here was so far away from my previous experiences, I was just hoping I made the right choice to survive.
The Temporal Hunter twisted in a way that bent space and its body. What appeared solid was somehow twisting around like an Escher painting. The energy it was giving off it me, and I could feel the energy trying to invade me and twist me apart as the Temporal Hunter approached.
Running might help, but I knew that the Chaos creature would intercept me with ease, using some crazy method. It could move through time. While my past might be hard to reach, the energy was high enough across the entire inner citadel it would catch me no matter what.
When the Temporal Hunter finally reached the crystalline container, I held my breath, even though I didn’t need to breathe. The surface twisted around as the Temporal Hunter moved into the crystalline container with ease. Ix was caught up in trying to handle the damaged the Gu. For a moment I thought the Temporal Hunter would move around Ix. But then it paused and turned towards the demonic cultivator. Yes, he was much more delicious prey. Eat him, not me. I am just thin meat and bones. He has a Gu inside of him.
Whatever protections the Gu had against Chaos, weren’t enough when there was a Chaos creature right on top of Ix. The extra dimensional worm like creature twisted around Ix who began to struggle. I hid behind the throne as a crack appeared in the crystalline container.
A massive shockwave of energy and force exploded outwards. Chunks of the crystalline container went flying, smashing everything in their path. The platform, controls, and the array plates were all blasted backwards. The pitch-black throne wasn’t even affected in the slightest as several fragments bounced off of it.
“AHHHHHH!” The scream from Ix was one filled with despair and suffering. It warmed my heart with joy. Two great threats to my life were taking each other out. Now the question was, which one would win?
“I will not be defeated! NEVER! You want to eat me, Ix The Unending! The one who has been to Chaos and returned. No one consumes me, I will consume you!” I took a look to see what was happening around the edge of the pitch black throne as waves upon waves of energy were being released from the confrontation. I felt that my eyeballs would melt in my head, but I needed to know. My curiosity and desire to see was a bit too much. Ix was twisted up and it seemed like both he and the Temporal Hunter were trying to eat each other. The space was twisting more and more, making it hard to see where one began and the other ended. That was a good outcome, no not good, it was the best outcome. Kill each other.
While I wanted to run, I also wanted to see what would happen. Would both of them die or would one escape and chase after me? I preferred not have super powerful beings chasing me. If they could both be wiped out here and now that would be perfect. Also, if one survived, there was no chance of escape.
“My body, you want, then you can have it and choke on it for all eternity.” That was when the scariest thing I could imagine happened. Space seemed to correct and Ix was looking directly at me. His fiery green eyes from underneath his hood stared directly at me. I felt my very soul trembling and barely withstanding the sheer malice and hatred he was sending in my direction.
Taken from NovelBin, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
I had felt mad about things before. I knew for a fact that Ix was trying to kill me with his gaze and direct energy manipulation alone. Without the Temporal Hunter wrapped around and consuming his body, I would have been instantly vaporized, mind, body, and soul. Even constrained as he was the sheer rage being sent in my direction made my heart literally still in my body and my blood stop moving. My mind went completely blank, unable to think of anything. My soul bending under the pressure.
“And I won’t forget about you, young cultivator. Yuan Zhou. You think you are clever. You think a little bit of luck from that bastard is enough to truly stop me. Your little time loop with another soul is nothing but a parlor trick. Your little pet is nothing more than a temporary annoyance. You have just ensured your doom. For I will return. I always return. For while I seek to escape the chains of Fate, they forever protect me. No being may kill me. This has been etched into the foundations of Reality itself. So, run. So, hide. Across the entire Firmament. Across all of Reality. Across time and space. I will not forget. I will not forgive. This is but a minor setback. For I am Ix The Unending! SPRITUAL DISPLACEMENT!”
Ix’s fiery green eyes went out under his hood. Ix’s robed form began to burn with black and white flames. The Temporal Hunter let out a scream that hurt my head and ears as everything seemed to tilt, even my sense of time was disrupted. I felt my soul crack from the scream. Looking back at the confrontation between the two, the Temporal was being killed by the black and white flames. Chunks of the Chaos creature were breaking off and being consumed by the flames into nothingness.
I puked out a mouthful of blood as my heart and blood started moving again in my body. I was bleeding heavily, but still alive, if barely. Just witnessing such a thing and earning the anger of Ix was enough to severely hurt me.
For a couple of minutes, I just floated there, staring at the spot both of them had disappeared from. The energy in my surroundings was slowly decreasing. I was trying to not to think about everything Ix had said before he disappeared, leaving his body behind. Well, it would probably take him a very long time to recover from losing his body. The Gu was completely gone as well.
Well, I would count that as a victory. Ix might still be alive, but he had lost his body and who knows what damage was done to his soul. While he might have escaped, I was going to run very far away and not stop running. If he was going to chase me down, I would make it very hard for him. There was only one path for me now, away from here and Ix’s eventual return.
I didn’t want to move. Everything hurt, even my soul and mind. Note to self, don’t get involved in such high level battles. Just being nearby wasn’t good for my health. “Anyone willing to rescue me?” I asked out loud and there was no response. Of course things couldn’t be that easy. I still in the middle of the citadel at what used to be the center of the Gu Container.
This place was prime salvage and had drawn the ire of a lot of super organizations based on the range of beings I had seen pulled into the Gu Container. They probably had some way to check if Ix was still around or not. With him gone and the barrier no longer present, this place was a gold mine of high level resources and possible knowledge.
As much as I just wanted to keep floating and doing nothing, I now had to haul my ass out of here and escape into the wider Firmament. Hopefully I would find a vessel I could appropriate or a super organization willing to give me a lift. While my ability to fly and move across distances with spatial slashes was nice, it would still take forever to get anywhere. The Firmament was too freaking massive and I needed to start putting distance between me and Ix’s eventual return.
Looking around, my gaze locked onto the most obviously valuable item that hadn’t melted or been destroyed. I floated over to my target for strategic resource acquisition. I tried to put the pitch black throne into my spatial storage, but it wouldn’t go in. Even pushing on it, didn’t budge it in the slightest. A shame to leave something so valuable behind, but it appeared to be locked into the surrounding space itself. Some special technique was probably required to move it.
It was probably some super special relic. The way the throne was pitch black and smooth. Perhaps the remnants of a more powerful being than Ix that had been lost or forgotten. Or perhaps he had created it. I had no way of knowing and it felt a shame to leave something so valuable behind.
The controls were broken apart and partially melted. None of the displays were still working. The surrounding metal plates had turned into floating blobs of metal. The platform was heavily deformed, but still remained in two larger chunks. The remnants of the crystalline container had been blasted away and I didn’t see any. That only left the pitch black throne. I checked all around it and then underneath it, carefully feeling the surface.
My hands came across a slightly recessed button on the flat bottom. The throne had a back, two armrests, and a flat bottom. Simple, but that was what made me think that the base might be hiding something, since it was so blocky. I hesitated, but my danger sense wasn’t triggering. I pushed the button and a panel on the bottom of the throne flipped open.
There was a small hilt inside of the hidden compartment floating in place, but no blade that I could see. It was clear that it was a hilt of something, since there was a guard, pommel, and grip. I carefully grabbed the hilt and pulled. It barely moved, feeling incredibly heavy. Whatever it was made out of wasn’t normal.
There was no blade, just a hilt. It looked like a hilt for a blade. I had been hoping the blade might have been made of the same material as the throne, but since they were pitch black I wouldn’t be able to see it. I couldn’t sense anything either from the hilt. It was probably some powerful item. I couldn’t store in my spatial storage either.
I pushed a tiny bit of energy into it, and the energy was quickly pulled somewhere, and the hilt was able to move more easily for a brief period of time. Whatever this weapon was, it was clearly energy hungry. The opened panel snapped shut and then the throne disappeared with a pop in the thin atmosphere.
Whelp, there went that treasure. There was nothing else of value that I could see. I tried to put the hilt in my spatial storage. There was some resistance, but in finally went in. Not something to quickly move in and out. I would figure the weird hilt later. It was time to escape.
Just thinking about the mess that the former Gu Container was headache inducing. As I floated through the inner citadel, pushing and collecting blobs of the high grade metal, I could only imagine the chaos outside. It was going to be a huge mess. The massive formations in the outer citadel were still maintaining the environment, but it was open to the Firmament.
Most super organizations didn’t do this. They had spatial barriers to control the environment. Normally this was for control in order to make the space livable in some way or create a hell like Ix had. A properly bounded area was much easier to work with for formations and arrays. An open environment like this, was also much harder to protect.
While some beings had made the area covered much greater like the Infinite Ring Complex and this Gu Container, others often made the spatial spaces smaller, like the Heavenly Alliance. It would make these spaces easier to protect. The downside was that if the barrier was broken on a smaller spatial container, things would go much worse for anything inside the container as everything emerged into too small a space.
Thankfully the Gu Container was overly large, so there wasn’t some life ending spatial effect when the boundaries to the Gu Container were disabled. Also the environmental controls were like managed by the outer citadel. It appeared that most of the stuff to manage the Gu Container was located there, while the inner citadel was responsible for creating the Gu.
Most likely the Gu Container would have collapsed to just around the outer citadel, where the defenses would have wiped everything out. The outer citadel and the rest of the defenses were to buy time for when Ix decided to consume the Gu. While he was clearly incapacitated when it had been damaged, something of that level of power would probably require some time to properly us.
The citadel was designed to repel large scale and powerful assaults. There were enough safeguards in place to intercept people sneaking by in the gap between sections. Once the Gu was complete, there would be no need to draw in further energy from the outer citadel either, so it could be sacrificed without worry. Only the inner citadel would matter, since the massive formation was meant to stabilize the Gu.
All of this had been cut off near the end, but not at the appointed end. The barrier sphere had broken. The ocean of blood and poured through. The plasma or star around the citadel was probably offline, since no more energy was being taken in. That was something Ix would have most likely controlled directly as the main super weapon of the citadel. I didn’t see him leaving that to some automated system.
The formations in the outer citadel were probably still intact to varying degrees, but with heavy damage. That meant the environment outside would be a complete and utter mess. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it looked like and the best way through it. Well, just one layer at a time.
I got to the juicy center of the Gu Container, now it was time to get back out. Since everything hadn’t been destroyed, this likely meant that there might be survivors as well. At least my spatial storages were full of valuable metal infused with energy. While it wouldn’t be easy to rework, it would be a valuable commodity if I needed to trade.
It took a long time to make it to the edge of the inner citadel. However Ix had dragged Shen and myself to him was much master than my traveling method. I was like a scooter compared to an airplane. It took hours to cross the immense distance. It was incredibly frustrating to move so slowly, but there was nothing I could easily do to change this. I couldn’t go too fast either, since my body would impact the floating bits of metal.
There was no one else in the inner citadel and the slight glow from the array plates had disappeared. Everything felt a lot more sinister since there was very little ambient light. Whatever light there was, was occurring naturally from whatever process happened in the Firmament. At least the corrupted energy was quickly dissipating.
That was another concern I had. Would Ix be able to track me through the energy I had consumed and tempered myself with? Once I got somewhere safe, I would have to seriously look into my cultivation. The house was originally solid, but the interior was a mess, now there were cracks everywhere, and there might be rot in the foundation.
It seemed completely unfair to make it so far but suffer so much. But I wasn’t about to complain, since I had managed to survive. I heard Ix clearly curse out the mysterious man for the luck I had, but was it really luck or something else? I didn’t feel like my actions were under the influence of anything, but it was hard to say. I had taken the only path to survival that I had seen.
With the Temporal Hunter wiped out as well, I felt a bit happy. Sure, Ix might come back one day, but he was clearly suffering. As for his other claims, it was hard to say how much was truth and how much was bluster. I knew he was powerful, powerful enough to hold back weak Chaos creatures.
That made me concerned about the one he had sealed outside the Citadel. While I pushed back on its effects, there was still a huge concern if it might return. I needed to find a separation chamber or a higher power to give me a complete checkup. The Xyon Front would be my first choice, since I was familiar with them.
While I might have reached the rank of immortal, I still had a far way to go. Or as Shen would have put it, level four. I still wasn’t sure about him. He seemed knowledgeable, but he had a few screws loose in his head. I had warned him countless times that it was too dangerous, but then he got himself transformed and then killed.
It was funny in a way. He had been aged rapidly and turned to dust. He most likely was stuck in place experiencing eternity as he wasted away. I had no doubt that was what Ix had done. He clearly had time powers as well and would choose the most unpleasant outcome. While I was deathly afraid and disliked him, Ix was impressive.
Thinking about everything that had happened, it was clear that several low probability events had all come togeather to ensure his defeat. The most mind bending was that he was somehow responsible for my reincarnation, killing the original Yuan Zhou.
As I flew, I couldn’t help but ponder several questions. Was I always destined to end up here with Ix using that skill on me? Had the original Yuan Zhou come here and then everything retroactively changed itself to match my experiences, but still lead me here? I knew it was pointless to think about such things, where causality might be broken, but I couldn’t help but wonder.
There were supposedly higher powers out there. Was it Fate that led me to this point? Could I have died before now? It hurt just thinking about the possibilities, but my curiosity was immense. If the Temporal Hunter hadn’t latched onto me when I had gotten past my first bottleneck, what would have happened? Would someone or something else have arrived to stop Ix?
I didn’t bother sighing or shaking my head. I had survived. Whatever else might have happened or occurred, that was the most important thing. While I planned to rest and take a vacation, I had seen a glimpse of even greater heights. Cultivation really was a never-ending journey of discovery and gaining strength.
Perhaps another truth I would come to realize. To go further than any other being before me. Just thinking about such a thing sent a shiver up my spine and through my soul. In time, it would take a lot of time. But I had all the time I wanted now. The Gu Container was broken, the demonic cultivator vanquished to parts unknown, and I was an immortal.
I noted that the damage to the array plates got less as I went on, but they were all still melted and completely deformed. But they held togeather better rather than breaking apart into smaller blobs. I still wasn’t sure if the Gu had been a good or bad idea by Ix. He had managed to get it at the end. I couldn’t even begin to fathom the amount of power he would have had, if I hadn’t messed things up for him.
There was zero sympathy for the demonic cultivator, even if he was impressive. I could respect the sheer power, tenacity, and planning even if I thought he was crazy and insanely dangerous. He wanted to flavor me emotions before consuming me. He tried to crush my soul backwards through time, or he did it to the original Yuan Zhou, still confusing, but a very clear sign of his strength.
I saw the edge of the inner citadel up ahead. If I ever built a super structure like this, it would have an escape vehicle. Heck, the escape vehicle would be something like that throne and I would never get off of it. Just have more and more defenses layered on each other. And get a war machine as good measure to deal with any intruders. At least it wasn’t out there building more drones and bases.
Another important lesson I had learned and a clear reason why powerful people didn’t fight. While it might be harder to kill the more powerful, they still went down. All that accumulation, knowledge, and power had all been wiped out in the battle between the various forces and Ix. Compared to a weird sword hilt and chunks of metal, the value gained was nothing compared to the value that had been lost. Fighting was a losing proposition, especially if you lost.
While I didn’t like fighting, I would need to get much better at it. Ix had clearly shown the value of a wide range of techniques. Also, I needed to pay attention to or figure out the higher powers that kept being mentioned. I didn’t want to end up like Ix, taken out by a bunch of low probability events that chained togeather in some confusing event. I wasn’t even sure what to call what happened with my soul, except confusing.
I had lost both of my blades which was frustrating, including my nice new blade. I also thought about why I was able to strike at the Gu and not Ix. It was obvious that Ix had defenses, powerful defenses. He was also an aware being. The Gu was an unstable cultivation artifact that had to absorb more and more energy. It couldn’t have defenses, since that would counter its creation process.
If I had shown up earlier, it might not have been so unstable. If I had shown up later, Ix might have started the process of consuming the Gu. Again, was it luck, fate, or just pure chance? Every place I had gone to, I had chosen in some way, except two. The Great World which was part of the Infinite Ring Complex and this Gu Container. The first brought me back to the Firmament and the second had this entire mess happen.
I doubted I would ever get the answers I wanted, which was incredibly frustrating. I hated things happening to me that I couldn’t explain. It felt like I should just imagine some kind of god or a wizard doing everything, like some superstitious idiot. There were explanations for everything, even if they didn’t make sense. Too much had happened to put it all as a coincidence.
Reaching the edge of the of the inner citadel, there were no cracks or other holes that I could see. But I couldn’t see that far with all the debris. I went to pull out a sword, but realized once more that I didn’t have one. There was an uncomfortable feeling that lingered when I wasn’t holding a sword in my hand. Another sign that I needed to fix my cultivation as quickly as possible to remove these kinds of lingering effects.
The metal I had picked up was too difficult for me to shape. Using my hand would be challenging. It might be possible, but I wasn’t at the level of skill where anything could be used as a blade. I might have consumed a Sword God and learned a few tricks, but I hadn’t become one.
Pushing against the metal, there was a slight give, but I couldn’t rip my way through. I punched the metal, coating my fist in energy. The metal gave way partially but then reformed as if it had never been dented. The self-repair feature of the metal was still going strong. I was definitely not waiting around to be found and killed by whatever eventually showed up here. I needed to escape no matter what.