Chapter 28: Untitled book

He’d never seen this book before. Inexplicable. Eerie, even, since memorization and familiarity was the requirement for information to be eternalized in his Mind Palace.

Nothing here was corporeal. These were just his memories. No other person could insert an unknown book here like a real library.

So, then, how did something outside of his own knowledge manifest here? And attached, no less, at the top of the spire containing the Ascension Arts of pinnacle cultivators.

Something drew his eyes back to the notebook. Leatherbound, it looked more like a journal or memoir than it did an Ascension Art.

There was no title in its cover, no identifiable aspect of its physical qualities that gave way to its true origin.

Curious, he opened the first page.

He expected to see runic symbols and intricate design of circuits like all texts written here in his Mind Palace. Instead, he saw only letters and words written in plain Ræzoňic structure.

[What is the pinnacle of cultivation?

Is it indomitable strength, or unbreakable immortality?

I reckon it’s about an individual’s gumption.

Their truest, inner sense of morality.]

It’s Athan’s penmanship.

He looked around rapidly, eyes scanning the entire Library of Ræzoň for any sign of his master’s shadow down below.

And for a second, he expected his master to appear hiding between the bookshelves, gliding like a ghost, laughing derisively at his student’s idiocy.

But there was nothing here. No one. The only sound came from the imagined breeze of the skies rushing through the entire library.

Is this another one of your tricks? Eren thought to himself. He wouldn’t put it past the old man to secretly instill a mysterious text in his Mind Palace just to mess with him.

He read past the first page.

[Regret fills my heart and soul.

Perfection, my ever longing desire.

I have, at last, made it whole.

A cultivation stoked with the universe’s fire.]

The hair on Eren’s arms stood on end as a realization dawned on him.

Could it be?

It’s an Ascension Art. And not just any Ascension Art, but the very same one that Athan had cultivated to the very pinnacle of Immoræ.

Amongst the cultivators that grazed the ceiling of the high heavens, only Athan’s Ascension Art was excluded from the Immortal Library of Ræzoň.

His master gave no real reason as to why he kept it from being published. Perhaps it was too difficult for mere mortals to comprehend. Or too dangerous for cultivators to try and replicate.

But in the entire time he’d apprenticed under Athan, his master had never taught him his Ascension Art. Even its name was confidential.

Athan mentored Eren about everything under the sun. His way of thinking, his schemes, his wit, his charisma—everything Eren would need to inherit the Palatine of Wisdom. Except for his Ascension Art. Even in Eren’s death, he refused to utter its cultivation procedure.

Eren laughed. It seemed that Athan couldn’t help but impart his student one last lesson in the end.

That cheapskate. He only revealed his greatest secret in my death.

Ever the softie, his master was.

His laughter subsided once the repercussions of this thought glanced through his mind.

Did Athan know? Was this a deliberate gift for him knowing that he’d end up back on Earth as a cultivator? The image of his master turned ever more enigmatic in his eyes.

No matter. He’d get his answers soon. The expedition would give him passage back to Immoræ.

He flipped through the pages of the unnamed book and readied himself to absorb its contents.

This was going to be his Ascension Art. Not even the [Immortal Art of Heaven’s Will] could compare to this notebook in his hands.

As strong as the Righteous Realm was, no matter how deep their thousands of years of history was, they still fell to the hands of his master.

Heaven’s Breaker. Athan gained that title when he broke the sole rule of the Righteous and unified all nine realms under one domain. His domain.

It’s how the Immortal Library of Ræzoň was created. The nine realms surrendered their sacred Ascension Arts, their Martial Manuals, their history books... everything. All because of Athan.

Eren flipped through the pages of the book until he found the runic symbols containing the Ascension Art. His eyes reflected the hand-drawn design of its inner circuits as the information began to sear directly into his mind.

>>>

>>>

>>>

The Immortal Library of Ræzoň dissipated into a haze of mist as he returned back to reality.

Fire flickered from the hearth of his VIP room, its palpable heat grounding him back to reality.

He closed his eyes, recounting the words now floating in his mind. His excitement flourished as he read deeper through the text.

Ascension Arts were spiritual in nature. No amount of practice or exercise or physical exertion could make him connect with his Dantian. It required deep meditation.

Visualization was the key, according to Athan’s Ascension Art.

He must create a proper image of his inner body. Not just his bones, his muscles, or his organs. He must imagine the soul at the center of his heart, the hidden meridians connecting his vital points, and the Dantian under his navel.

Steam rose from his skin, creating a soft, hazy aura around him as the visualization turned ever more solid in his mind.

Within a few seconds, he felt it. That electric feeling of Ræzoň.

It’s different from before. The [Masochist’s Dream] borrowed Ræzoň from his surroundings. They infused his bones, his muscles, his organs and instilled them with vitality. But soon after, that feeling would fade.

Not this time. That prickly feeling persisted in his skin, before moving downwards, straight into the Dantian located in his core.

It turned liquid upon its arrival. Like vapor condensing back into water.

A single drop of Ræzoň. The first step in cultivation.

Eren clenched his fists. He’d reached the vital part of the Ascension Art.

Now, he needed to command that drop of Ræzoň to create the ’veins’ in his body.

His knowledge of fluid mechanics came in clutch at this point. Imagining a thin tube connected to his dantian allowed him to leverage the capillary action of liquids to his advantage, making the drop of Ræzoň to flow upwards, against the pull of gravity.

A thin line of liquid Ræzoň ascended from his Dantian. A bisection at the center of his body leading all the way up to his head, before splitting directly towards his eyes.

This was the first stage in all Ascension Arts. Awakening the true vision of the cultivator.