Chapter 54: Narrowest Path

Leon had already begun thinking about what he needed to do next. "Since Body Tempering cultivation is progressing as fast as it can. To the point of almost tearing my meridians and there is no way to progress immortal cultivation without a spirit root. Then what I have to do now is Self Cultivation."

Maya glanced at him from her side of the saddle. "Now?"

"It's the best use of my time." Leon continued circulating his Qi as the mount carried them through the shifting snow. "The early stage of Self Cultivation is any form of self-expression. Usually, it's the most neutral form of it." He raised one hand, watching faint, yellow traces of internal energy move across his fingers. "For me, that was Linked Energy Manipulation."

Maya nodded slowly. Leon had spent years reflecting on himself before ever arriving in this world; every weakness, obsession, contradiction, desire, and fear had been examined from countless angles. That deep, brutal understanding had allowed him to blow past the early stage of his cultivation path almost immediately.

"Then comes the mid stage," he paused, centering his internal awareness. "That's where you're required to express the entire spectrum of yourself."

"Your entire spectrum?"

"People have different sides to themselves—different aspects that make up who they are," Leon looked at his hand again. "In my case, each side is represented by a color." The colors had never felt foreign to him; they were simply different parts of himself. His patience, his ambition, his curiosity, his anger, his compassion, his ruthlessness, his determination—the countless pieces that make him who he is. He had been able to cycle through the entire spectrum smoothly because he understood those parts of himself. At least, he thought he did.

Leon adjusted his posture as the beast ground its hooves into the frost. "Later, between the enlightenment from my breakthroughs, the rush of fighting, and everything I'd already experienced throughout my life, I barely managed to break into the late stage."

Maya looked at him. "And you didn't know what the requirement was?"

"Not at the time," Leon shook his head. "I learned it gradually as I became more familiar with the realm. Back then though I instinctively did what I had to do."

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He had eventually discovered the exact condition. The late stage required him to name one form of his self-expression, and he had named almost everything: his techniques, his modes, his abilities, and his various applications of Qi. Yet somehow, he still hadn't reached the peak of the Self Expression Realm. Leon frowned. Why? What was missing? He had named almost everything he could think of, so why hadn't it been enough?

"Even I have hit a bottleneck. No wonder self cultivation is considered the narrowest path. How is anyone else supposed to cultivate it?!"

---

Before he could pursue the theoretical bottleneck any further, Lyra's mount drew closer, breaking his train of thought.

"The mounts of the Stone Skin people aren't able to keep up with the military mounts," Lyra called out over the howling gale. "We have to leave them behind. We can't slow down for them." She looked ahead at the path. "Push the mounts to run faster again."

Leon glanced back through the whiteout. The other Champions were already falling farther behind. "Well, even if they fall behind, they'll either delay the Night Guest or eventually be able to follow our trail. I'm more concerned about the mounts, though. Ours are better, but they also get tired." His eyes shifted toward Lyra's rigid back. "On the bright side, Lyra doesn't seem entirely antagonistic toward us."

Maya looked at him. "What do you want me to do?"

"I'll push our mount close to theirs," Leon thought for a moment, matching their speed. "I want you to ask her about the Night Guest."

Maya nodded, preparing herself. "About what?"

"Why are we running so far? Is the Night Guest really that much stronger than her?" He frowned, his hyper-intuition probing the anomaly. "And what level of power is it at? Also-" Leon raised his brows "Well that's new. Maya looks over there. It's my first time seeing a guiding light of the deceased spinning constantly like it's a Beyblade. Usually it just points in 1 direction."

"Yes that's so weird. Do you want to investigate?"

"No...everyone is running. Stopping would make us the last in this trail. I am not going to be in the last position when we are escaping something.

---

Maya moved closer as Leon urged their mount forward, and soon they were riding directly alongside Lyra. Maya hesitated for several paces before finally speaking.

"Lyra."

Lyra glanced over, her silver feathers shifting slightly.

Maya took a deep, steadying breath. "I truly view you as a friend. I even subconsciously relaxed enough to tell you a story about our past." She looked down at the reins. "I didn't want to keep it a secret, but I had to listen to Leon. Listening to him has always proven to be right so far." Maya lowered her head. "I'm sorry."

Lyra remained silent for several long seconds, her hard expression softening into a shadow of sadness. "Okay."

Maya blinked. "Okay?"

"I understand," her voice remained subdued, the initial sting of betrayal giving way to military pragmatism.

Maya hesitated before pivoting to the tactical questions Leon needed answered. "Why are we running so much? Is the Night Guest really that much stronger than you? What level of power is it at?"

Lyra's expression changed, turning cold under her hood. "The Night Guest isn't measured with strength."

Leon immediately looked toward her, his amber eyes locking onto her profile. Maya frowned. "What do you mean?"

Lyra's eyes remained fixed blindly on the path ahead, her grip tightening until the leather groaned against her gauntlets. "That's the problem. You can't compare it to a cultivator. To begin with no one even knows what it is. Since everyone who meets it either dies regardless of their strength or they get teleported to a random place without their memories. The Night Guest doesn't need to be stronger than you."

Lyra turned her head slightly to look directly at Maya through the swirling snow. "It just needs to find you."