Anti-Entropy, Salt Lake Base.
The existence of honkai is spread throughout this base. Laboratories experimenting with it have to be built in deep earth layers for precaution. In case something goes wrong, its impact can be isolated. It won't trigger the satellites placed by their rival organization, Schicksal.
Unbeknownst to all, a brand new energy introduced infinite possibilities with the honkai.
"This reminds me of that time. The reconstruction of your body."
"It does…"
Welt was asked by Tesla to conduct weekly tests of his Herrscher Power. The recreation of his physical body during the second eruption pushed his Herrscher Power to a brand new level.
The three hundred thousand souls housed within the Herrscher Core collectively helped him to reconstruct every single detail of his body. Welt Yang's will to protect humanity triggered that change.
Unfortunately, his improved Herrscher Core compatibility came with a price. His body bears injuries every time he uses the First Core's power.
Immortal Cultivation changed that.
The metaphysical Jing (body dantian) puts the body in an optimal state. It rapidly healed the injuries his body sustained throughout the years. All of that with the cost of spiritual qi.
"Aside from reconstructing more complicated things, can you use that again?"
Welt Yang knew what she talked about. The most special state of the First Herrscher Core is to utilize the support of three hundred thousand souls to construct extremely complicated things.
Above that would be to become the Herrscher of Truth, which was achieved by Bronya in-game.
"I am not sure."
"Well, it's alright."
Tesla was reminded of something.
"About the kid… he sent a blood and tissue sample."
He was slightly startled. Shi Tian made Welt Yang feel like he was talking to a mature adult, not a child. There must have been serious circumstances which forced him to mature, or so he thought.
"What did he say?"
"He wants to research its effects on people infected with honkai corruption. Einstein is already doing the starter work. No one else could work on it except for us."
"Why?"
"It emits a sense of intimidation. His samples have a factor missing in ordinary humans. Only Valkyries… and you Herrschers have it."
Welt Yang's time wasn't completely wasted. The three hundred thousand souls have various knowledge for him to study from. It wasn't hard to have the foundation of biological science.
"Evolution?" He asked.
"Right. It's the same attribute that sets you apart from humans."
Anti-Entropy knew about the existence of the Honkai Gestalt, the so-called Will of Honkai. It is the mastermind and pushing force behind the movements of honkai on Earth.
Its dimensionality level is far higher than humans. That is the same gap Tesla and Einstein saw on Shi Tian's samples, albeit far weaker.
Welt Yang sighed before speaking, "He mentioned the evolution of life with each realm progression. He must have reached the next realm."
"Foundation Establishment? It's theoretically comparable to the strongest A Rank Valkyries... even S Ranks."
The trio at Anti-Entropy studied the equivalents of immortal cultivators to Schicksal's Valkyries.
Early Stage Qi Refining Realm has physical strength comparable to B Rank Valkyries.
Middle Stage Qi Refining Realm did not differ much from B Rank Valkyries who fully utilized their Battlesuits.
Things change at the Late Stage. With a specific Cultivation Heart (Sword Heart; Spear Heart), spiritual consciousness can be used to mentally attack others. It can only be defended with mental-type honkai weapons and those with special practices (Blade Mantra).
A cultivator's advantage reaches another level in Peak Stage. Shi Tian demonstrated how to beat a simulated Templar-class honkai beast with proper planning.
If it extends to their variants or multiple of them, Shi Tian can only run. Their strong outer shell, huge shield, and mobility is off the charts.
With Foundation Establishment, they theorized its capability to easily defeat Templar-classes.
"Oops! I should have invited him for another simulation!"
Tesla faced Welt Yang as he placed his half-built Star of Eden inside a case.
"How's your progress?"
"I am somewhere in the middle stage."
"That fast?! I'm still in the early stage!"
*****
There are seven and a half cultivators including me. Fu Hua can be considered as half. She got her Sword Heart without being able to cultivate qi.
There are many reasons not to teach her for now. Her reliance on Otto is the biggest problem.
…
She's here again.
Kiana is busy eating her food. We found a burger joint and she craved burgers. The numbers of trays stacked on our table covered the two of us.
My spiritual consciousness exited from the soles of my feet. It swiftly extended on the ground, taking up more than half of this city.
The vast spiritual consciousness of Foundation Establishment silently scanned everything.
Soon, I found the source of our gaze. The gray-haired, blue eyes, future Class Rep of St. Freya: Fu Hua. She is literally sitting in a cafe across from us.
Since we came across her in that village, I knew things would be like this. I am more than confident she, or rather, Otto would leave Kiana untouched. For a while.
He said it himself in the game. He is a reasonable villain. The plans of these villains are somewhat predictable, more so when I knew Otto Apocalypse's goal.
He wouldn't make a move unless there is a certain chance. He hasn't come in contact with the Second Divine Key. The world bubble inside Durandal is still a work-in-progress.
My best bet is him assigning someone to keep a track on Kiana's movements.
I retracted my spiritual consciousness. The information I got using it turned into rapidly-flashing images.
My daze lasted for three seconds before recovering.
I should have used the [Encompassing Eyes].
I wouldn't need to recover like this with it active.
What a rookie mistake.
"What's wwong?"
"Swallow your food before speaking."
"Um."
A second later, a huge chunk of meat went to Kiana's stomach.
"Is there something? You used your spiritual consciousness just now."
"Nothing. I thought I detected a sign of honkai eruption or something."
With some reassurance, Kiana carried on eating.
"How are Seele and Bronya? The things given by your technique increased by a lot. I feel like I'd only need three more weeks to break through!"
"They made progress in the late stage."
"That fast?!"
Bronya and Seele took a month and a half to reach the middle stage; two months to complete it. Their cultivation experience is smoother than our early days. The late second grade spiritual milk plus my "Gift of Tao" helped them greatly.
I can only wait until Kiana, Bronya, and Seele reach Foundation Establishment for their "Gift of Tao" to be more effective.
"That's it! Let's not go out for strolls until I reach the next realm!"
Looking at her burning eyes, I can already foresee the upcoming days.