The shattering of the Shen dantian brings a challenge to the mind. It is the third and final step to step into Foundation Establishment. It is nothing to me with a Sword Heart. My thoughts and worries are sorted out well.
It is different from Kiana.
If I must say, it is her weakest point. Sirin is her biggest trouble when it comes to the mind.
Fortunately, Kiana's mental strength is steadily increasing during her Qi Refining Realm. Sirin will have less and less room to move. It will continue until Kiana is able to deal with her.
The more Kiana's realm grows, the lesser her chances of a comeback. It is a timer that will spell Sirin's doom.
Without Otto's interference, she can only affect Kiana mentally. Her moves are limited.
Not long after, Kiana's mental state started to get better.
In an instant, she completed the process of sublimating her Shen dantian. All three dantians are broken. The next step is to integrate them all in one dantian and the creation of spiritual qi veins.
Her talent shines in this regard. Her high grade Void Spirit Root made things very simple.
Rumble-!
Her surroundings got struck by a miniature earthquake. Some of the trees are leaning sideways. Some of them have their roots torn off the ground. It is a huge mess, just like my breakthrough.
I decided to activate my [Encompassing Eyes] for precaution. Numerous lines appeared on every item in my sight. It is so densely packed it gave me a headache.
One adjustment later, Kiana's string is the one left.
Kiana Kaslana. Best friend. 155 centimeters tall. Foundation Establishment. Early stage. Undergoing mental shock.
"Shi Tian."
..!
Kiana's voice cracked. It is my first time hearing her this vulnerable.
...
So it happens.
"I… I remember..."
The operation of my spiritual qi began. The target is none other than the small rock beside her feet.
I also canceled my [Two Phase Art]. She can't take the tribulation at this rate.
The dark clouds above slowly cleared up.
"Shi Tian."
Kiana's voice whispered. I can see her rapidly deteriorating mental state with my bare eyes.
The jian appeared in my grasp. It is smelted with the early second grade metal ruler, causing its grade to become early second grade as well. The [Sword Nurturing Pagoda] began to operate as well.
"Shi Ti—"
Before she could finish her words, an unprecedented amount of pressure descended. The spiritual qi within our surroundings began to co-exist with the honkai energy that started spawning out of nowhere.
Kiana…
She fell silent.
Buzz-!
The position switch between me and the rock worked. I stomped the ground, causing it to crack.
Rumble-!
My jian is directed towards Kiana. The distance between us is less than a meter apart.
Just then…
Crack-!
Two sets of black spears blocked my jian. The sword intent it held naturally got dissipated into the spears.
Aside from a few cracks, it did nothing else.
Time slowed down… literally.
My body is held to a pause. My [Encompassing Eyes] worked.
There are only two significant strings present. One from Kiana and the other came from thin air.
I scanned the blackened surroundings.
Time dilution. Light particles are suppressed. An artificial curvature in space and time.
My eyes moved towards Kiana.
Two traces of teardrops are visible on her face. She is still the same Kiana I knew… except for her golden eyes.
"She" contemptuously looked down on me.
Our eyes met.
…
The contingency plan is put to work.
I entered the state of [True Form]. A blinding white light appeared in my vision. The [Sword Nurturing Pagoda] responded as well.
The sound of bell chimes and the white light converged into a single point. It turned into an attack that aimed at the mind!
Cling-!
I regained my vision.
"Kuk..!"
Kiana… no, Sirin started to fall backwards. Her golden pupils briefly regained its ocean colors before reverting back.
The time dilution I was subjected to got broken.
"Worm..!"
Her voice sounded different. It sounded more childish.
Before I could react, a cross-shaped orange light appeared in front. It set off a blinding light, affecting even my spiritual consciousness.
I found myself in a grayish-pink world. There is nothing to it except huge rocks. I am left free-falling until I used my spiritual qi to fly.
I cut off the rocks' strings and focused on the string belonging to thin air.
Imaginary space.
Two words woke me up completely.
The time I have left is not long. That unease becomes stronger with each passing day. I have like, what? A month or two at most?
That intuitive guess appeared after the [True Form] came. It is strange, yet I find myself believing in it. When it comes to this timer, it is best to strike early than to be pushed into a corner.
Who knows, triggering it early might bring beneficial changes?
Although this is what I planned…
Nothing is certain in this world.
The best I can do is to help Kiana…
…before that disaster strikes me down.
*****
"Keuk..! Damn it!"
Sirin remained back on Earth. Her current ability to interfere with Kiana Kaslana, or rather, K-423 lies on her recollection of memories.
K-423 could not bear the memories of killing an entire valkyrie squad. She could not bear the thought of her hurting Siegfried. Her memories went as far as to see her true identity as a lab-born child and Sirin's experience in Babel.
The sublimation to Foundation Establishment pushes the mind to another level. Her forgotten memories came back due to its nature.
Sirin used this mental shock to take control of K-423's body.
Unfortunately, she underestimated the impact of immortal cultivation. Sirin's remnant soul resided inside the broken second herrscher core. She naturally experienced everything Kiana did.
It was for such a reason did she feel a crisis. Once Kiana becomes stronger, she will not have a chance for a comeback.
"This is a futile struggle!"
Nobody else responded to her. Sirin tried to control her body. It felt extremely heavy. She tried to control the spiritual qi Kiana has. It did not work either.
K-423…
Kiana's ego strongly resisted her.
"You like that worm, right?!"
Sirin cannot move Kiana's body much.
She can't control Kiana's spiritual qi either.
All she has is the Herrscher Core. Even so, the honkai energy she can mobilize is limited. The best she can absorb is the honkai energy from the Core… which is not much.
In desperation, she began to flood her body with it. Only the familiar presence of God can calm her down.
To her surprise, as soon as it reached a certain threshold, the unmovable spiritual qi began to automatically circulate. It began to fix the damage caused by the honkai energy.
The loss of spiritual qi allowed Sirin to move her body better. Still, it is very constricted.
"You… cannot!"
A voice rang inside her mind. It is Kiana's voice.
"Since you like him so much..!"
A portal appeared beneath Sirin. It swallowed her whole, transporting her to the imaginary space.
Not far from her is Shi Tian. The strong fluctuations of spiritual qi caused his hair and t-shirt to sway. He held his jian in front of him.
"I will kill this worm!"
"No!"
Sirin's subspace lances began to appear one by one. Consequently, her body shook and got frozen in place.
Still…
It could not stop her.
The dense subspace lances all headed towards Shi Tian's direction. Sirin struggled to raise her right hand. Her golden eyes glowed. It pulled him towards the direction of the lances.
What follows next is a huge black cube surrounding him. Each lance headed to a portal that is connected to the inside of the cube. It left him no room to dodge things. Every single inch of space got pierced by the subspace lances.
"No—!"
Sirin continued her scornful words.
"He is dead. Just like the others. An end befitting lowly worms."
The restraints over her physical body got loosened. Kiana is still holding on to her mind and spiritual qi.
She refuses to believe Shi Tian is gone just like that!
As if to respond to her wishes…
Cling-!
BOOM-!
A bright white light cut open the black cube. Countless subspace lances disintegrated the moment it touched the light. It is none other than [Blade Eminence]. The light is filled with compressed honkai energy capable of destroying anything.
What Shi Tian used before is its mental attack, merely half of its true capabilities. Honkai energy is needed to maximize its damage.
In the midst of chaos, Shi Tian stood with two lances piercing through his torso. They did not go through his body.
One by one, he pulled them out using his free left hand. His right hand held his sword tightly. Blood came out of the bloody holes. Shi Tian took out the glass bottle. Its cap floated as he drank a huge amount of spiritual milk in one go.
With the input of spiritual qi and the [Life Extending Heavy Water], his wounds began to close.
Sirin did not attack him at this juncture. She is keenly observing him. The white light he sent out…
It scares her.
"Did it surprise you?"
A cold voice came out of him. His eyes emitted sharpness enough to make one flinch. His aura is overbearing, clashing with Sirin's Herrscher aura. His [Sword Nurturing Pagoda] falls short, but if combined with Blade Mantra's [True Form], it is capable of contending against it.
Sirin gritted her teeth. She could not forget the sensation of that white light. Fu Hua's Blade Eminence is etched on her mind.
If not for God, she would have died!
"You stupid worm. You will die!"
Shi Tian did not reply. He remained unchanging in the face of her flickering golden eyes.
Swoosh-!
He flew towards Sirin. Her expression changed as she swatted him down with gravity.
Much to her surprise, he wasn't affected much by it. He resisted her pushing force and continued flying towards her.
Today, Shi Tian swore to court death!
*****
A/N: I wrote this fic's summary like that for a good reason...
PS: Next few chapters will have longer word counts.