Suddenly!
“What’s going on?”
“……”
“Practitioner?”
I stood up, squinting at the densely written history book.
It’s a bizarre book.
I mean, I was a bit careless, but to trigger this level of hallucination?
Even more surprising is that I still can’t pinpoint exactly what it was that I saw in the hallucination.
Startled by my sudden commotion, the librarians turned wide-eyed towards the frantically bouncing chat window and opened their mouths.
“Who’s the author of this?”
“If it’s the history of cultivation… that’s a manuscript copied from an original passed down for a long time. The original is currently lost and only several copies exist.”
“……”
“The original author is unknown… Ah. Would you like to know the author of the manuscript instead?”
“No, that’s fine.”
If it’s a manuscript, it’s going to be hard to find what I want.
Even if this is the original, it’s probably going to be difficult to figure out ‘someone’ who just showed me that illusion.
‘There are limits to mental attacks that can be used, even with penalties.’
The celestial horse I was shown previously is a good example of that.
The celestial horse could change space at will with just a light touch, but it wasn’t so sneaky I couldn’t notice it.
But just now, for a fleeting moment, I didn’t realize it was an illusion.
I looked down at the history book again.
─Cultivation is recognition.
“…Recognition, huh?”
[What’s that?]
[Is the book weird?]
[Let’s kill it.]
[Isn’t something fishy here?]
[Lily, why are you swaying?]
[Huh?]
[Lily, you okay?]
“Oh, I’m fine now. I think there’s something in the book.”
[The book?]
“Yes. It seems to be infused with the ‘will’ of something high up…”
It seems I won’t get any clear information here.
I showed the history book to the librarians, but they just said, “It’s just text,” without seeing any pictures or anything.
“I see. Then would it be okay if I borrowed this book for a bit?”
“Oh. Of course. Since it’s a manuscript, there’s no problem at all if you take it.”
“Thank you.”
I think I need to investigate this book separately.
The content of the history book was quite ordinary.
It told the tale of how the primitive people yearned for the sky and eventually became celestial beings through long training and cultivation.
The only noteworthy point was that once a celestial being ascended, they never returned.
The last to ascend was a figure known as ‘Blood Demon’ who was active about a thousand years ago and ascended through the path of ascension after entering the realm of the human realm.
After that, I requested the most complicated techniques and confirmed through several tests that I could use them without a hitch.
I confirmed that it can be used without anything.
I wondered if there might be a similar phenomenon in other manuscripts, so I searched and read, but no images appeared.
“It seems like it only wants to show me once.”
Thud.
“I think I’ve read enough of this book.”
“Indeed, you’re amazing, senior! Then I’ll guide you to the next location.”
“The next location?”
“It’s a place for spiritual power training. Since you’ve built the foundation of enlightenment, you can think of adding flesh to it.”
“Oh. Please guide me.”
“Yes.”
Guardian Magus Majul led me to another place.
Even while being guided, I stared intently at the borrowed history book, but nothing came out.
“Hmm…”
[LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL]
[Stop looking, Lily.]
[You’re gonna enter the book.]
[LOL.]
[What on earth did you see?]
[Lily is so cute today, LOL.]
[Great, Lily.]
“It’s definitely… suspicious.”
What on earth was dwelling in this book?
■
The place Majul took me to was in the middle of the mountains.
As soon as I entered a place where human footsteps rarely reached, I felt an immense energy.
It wasn’t as dramatic as the Path to Ascension where lightning poured down like a waterfall, but it was close enough.
“This place has a significantly dense distribution of Celestial Aura. It’s usually used mainly by the Heavenly Horse or occasionally by the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“Oh.”
“If you train here, it will be more efficient. I’ll keep my distance again, so call me if you need.”
“Got it.”
Majul quickly left the scene using Heavenly Horse Divine Art.
Left alone, I glanced around the forest and suddenly bowed my head.
Even a random clump of grass has a considerable amount of energy within it.
“There’s so much mana.”
[Mana?]
[It’s called Celestial Aura!!!]
[Mana, LOL.]
[Respect for martial arts, please;;]
[Ah, LOL, if Lily is mana, then it is mana.]
[Anyway, it’s mana, yeah yeah.]
[LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL.]
I settled myself down in a suitable spot.
I don’t know much about martial arts, but basically, I think I just need to sit cross-legged and feel the energy.
In fact, the book had a lot of methods written in it, but they sounded more like wild theories rather than solutions.
To achieve accuracy, I had to grasp it myself.
“First, slowly absorb the Celestial Aura around me into my body…”
Vrrrrr…!
The energy is being drawn in.
The massive energy that filled the forest began to slowly fill my body, and a tingling sensation arose.
Immense energies began to slowly fill my body, and I felt a tingling sensation.
If I absorb too much of this, my body won’t be able to handle it…
‘This much is nothing.’
Since my body inherently contains the holy essence, this level isn’t really overdoing it.
“Transforming and accumulating the energies of gold, thunder, and earth…”
A foundation built in advance through the public arts book.
I started to stack the transformed energies neatly onto the bare foundation that was only in form.
‘Like building a tiny tower inside my body.’
Three “axes” were being stacked.
“……”
[Serious Lily]
[That dog is really cute]
[Lily with closed eyes is insane]
[Oh my!]
[When will it end?]
[Wow]
[It’s crazy]
How long had it been like this?
“Phew…”
Before I knew it, the three attributes’ axes were firmly established within me.
Now, whenever I used public arts or attribute-related techniques, I could draw power from the axes established in my body.
It’s like a mana core or a mana circle structure.
If I wanted to use powerful skills or techniques, I could even expend the axes themselves to manifest them.
“It’s about time.”
The realization of the attributes and axes was roughly completed, and all that remained was a more concrete understanding of the human realm.
And only the promotion proposal was left.
‘Human realm. Facing the world in a human body.’
Here, the world doesn’t simply refer to a physical place.
This “world,” or something called the sky, is constantly observing ascetics, and regardless of the variance in perspective, even the tiniest creature cannot escape that gaze.
As the cultivation increases, this awareness deepens; if a specific threshold is crossed, the world is said to ‘recognize’ the ascetic.
With every rise in cultivation, the infinite completion raining down is part of that recognition…
“Recognition…”
As it was indicated in the history book, the term ‘recognition’ is reflected upon quite significantly.
It’s a word I’m quite familiar with.
‘The laws of this place don’t seem very different either.’
Just like how the world seems to pay attention when one reaches the highest level of cultivation.
A similar phenomenon occurs on the path of cultivation as well.
Thus, the level of the human realm is…
“I, the subject.”
Imprinting the subject known as ‘Lily’ onto the world.
I twitched.
[?]
[?]
[?!]
[What the heck?]
[Flashing lights]
[Huh?]
As I was concentrating with my eyes closed, I suddenly looked up at the sky.
Due to the recent action, the sky briefly darkened and then brightened.
It could merely be an illusion, but it was felt not only by me but also by the observers.
Only I, not just the viewers, felt it.
There was a very bright sun in the sky, yet for some reason, I felt it was ‘blinking.’
The sun emitted a bright light as if saying, “When did this happen?”
“It’s an interesting place.”
■
For three days since entering the Main Temple, I repeated training and reading.
The Main Temple wasn’t really a confined space, so I could log out at any time and hear news about Yena.
Being an official Holy Seal bearer, it was only natural to assume she went to the Mid World, but it turned out she fell into a different Lower Realm.
It seems there was an incident there, but thankfully it was a place with abundant information on Cultivation and Ascension, so she said she’d prepare for Ascension soon.
With Yena’s talent, it should be enough for her to ascend.
[Lilha~]
[Lilarira]
[Is today the day?]
[Yena’s struggling, cheer her on]
[Going to meet the Heavenly Horse ㄱㄱㄱ]
[Are we doing the Proposal today?]
[ㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇ]
I greeted the actively bouncing viewers and entered the location the Heavenly Horse had indicated.
The first thing that caught my eye was a massive stone altar.
Surrounding the altar were three pillars standing in a circle, and they were quite tall.
They must have been at least 30 meters, with numerous Magic Array symbols written under the pillars.
It looked like quite an elaborate setup.
The Heavenly Horse looked at me and smiled brightly.
“Have you come?”
“Yes.”
“I heard you were training well. I also hear you’ve already grasped the insight of the Human Realm.”
“That’s right. It was easier than I expected.”
“The Ruler also grasped it in a short time, but… you are different in rank.”
The Heavenly Horse shook his head as if in admiration.
But true to his confident nature, the Heavenly Horse leisurely began to light the altar’s flames one by one.
“Actually, everything was prepared yesterday. I just made slight adjustments to what the Ruler used when he reached the insights of the Human Realm, so it didn’t take long.”
“I see.”
“Even so, I called you a day late because today is the most auspicious.”
The Heavenly Horse summoned me.
I slowly ascended and stood at the center of the altar, witnessing the sky tremble.
It was a phenomenon I had seen once before, but it was still a fascinating response.
The Heavenly Horse’s hand moved.
“Then… we shall begin the Ascension Proposal.”
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