Having long been immersed in the Unshackling Realm, he had managed to barely scratch its pinnacle before a certain invitation had come his way and whisked him away. Returning to it now and going through the last of the motions took barely a day.
Over the course of this realm, he had continuously felt the loosening of invisible chains which had been restraining him, making even slight advancements feel refreshing and exhilarating. However, it was exactly this sensation that could easily turn into a trap. If one arrived at their limit and thought it to be yet another minor obstacle in their way, still craving further strength, then one would be met with disaster. One's genes could only handle a certain amount of growth and change at this point, else, they would collapse and lead to a gruesome death as a result.
Naturally, as a veteran, Theodore knew exactly what to look out for and stopped at the appropriate moment. Rather than a regular breakthrough process, what would elevate one to the Dantian Engraving Realm was solely one's own choice. By beginning the process of etching the required shapes and symbols into one's Dantians' walls, one would automatically advance.
Due to the extreme sizes of the 'canvases' that he was working with, this provided him with a heretofore not yet encountered, additional time waster to deal with. He was extremely quick and precise with his strokes, yet the vast expanses that were his Dantians proved to take what felt like forever to fully engrave. The multitasking helped him cut it all down by quite a bit, yet there was still so overwhelmingly much to be done.
But if his Energy Vein Incorporation had taught him anything, then it was patience. Well, that wasn't exactly correct either–he had long been trained to be incredibly tolerant and composed even while withstanding the endless ravages of time. Therefore, all went smoothly–although it took more than a month. Per Dantian.
Fortunately, he had already warned everyone that he would be completely absent for a long time, so he didn't have to worry about them growing overly concerned.
With this major hurdle out of the way, the next three realms were an absolute breeze. The Armillary Ring Creation Realm flew by in a single afternoon, leaving each one of his Golden Cores surrounded by nine gorgeous, delicate rings of various diameters which slowly orbited them at different speeds, yet harmoniously.
For the Soul Garment Realm, he simply copied the outfit that he was wearing at the moment, replicating it exactly. The best part of it all was that he could choose to alter or even completely transform it with a single thought. All that really mattered was the technique that he used to craft it, as well as the materials that it was made from–which was pure Energy, mixed with tiny strands of his own soul.
Heaving a comfortable sigh, he felt the very core of his being growing stronger and more resilient by a fair margin upon completing this step. For a fleeting moment, he considered whether or not he could take another peek at the seals within him, then he banished that thought. Although he had truly improved, when compared to what he was up against, he might as well still be standing in place.
'I'll get there eventually.'
Not too bothered by this, he refocused on himself. Being the generous freebie that it was, the breakthrough to the Tri-Aspect Reverberation Realm had been entirely automatic, and had taken place immediately after his soul had been properly reinforced.
If he had to put the resulting peculiar sensation into words, then it was that he felt more 'whole' now–or as if a puzzle piece that had been ever so slightly out of place had been shifted back to the correct spot.
Last but not least, he had to tread through the Mundanity Shedding Realm. Usually, for the majority of cultivators, this would be the most time-consuming part of the Initial Ascension Stage, taking almost all of them many years to surmount. However, for Theodore, it was a lot less annoying to deal with than the Dantian Engraving Realm.
Having made it all the way next to the Divine Gate many a time, doing so again provided no challenge whatsoever. It didn't even take that long–after a mere week, he could already see the finish line. Perhaps due to his soul being stronger than it had been during his illusory lives, the journey had been quite a bit easier.
'Long time no see, old friend. Wait for me for a bit, I'll see you next round.'
As he turned to smile fondly at the Divine Gate, he suddenly froze, soon furrowing his brows in bewilderment. Compared to the previous times when he had arrived here, the sacred aura that this creation gave off felt ever so slightly different. That aside, he himself was also overcome by a strange kind of nostalgia, one that he hadn't encountered before.
'Is it because this is technically the first time that I've come across the real thing? After all, no matter how powerful my father might be, even he would find it challenging to perfectly replicate this work of the Heavenly Emperor.'
Pondering this matter for a while, he eventually shook his head.
'That can't solely be it, though. The Divine Gate's peculiarity could indeed be explained in this way, but what about myself? Why do I genuinely feel like I've met an old friend? I was really just joking before!'
Upon ruminating about this matter further, he eventually came to a conclusion which he judged to be satisfying enough.
'Clearly, this change resulted from fusing with John. Therefore, whoever this part of me was in the past has to have some impactful, meaningful memories related to the Divine Gate. Perhaps, an extremely important, defining event took place during this portion of his cultivation journey? Unfortunately, the sensation that I'm feeling is far too vague to make out anything at all.'
Sighing to himself, he shook his head again, in slight annoyance.
'That darn Huang Xian! Couldn't he have simply told me what kind of connection me and him shared in the past? Was I a close friend, or a retainer of some sort? Was I a defeated rival? Or even a secret child? It's too frustrating to be left completely in the dark.'
For a while, he stayed silent, then this momentary emotional 'outburst' faded. He was fully aware that the other party had to have his reasons, so it was pointless to make a fuss. That aside, whenever he thought of the man being truly gone now, his heart would ache a little.
'I'll have to be patient and wait until I've cracked that first seal. It will take a few rounds at the very least–depending on how exactly the Heavenly Empress has designed them in regard to their maximum Energy concentration. But one day, I'll figure it all out.'
Promising himself to continue on without fail, he suddenly raised an eyebrow in surprise, then chuckled.
'So I've broken through to the Dawning Numen Stage's Tenacity Realm as a result of minutely further consolidating my will just now? That's... actually a bit of a shame. I originally wanted to test if I could manipulate my Divine Will before entering this stage. Oh well... there's nothing that I can do about it now.'
Once again shaking his head and sighing, he took out a small pebble from within his Storage Ring, then focused on it as much as he possibly could. Commanding it to hover, he felt a hint of not-quite-mental exhaustion, then the minuscule object rose into the air unsteadily. It merely remained there for a few seconds before falling down again, but this alone already brought a triumphant smile to his lips.
'Awesome! I can genuinely utilize my Divine Will five realms early!'
It might not look like much, especially considering his astonishing pace of progress. But rather than solely the 'early access' that he had been granted, what he truly appreciated was what it signified: Compared to the past, in the hierarchy of life itself, he was a bit more ahead.
Past a certain point of refinement, it was excruciatingly difficult to further improve the path of cultivation. Yet his impossibly early Energy Vein Incorporation had allowed him to do just that.
'If all goes as I expect it to, then I might be able to open the Divine Gate at least an entire stage early. But while that is very tempting indeed, I'm much rather looking forward to what will happen if I choose to not do so. With a far greater amount of preparation under my belt, will the pay-off be commensurate? I'm eager to find out.'
Thinking that now would be a good time to interject as he had accomplished the goal which he had set himself and was already distracted, Faavi chose this moment to 'speak up'.
'Did you make your choice yet, Theo?'
Ever since she had been included in Kiran's network, his trusty Armament Spirit had rarely reared her head, completely immersed in conversing with others. Because of this, he had managed to brush her off last time, but it seemed like he genuinely needed to give her matters some proper thought today.
When he had begun truly cultivating, he had asked Faavi to vacate his Dantian and later on made her transform into a Storage Ring, one that he had upgraded multiple times already by feeding her more Energy.
He was well aware that he usually didn't rely on any particular weapon during combat–and now that his Eternal Ice was at hand again, he could simply fashion any sort of equipment that he might need out of it. In the great scheme of things, Faavi would be relegated to becoming various odds and ends, which didn't feel all too appropriate.
'Both yes and no. I do have an idea, but I'm not sure if you'd be fine with it.'
Immediately after this thought had come to mind, an excited 'voice' resounded in his head.
'Tell me, tell me!'
Glancing down at the Storage Ring on his finger in amusement–and particularly at the grey mist that was leaking out of it, dancing around playfully–he chose his words carefully.
'How about becoming my clothes? That way, I'll always be protected well–and changing into different outfits will be a lot easier.'
Pretty much overflowing with joy, his companion eagerly responded.
'That's great! So, should I just copy what you're wearing right now?'
A bit surprised, Theodore paused, then finally stated the reservations which were why he hadn't brought up this idea originally.
'But isn't it boring to merely be regular old clothing? And... wouldn't you feel weird being worn by me?'
Moments later, what flooded his mind from her end was total confusion.
'Huh? How? It all sounds amazing to me! We get to spend all of our time together, and I can be of a lot more help! What could be better than that?'
A bit relieved, the corners of his mouth rose. He was rarely very considerate to others, but Faavi evoked his protective instincts. That was why he did not want to make her do anything which would cause her to feel uncomfortable. Evidently, this was a leftover from their shared, now unknown past together.
But her words had made him realize that having approached this issue from a human point of view had been wrong of him to begin with. Obviously, Armament Spirits would think differently: What felt off-putting to people like Theodore was completely normal to them. Therefore, 'being worn' was not only not an issue, but rather the opposite. With Faavi being the sole one of her kind that he had ever owned, it was no wonder that he still had a number of things to learn.
'Alright then, never mind what I said. Go ahead and transform into my current outfit. I'll change into you once you're done.'
Allowing her free access to his Energy reserves, he felt an incredibly minuscule amount of it drain away, then grey mist seeped out of his Storage Ring and fashioned itself into the requested pieces of clothing right in front of his eyes.
'... I'd better tell the girls about this, else they'll be taken aback by this development.'
Imagining what Xie Mei's and Han Junqiao's expressions would look like once they realized that the clothes, which they'd be regularly liberating him from, were now literally the cute Faavi that they adored, an amused smirk played across his lips. As for Cheong Suhyeon? He doubted that she would be surprised or bothered at all.
Appearing no different from before, he put his old clothes in his Storage Ring, then he left his cultivation chamber. Other than wanting to tease his lovers, there was another matter that necessitated him ending his seclusion: It would relatively soon be time for the first regular meeting with Eleanora since their campaign together.