Everything around Mira froze, including the Heavens, once the cold voice of the Firmant entered her mind. However, that only seed to anger the already wrathful Heavens further. She had "stolen" a World Core and all those souls right from underneath its nose! How could it not be furious?
Red lightning crackled around the Secret Realm as it slowly broke free from whatever was stopping it.
Mira stood in the center of the hole underground, her hair whipping around her face as the winds picked up. In her hand was the World Core, pulsing with an otherworldly energy. She had just taken ownership of the core but could already feel the Secret Realm crumbling around her.
Now that the World Core was no longer producing energy to sustain the realm, it was slowly falling apart.
[Congratulations, Successor Mira XXX, for completing the "Afterlife Trial". You have survived Hell, fought against Heaven, captured every sinner's soul, learned from your predecessors, and stole a World Core, earning yourself a score of 100%.]
[Sending you out of the trial in 3…]
[2.]
[1.]
*Poof!*
Under the Heaven's watchful eyes, Mira's body disappeared!
"..."
Imdiately after, it regained complete control, but the Secret Realm was already collapsing in on itself, crumbling to pieces as if everything was just an illusion. In re seconds, the Secret Realm had vanished into the deep, dark abyss surrounding it, leaving behind a black cloud.
"..."
The Heaven's paused for a second but imdiately began to search for Mira's unique life signature. Since it had locked onto Mira before, it rembered her unique aura, cultivation, appearance, and even her soul!
It was one of the Absolutes that manages both the Immortal and Mortal Realms! If it wants to find soone, there isn't a single person that can stop it!
At least, that's what it thought, but even after sweeping its senses hundreds and thousands of worlds, it didn't discover any trace of Mira at all! It was as if she had vanished into thin air, right under its nose!
"..."
*RUMBLE!**RUMBLE!**RUMBLE!*
For the first ti in countless years, the Heavens trembled in agitation as soone had successfully slipped away from its grasp.
***
On the other hand, Mira appeared back in the throne room of the Firmant! She slumped onto the throne, her hands and feet trembling, as she released a long, turbid breath of hot air.
Mira had danced with death many tis throughout her long life, but this one felt much more impactful. It wasn't just the fact that both her body and soul would have been vaporized if she was just a second later; she didn't care much about that. Rather, that wasn't such a bad ending for soone like her.
'It's the fact that I had to put my faith in soone else to protect and save .' Mira thought as she slumped on her throne even further.
She closed her eyes and reviewed her ti in that last trial, trying to find a way she could complete it herself. However, she already knew the answer.
'No, it's not possible.' Mira concluded.
To gain ownership of the World Core, she needed Huoyan's help. Maybe she wouldn't need him if she already knew how to subdue a World Core or if she knew where it was in the first place, but even then, she'd still need to get to it, which wouldn't be an easy feat.
The magma in that Realm was nothing to scoff at, and she couldn't waste more of her Qi on protecting herself from it when the Gates of Heaven were bombarding her with attacks.
'Still, what's this about learning from my predecessors? I know Huoyan shared a few stories and bits of information with , but I don't think that's what the Firmant was looking for.'
Thinking about the hulking Ashura man left Mira feeling complicated inside. She had been skeptical of him up until the point he died, but she was wrong, completely wrong about him. He didn't even know her na, yet he still gave up his life to help her!
"You'll understand when you begin your breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm." The Guardian's voice entered her mind.
Mira opened her eyes and looked around but saw nobody. She pushed thoughts about Huoyan to the back of her mind and focused on her next steps.
"What do you an?" She asked.
"Like I said, you'll understand the Firmant's words once you begin your breakthrough." He replied, almost urging her to start.
Mira nodded, as his words only served to heighten her desire to break through. Unfortunately, there was a slight problem. She had to leave the Firmant to break through, but she had just stuck a giant middle finger to the Heavens, stealing one of its objects.
"What about the Heavens? Won't it find once I leave here? Also, aren't I supposed to go through a Heavenly Tribulation like last ti?" Mira felt a shiver run down her spine, thinking of that red lightning, and had no desire to face off against it any ti soon.
"No, you'll be fine. I'm masking your presence right now. As for a Heavenly Tribulation… Normally, you'd need to face one, but your breakthrough this ti will be a little unique, especially since you have a World Core in your hands. Just follow your cultivation technique, and everything will be fine."
Mira was about to nod in understanding, but the Guardian continued before she could.
"However, even if sothing bad does happen, I'll be sure to gather up all the fragnts of your soul."
"..."
Mira ignored him and closed her eyes again. As much as she wanted to break through, she needed to reset after that last trial. Soon, Mira's breathing steadied as she fell asleep on the throne.
A day later, she awoke and exited the Firmant.
Reappearing in the cave she left Rhydian in, she saw her wolf companion sleeping in the corner near the entrance. Mira nodded her head as everything looked the sa as before she left.
"I'm back, Rhydian!" Mira walked over and gave the wolf a few pats on the head. Rhydian gave Mira a nod in return, but her attention was elsewhere.
'Can we leave yet, Master? I'm bored!' Rhydian tried to say through their connection. Although Rhydian couldn't actually speak yet, that's how Mira translated her intentions.
"No, I still have one last thing to do before we leave, but I promise that after I'm done, we can go make a ss of things."
'Yaay~!' Rhydian's eyes lit up, then she began nudging Mira with her nose, 'Hurry up! Hurry up! I want to leave! I'm so bored!'
All this ti, while Mira was busy, she was unable to eat, sleep, hunt, or do anything! She could only sit in this cave and stare at a wall, waiting for Mira to finish her business! Now that Mira was back, it was finally ti for them to wreak havoc!
"Alright, alright. Sheesh." Mira shook her head and sat down in the middle of the cave.
Closing her eyes, she brought out the World Core. While she wasn't 100% sure how this was important to her breakthrough, she had an idea.
'Since it's connected to , using a chunk of my soul, I'm sure this thing will serve as the foundation on which I build my soul on top of. At least, that's what makes the most sense.'
The Guardian hadn't given her any tips or knowledge on what exactly she needed to do. Although he said to follow her cultivation technique, that was only partially true. Her soul and breakthrough were too unique that if she had just followed the cultivation technique, she would have severely limited her potential.
Mira willed the World Core to enter her soul, and the orb disappeared from her hands, only to reappear in the middle of her Soul Sea.
Mira nodded her head as she felt like she was on the right track. However, that was the extent of her understanding of the situation.
'What now? Do I really just start my breakthrough according to my cultivation technique?'
Mira doubted that to be the case. If things were really so simple, there wouldn't be a need for her to go through all this nonsense! She could've broken through long ago!
'Alright. Instead of focusing on the Nascent Soul Realm, let's focus on the World Core itself. Why do I need it to break through? What does a World Core do?'
According to the information she obtained from Huoyan, it creates and sustains worlds and may or may not have Genesis Essence in it–which Mira could only assu was a type of energy used when creating sothing.
'Creation… Creation… Hmmm… The Firmant also said sothing similar. It said to carve out a piece of the Universe for myself. Is this what it's talking about? Do I need to create a mini-world inside my soul?' Mira hypothesized but still shook her head.
'No, that doesn't sound quite right. Though, I believe I'm on the right track.'
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