[MA] 181. Asking for Permission (Patreon)

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[A/N: Sorry for the delay. As I said in Discord, I wrote the chapter yesterday but was too tired to review it in time.

Now, for some good news: I'll release one of the late chapters Saturday or, at the latest, next week! \o/

Chapters this week: 2/3

Late chapters: 3

Next release: Saturday ]

"Well done," the Void's uncaring-yet-fatherly voice said a moment before nothingness consumed the world.

Shen's already battered mind couldn't even begin to comprehend what he was seeing and feeling. He let go of his thoughts instead of trying to understand the Void, yet just glimpsing at the complete absence of Reality was so overwhelming that he felt—

"So fragile," the Void said, and the world shifted.

All his physical sensations vanished. Shen recognized it from when he had talked with the rainbow wolf in the tutorial: his body was gone; he was only a soul now. The environment changed, too; he was surrounded by darkness. That was a significant upgrade from witnessing the lack of existence itself.

The relief was so great that he almost relaxed.

Almost.

Shen was still in pain. He looked for its source and found spiderweb cracks throughout his soul. That's what he had felt when he used his new ability.

His Path might contain a Concept related to going beyond limits, but it wasn't omnipotent. It might be incorruptible as long as his mind didn't let anything in, but it wasn't unbreakable. His body and soul were weak, limiting his every action's reach. The Limitless Denial technique let him overcome some limits set by Reality to a point, but his low power meant it came with heavy consequences.

Shen guessed the gnoll's limitation, freezing after using Law-magic, was also related to said limits. D-ranks mastered Concepts, but after touching upon Laws, they were supposed to rank up. Mana and qi behaved differently in some things, and mana was closely tied to knowledge and willpower, intellectual things. It made sense that going beyond the limits of a rank with mana would leave someone's mind dazed for a moment. There should be more to it, too, but he had no way of guessing more than this.

Yet, he considered little dizziness was a small price to pay for going beyond one's limits—especially when compared to the price he had paid.

Shen had used qi and his Path to also go beyond what he should be able to, and the consequences were much more severe. The Immortal Emperor himself had lacked the knowledge on how to heal his soul. Now, he had gone ahead and hurt it again.

At least the Alliance had the tech to deal with that. He only hoped it wasn't actually extremely expensive and beyond his means.

Recalling the Alliance also reminded him of the second and most important reason he couldn't relax: Shen was still in the Void's hands.

His soul was captured, his aura was suppressed, and he had no means of fighting. He felt bittersweet about the fact that his aura was so completely sealed that it couldn't even try to leave his soul to dominate the area around him; yet, that was probably the only thing preventing him from facing madness. Shen didn't think staring, feeling, or even staying close to the Void for too long was healthy.

His Path might be incorruptible, but his mind could still go crazy. His Concepts were set in stone, and he felt changing his ideals was getting more difficult by the second, but it wasn't impossible. He wasn't invulnerable to psychological disorders at all.

"You won," the Void continued. "Payment must come before answers, but as our newest champion, we give you a boon. Ask any question, and should we have the answer, we shall give it to you, no matter how simple or complex. Should we not know, we shall let you ask something else."

Shen's thoughts raced. A question? Any question?

The possibilities!

He wanted to know so much about cultivation, the Alliance, the Eternal Empire, qi, magic, Concepts, Laws, aura... He didn't know where to even start. The answer to life, the universe, and everything was one question away—as long as the Void knew it.

The Void was the Alliance's greatest enemy and probably knew a lot about it. It likely would know where Shen could find the best treasures, resources, and opportunities for him to grow.

Yet, three questions remained above all, all much more personal than any grand mystery.

The first was quite abstract: had his father's sacrifice been worth it?

Unfortunately, as much as Shen wanted to know it, he couldn't ask that. The Void's mind and reasoning were alien, and its parameters wouldn't be the same as Shen's.

So came the second question: what was Valentina's true identity?

He wanted to know it so much! Knowing her identity would let him plan to take her down much better. He would be able to keep away from her and gather intelligence until he was ready to strike.

But in the end, the third question was much more important for him.

It pertained to his past and his family. It was about the one who had taken from him the life he had dearly hoped he could have had.

"Who tried to have me killed in my mother's womb and why?" he asked.

His Path demanded vindication.

Shen had had no mouth when he talked to Achr Vanuugandr, the rainbow wolf, but now he did. He wondered if it was something the Void had done or had to do with being D-rank.

"You can ask who or why," the Void replied, "not both."

Shen would've frowned if he had a body. He didn't dwell on it, though. Knowing who the wannabe assassin was was definitely much more critical. That said, he would try to get more information than a simple name.

"What's the complete identity of the mastermind behind the assassination attempt against me while I was still in my mother's womb?" Shen asked.

The Void replied at once. "She was a roaming star eater when she first glimpsed us. She had no name, for her race never cared for it. Yet, she was different from her fellow star eaters in one thing: she yearned for redemption. She saw the suffering her diet caused to lesser beings living in the worlds orbiting the stars she swallowed, and it filled her with regret. We offered her release from her suffering, and she accepted. Thus we erased her mind and reforged her personality to suit our needs. She became our Prophet."

Shen couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You tried to have me killed?!" he yelled. That made absolutely no sense.

The Void ignored him and his outburst as it continued its tale. "When we deemed her ready, we let her go to repay for our boom, as Prophets must do. There were many places for her to go, and she chose your small world. She took the name Kong Xunqiuze and became a male human orphan in the Eternal Empire. During his childhood, he was adopted into the Feng Clan and showed loyalty by giving on his name and becoming Feng Yao. When he stepped into the Ethereal Harmonization realm, he betrayed your clan and joined the Zao Clan. After concluding his plans and pretending to get killed by your Immortal Emperor, he returned to us."

"Wh—" Shen tried to say, but his voice was taken from him.

He had asked for the assassin's complete identity. He couldn't understand the identity completely without some context; thus, it was given to him. Yet, the reason behind it all was missing. It pained him.

"He then traced a daring plan to infiltrate the Alliance and break it from the inside," the Void continued. "It failed at first, and he had to pretend to die four times in different worlds under worthless identities to preserve his real self. In his fifth attempt, he became a female phoenix.

"Today, she is called Hui Huang, a B-rank with a seat in the Phoenixes United Council. She is also a spy for the Cultivators' Association."

B-rank. That would make things difficult, but at least Shen now had a clear goal.

He was glad he had asked the Void instead of his clan; otherwise, he would only have been told the culprit had been a long-dead betrayer. Now, he knew the truth. Not the whole truth, but enough.

In fact, it was enough for him to realize the Void was much more cunning than he expected and the Alliance much more vulnerable. A B-rank was a Prophet for the Void. That was huge news.

Not news he could give anyone, though. The Prophet had pretended to die multiple times. He wouldn't trust anyone to try to kill him again.

Shen would grow strong and deal with Hui Huang himself.

And then, he would find a way to destroy the Void itself, for its sins went even further than "merely" trying to have him killed.

Shen recalled the message his father had given him. Feng Yang had sought the Divine Seer, whom the Immortal Emperor had warned about being an alien infiltrating the Eternal Empire. Now, the Void claimed the Immortal Emperor had attempted to kill the Void Prophet. Shen couldn't be sure the same Prophet had both tried to have him killed and then foretold the coming of the Alliance, but he bet both aliens were related to the Void.

So, the Void had to pay for playing with his life, his family, like that.

Shen had no idea how he would accomplish it, but if the Void could develop a voice, a logical mind, if it had memories, he bet at least that could be destroyed.

He vowed that justice would be served by his own hands one day.

Almost as worrying, however, was that the Void knew. It knew about the Eternal Empire, it knew about Shen's past, and it knew about who knows what else.

He would one day destroy it, yet he would never dare to speak it aloud until the time had come, for his enemy's means were inscrutable.

"NOW, GO," said the overwhelming voice that was everywhere and nowhere, a loud scream and a whisper, of all genders and none. "KILL YOUR ENEMIES AND HARBINGER OUR COMING, OUR HERALD."

The darkness disappeared, and he once more saw the Void. It shattered like glass in front of him, opening into Reality. The opening stood exactly where the portal had been, though a hundred-yard black dome surrounded it.

The crater-ridden, earth-scorched place was mostly empty except for a single woman standing a dozen yards from the opening.

The dark-skinned female had pointy ears, silvery eyes, and white hair. She wore black-scaled armor, a red cloak, and a silver tiara. Shen had never seen her and bet she was from another race.

There was something familiar about her, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't tell what it was.

She looked straight at the Void and didn't even blink. Her face displayed no emotion. She just stood there, staring, though Shen was clearly hidden because her sight never locked on him.

Nothing happened for a while, then she chuckled. "My Path shall take me to S-rank; I don't need your poisoned shortcuts. Now go before you overstay your welcome and the powers that be deem it better to destroy this planet to close this breach rather than wait for you to spit whoever survived in your little game."

It was apparent the Void had talked to her without Shen hearing anything. The... elf? She looked like a dark elf from Earth's fantasy books, at least. The elf had refused whatever offer had been made to her, though.

Suddenly, Shen was thrown into Reality.

A new body appeared for Shen as he went through the opening. It had no qi or stamina, but he didn't fall to the ground. White light surrounded him and froze him in midair while the entrance into the Void closed with a wet pop.

Then, something slammed against his mind. It felt like a sledgehammer, albeit weaker than what the Embryo had done to him. He resisted, and the assault was followed by several notifications—the first red—then a yellow-titled message.

| Void Herald or disguised Void Prophet detected

| Checking soul against records... Partial Match

| Checking Path against records... Match

| Checking memories... Failure. True Path detected. Forcibly checking memories...

| OVERRIDE: Racial Title detected

| Asking for the target's permission

=

WARNING

You've stayed outside Reality for too long.

The Guardian System must read your mind to ascertain your identity. You've resisted a lawful attempt to check your memories. You must allow the Guardian System to get in.

Failure to comply might result in a Bounty being issued against you.

=

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