The Undying Immortal System-Chapter 331 - 320 – Life 76, Age 157, Martial Sovereign 1

A sense of hopelessness had entered the man's voice. ShouLi and I had already decided to evacuate, and now I had begun the process of looting this timeline for anything I could. While Ning ZeKun might be able to understand this on an intellectual level, having never experienced a time loop before, it was no doubt hard for him to fully accept.

So, while I would have liked to press for more, I decided to hold back. Yes, I wanted to see what kind of books and technique manuals a Sovereign clan had access to, but there was no rush. That could wait until after ZeKun had experienced his first loop.

I stood awkwardly from my chair, feeling that I had begun to impose on the man. "Maybe I should…"

Taking a breath, Ning ZeKun stood, blinked hard, and regained a bit of his former vitality. "Come with me. Before you… 'leave,' I need to teach you what it means to be a Sovereign."

Ning ZeKun brought me downstairs to his audience hall, where he plopped down onto his throne.

"When we were fighting, you didn't try to will-lock me. Why?"

"I…" This sudden question caught me off guard. I wasn't sure exactly what to say. "I… lost my cultivation base… so…"

ZeKun nodded knowingly. "In the loosest sense, that is true, but strictly speaking, you did not. You lost access to qi, but the chains of the world haven't regained their grip on you, and your energy body is still one that has been reforged with karmic energy. You are a Sovereign. You control this world. It doesn't control you."

Without even accessing his qi, Ning ZeKun focused on one of the stone pillars supporting the roof of the audience hall.

He stuck out his right arm and pointed at the pillar with an open palm.

Then, after taking in and holding a deep breath, ZeKun jerked his hand violently to the left.

A large chunk of stone ripped itself free from the pillar and crashed to the ground in the center of the audience hall. However, the top of the pillar, no longer connected to the ground, remained firmly in place.

This action caused the already exhausted Ning ZeKun to collapse further into his throne.

Before he could lose his concentration, ZeKun sent out a wave of qi to prop up the pillar and retracted his will-lock.

Then, he used a weave of qi to return the hall back to its pristine condition and let out a sigh. "The will-lock of an Emperor is powerful, but the will-lock of a Sovereign is enough to reshape this world into whatever form you desire. As long as your will is strong enough, that is."

I nodded in thought, but I wasn't entirely sure what he was getting at. Even if a Sovereign's will-lock was substantially stronger than an Emperor's, its effects still paled in comparison to what one could accomplish with qi. Using qi, even a mere Grandmaster would be able to replicate ZeKun's attack on that pillar. Sure, using the two in conjunction might produce a more profound effect than using them individually, but that didn't seem to be what he was hinting at.

Ning ZeKun's eyes lost focus as he stared through the wall on the far side of the hall.

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"This world is an illusion. None of it is… real. Sovereigns are beings who have become powerful enough to push back against this unreality." He raised his right hand and stared at his palm. "To a mortal, the distance between this place and your complex in the Wastes appears to be thousands of kilometers, but that is just an illusion. The distance between here and there can be whatever you want it to be. All you need to do is impose your will on this world and… make it the new reality."

Ning ZeKun reached out and tapped the air in front of himself, creating a small, black portal.

However, due to the man's excessive fatigue, this portal only stayed in place for a fraction of a second before disappearing.

He looked at me. "Give it a try. I usually strike the air since that helps me focus my will, but it isn't necessary. You can create a portal anywhere within your field of intent. Just focus your mind on where you want to create it and where you want it to lead. Then… break the world."

After nodding to the man, I thought about the broken platform in the Su Clan where the Palace of Supreme Harmony once stood. Then, looking in the air in front of me, I poured my will and intent into trying to create a portal.

"Stop!" ZeKun's sharp shout broke me from my concentration. "Not like that. A Sovereign is more powerful than the illusion that is this world, but compared to you, this world's energy reserves are endless. You have to break it in one swift move before it has a chance to fight back. This is why using a punch can help. You need to pour everything into one sharp moment of impact."

I nodded again and refocused.

I concentrated my entire will onto the knuckle of the middle finger of my right hand. Then, with thoughts of the marble platform in the Su Clan's complex in mind, I punched.

The world shattered into a massive, black portal large enough for two carts to pass abreast.

A moment later, it collapsed, and I fell to a knee.

Ning ZeKun gave me a faint smile. "Good, just don't rip such a big hole next time. The larger the portal, the more difficult it will be to maintain."

Over the next few hours, Ning ZeKun sat on his throne, half asleep, as I practiced making and controlling portals.

In truth, this wasn't really that difficult. I just needed to concentrate and punch. The only tricky parts were ensuring that the portals went exactly where I wanted them to go and that I was using as little energy in the process as possible.

As far as energy was concerned, though, I had a bit of an advantage. Portals, like will-locks, didn't rely on a person's qi. They relied on some type of mental or spiritual energy that I was only vaguely aware of. Neither Ning ZeKun nor I knew the specifics of how much of this energy a person had or why, but it was clear that one of the biggest factors that determined the size of a person's energy reserves was the power of their soul.

Because of my abnormally powerful soul, after only a few hours of practice, I was able to do more with portals than even an experienced Sovereign like Ning ZeKun. However, even with my greater reserves, I eventually became exhausted.

When I sat down to rest and recover, Ning ZeKun clapped his hands to get my attention. "That's good enough. If you want to practice more, you can do so on your own." He looked around suspiciously. "Just be careful. If others are watching, they might attack you if you become too exhausted."

After I nodded in agreement, he continued.

"Next, we need to talk about cultivation. Right now, your cultivation base has been stripped away by your ascension. If you want to have access to qi, you will need to restore it, but just so you know, that won't have any effect on your advancement."

I furrowed my brow. "So, how do I advance as a Sovereign?"

Ning ZeKun chuckled. "It's simple. Just grab hold of the karmic energy you collect and infuse it into your energy body directly. This new karma will merge with what you already have, strengthening it. Once you have enough, your body will shudder a bit, and you'll ascend to the next level. With each level you ascend, your ability to shape the world around you will increase."

"I… see. Does it have to be Sovereign-level energy? Will Emperor-level energy work?"

ZeKun winced and bobbed his head from side to side. "First… You used Emperor-level energy to break through to Sovereign, right? You should know, that was incredibly risky. Be very careful about letting anyone else try that. If a person's core ruptures before it has enough energy, their advancement will fail, their energy body will be destroyed, and they will be permanently crippled. Most people would never even consider using anything other than Sovereign-level energy since that is the only way to guarantee success."

He waved a hand, dismissing this thought. "In any case, you survived, so even though you used Emperor-level energy, you should still have about the same power as anyone else at Sovereign 1. You can continue using Emperor-level energy, and you will advance, but you will be like a Ruler who advances without karma. You will be far weaker than your peers. And once you reach Peak Sovereign, advancement to Martial Spirit will be nearly impossible."

I nodded. "So… I just need to continually infuse my body with Sovereign-level karmic energy. Will that let me break through to Martial Spirit?"

ZeKun shook his head, and I noticed a trace of bitterness. "The ascension to Spirit is supposed to be the same as how you advanced to Sovereign. At Peak Sovereign, create a new karmic core, fill it with energy until it bursts, and you will advance. However, it doesn't work. If you try to advance to Martial Spirit, no matter how powerful you are, your energy will just disperse and leave you crippled for the rest of your life. This continent is not capable of containing Martial Spirits, and no Martial Spirits can ascend here."

"Not capable?"

He bobbed his head slowly. "Not capable. This world isn't capable of containing the… 'reality' of a Martial Spirit. If one tries to come here, their mere existence will rip this world apart at the seams."

I looked down at my hands as I tried to contemplate what this meant.

Suddenly, my eyes jerked up, and I looked at the man. "Wait… If no one more powerful than a Sovereign can enter this world—"

Ning ZeKun let out a bark of a laugh. "Sorry, kid. No, we are still in trouble. Spirits and Ancestors might not be able to come here, but the Saint is different. He has transcended such limitations."

My cheeks blushed a bit at having my nascent hopes crushed so swiftly, but we would still need to keep this limitation in mind when planning for the future. If no Spirits or Ancestors could come here, that might mean we didn't need to worry too much about interference from the clans, just the direct interference of the Saint.

After this, Ning ZeKun and I chatted a little while longer, but eventually, I felt it was time to leave.

Focusing my will, I punched a hole in the world, stepped through, and returned to the Wastes.

That evening, I secluded myself in the Hall of Ancestral Worship and worked on rebuilding my cultivation base. As I did, I thought back over our conversation.

Ning ZeKun had said that Spirits and Ancestors couldn't enter this world.

What did that mean? It hinted at an important truth behind the nature of this 'Nine Rivers Continent,' but it also pointed toward a problem that I hadn't even considered before.

"System… Can Sovereigns, Spirits, and Ancestors exist within my inner world without destroying it? I want to use all my remaining credits to get the most detailed answer I can afford."

Purchase confirmed. Cost 137,847,788,524 credits. 0 credits remaining.

Your inner world is currently a Rank 1 Small World. Bloodline Tier cultivators are unable to enter a Rank 1 Small World without causing its complete destruction.

At Rank 5, your world will be able to support the existence of Martial Sovereigns. At Rank 9, Sovereigns will no longer be able to use portals to escape your Small World.

A Rank 1 Lower World is capable of supporting Martial Spirits. At Rank 5, Spirits will no longer be able to escape, and the world will become capable of supporting Martial Ancestors.

Rank 9 Lower Worlds are capable of both supporting and containing Martial Ancestors.

Credits expended. Transaction complete.

That was going to be a problem… Until my inner world reached at least Rank 5, if anyone from my clan advanced to Sovereign, then they would no longer be able to travel back through time with me. And even then, until it reached Rank 9, I would need to be exceedingly careful about who was allowed to advance to Sovereign.