Cultivating in Honkai!

The wonders of immortal cultivation are right in front of my eyes. I am aware of being in a daze; of sleeping.

At this level, sleeping is a state with lowest mental power consumption. It allows my mind to recover the fastest.

Every other function of my soul and body is put to the lowest. Experiencing both the "low" (resting) and "high" (practicing) contributes to cultivation.

It is a feat far beyond that of humans'. I am 'sleeping' while retaining the smallest bit of awareness.

The five colored lights projected different scenes related to the five elements. It is the attribute of my qi cultivation technique. All sorts of vague perceptions came to my mind.

Fuzz-!

A blue light broke my trance. My eyes shot open. My physical body became active, followed by the fluctuations on my soul.

I looked inside me. A light blue seed sprouted. My eleventh supernatural seed, the Dao of Ice.

Something else happened.

My Spirit Roots.

It got the Sin Mal treatment... being sidelined.

I could not practice the [Toushen Manual] in the past year. It is still stuck on the embryo of Five Element Spirit Roots. It is not even considered a low grade spirit root in terms of effect.

My Spirit Roots consisted of Five Elements Yang Spirit Root. It is shown in five vibrant colors.

Now, their pale counterparts began to grow at a visible rate.

It did not take long before they reached the threshold of low grade Spirit Roots.

Hum-!

Click-!

A resonance was formed between the two, only to be broken the next moment. Their Yang counterparts outclassed the Yin. Still, it continued existing as a standalone Spirit Root.

My mind returned to reality. I noticed the slight decrease of the surrounding temperature.

Then it hit me. The heavenly sensation of being in this godly bed returned. That wasn't the only thing it struck me.

The Tuna.

I already expected this. Kiana is using me as a body pillow. Her arms are tightly locked on my back. One of her legs is atop mine. She clung tightly to my body like an octopus.

I noticed her not-so-subtle changes.

Purple Mansion Realm pushes the body into the optimal form instinctively dictated by the soul. The subsequent realms will also induce such a thing; something unpresent in Foundation Establishment Realm.

It is the stage where the soul walks toward the tangible—Nascent Soul. Huge changes to the physical body is not surprising.

Unlike a year ago, she grew taller. Her facial features still possessed that bit of childishness, but it also exudes elegance. She looks more beautiful than her game counterpart.

A gift of immortal cultivation, indeed.

Then there's that…

…

She's really too comfortable with me.

I resigned myself to fate. I can't bear to wake her up.

Just like before, I chose to fall into another sleep-slash-cultivation.

*****

Moments after Shi Tian fell asleep, Kiana opened her eyes. She had woken up half an hour ago. Her mastery over sleeping is so high she can perfectly emulate her sleeping state… without sleeping.

It is capable of fooling him without a deeper look.

As to whether it is useless or not, Kiana is the only one capable of answering that.

'You haven't changed.' She thought. 'It feels like yesterday…'

Shi Tian remained quite the same. The same could not be said for Kiana.

The events leading to his disappearance made her blame herself. She regretted how powerless she felt; that a single force of evil can take away everyone around her.

Thus, she resolved herself to become stronger. Immortal cultivation offers that. It is a never-ending process of becoming stronger. It feeds onto time, dedication, hard work, and talent.

Kiana offered them all. She reached her current level in return. She honed her mental state which resulted in her [Spear Heart]. Her bad habits are also thrown to the trash bin. Even her favorite hobby, eating, was reduced to once a week.

It mirrored Bianka's experience. Only, she is not as fortunate as Kiana who got Shi Tian back; Bianka's mentor is dead. This created a difference between the two Kaslana's.

'Never… I can't lose you… again.'

Her face dug deeper onto his chest.

'If I…'

His disappearance also gave her an answer to the question:

Will she mind it if Shi Tian leaves her side?

Yes.

As such…

'I can't… leave you to others.'

…she chose to fight her friends for him.

*****

Question: What should I do with a clingy Tuna?

That is the dilemma I am facing. Not cultivation. Not Kevin. Not Otto. Definitely not the honkai too.

A Tuna.

I didn't notice much when we talked for two days straight. I did not mind it when I got turned to a body pillow, too.

But now that we are strolling the streets…

"Oh! That's the bakery we frequented! It's still full of people."

Kiana's hand is holding my pinky finger as we walk. This did not happen before.

"How did the orphanage fare?" I asked.

"Sin is taking care of the children. The rest, aside from Bronya and Seele, did not know about Miss Cocolia's arrest."

Cocolia is one of the biggest points I made in that pre-recorded video. She did a lot of shitty things after Seele's disappearance. She turned into a gambler who wanted to recover with another game.

Whatever shit that might save Seele, she will take it. She did NOT care about anything else.

I passed it as a warning from my imaginary Master—that Cocolia built a laboratory in Siberia's vicinity. Somewhat far-fetched, yes, but I am left with no choice. My imaginary Master is reliable in their eyes, to boot.

"Sin? Sin Mal?"

"Yes? Why..?"

Kiana stopped walking and looked at me. She did not show anything wrong. Her blue eyes stared at me, however.

"I thought it would be Seele."

"Oh! Me too."

She resumed walking, to which I followed suit.

"The orphanage's guards were changed with new ones. It was Sin who talked with the Anti-Entropy official sent by Doctor Tesla. She planned for Sin to inherit Cocolia's position once she grows up."

Sin Mal…

She took care of the orphanage in the game, too.

I guess it did not change. She's somewhat reliable.

"How did you guess it would be Seele's turn?" I asked.

I became curious. Kiana told me that Seele's message is worded as a typical vacation. It is impressive she caught onto it.

"I sensed the unusual honkai energy traces from Seele. I used my spiritual consciousness and saw the stigma on her."

"...You looked at her stigma?"

"Yeah. Where else?"

Her double braids swayed while walking. She let out a cheeky reply. Kiana changed quite a lot. She is more comfortable goofing around with me than before.

I can already foresee her next retort being "Shi Tian's a perv?!"

Unfortunately for the Tuna, her comeback dug a hole for herself.

"Like when you first unlocked your spiritual consciousness."

Kiana stopped walking for the second time.

She gave me a startled look.

"My Foundation Establishment breakthrough. You reacted strangely when I asked you to observe with spiritual consciousness."

"W-what time?"

I gave her a smile. Seeing panic slowly take over is a sight to behold.

"That time when you peeked through my clothes?"

"..."

She slowly moved her gaze away from me. I can see her neck turning red.

I let out a satisfied sigh.

All the tribulations I went through to arrive in this world…

It's all worth it.