Cultivating in Honkai!

Kiana's mentality since the past year has not been good. She kept a lot of things hidden from her father, choosing to settle her own problems instead. She is aware of the sacrifices he made—the smoke bombs he made by making a lot of noise despite his injured arm.

It was due to this that led to the "distance" between the father and daughter.

"So, how are things between you two?"

"Why are you so fussy?" Kiana complained.

"What? It's a good thing to know more. You two haven't kissed yet, have you?"

"..!"

Kiana's lips quivered. The courage she had during her teasing dissipated like bubbles.

'Kissing…'

Shi Tian, on the other hand, remained unperturbed outwardly. He mastered the art of feigning nonchalance, though it is a different story inwardly.

'I get why people call this the love tribulation…'

Not once did he fall in love. He is a blank slate when it comes to this. This is basically the blind leading the blind.

"We haven't done it yet."

"You…"

Kiana's eyes widened as she looked at him. She could not believe his 'teasing' went as far as this!

A thought flashed in her mind.

'What if I tell my old man about this joke…'

It disappeared the next moment.

'No, no. If…'

Kiana could not explain it, but she felt she would be disappointed after that. As such, she continued treading this "joke" like thin ice.

Siegfried scratched his neck.

"To be honest, I never expected her to find someone. She inherited her looks from her mother, but she took her bad habits from me. Isn't she a tomboy?"

Kiana was about to retort when Shi Tian spoke up first.

"That's fine by me."

Kiana's entire body jolted up. Embarrassment is filling up her mind. The panic in her heart increased.

"You do have some awesome tastes!"

It did not take long before Shi Tian received Siegfried's approval. Naturally, the focus went to Theresa.

"Principal. You must be aware of our cooperation with Anti-Entropy. We got to know about your information from its sovereign, the current First Herrscher."

She nodded her small head.

"We decided to pay you a visit when I noticed your mental manipulation. It came from the Divine Key."

The sequence of events took longer to explain.

"Actually, this plan goes further back. During the year I was gone, someone helped me. He is a hero of the Previous Era. He is able to see possible futures… think of it as parallel universes."

The plan was simple. Kevin Kaslana and Otto Apocalypse are the two major variables for humanity's victory. Su acknowledged Shi Tian's 'future vision' and made corresponding plans from it.

The decision to help Theresa out was spontaneous. He gave out the soulium orbs and the middle third grade talisman he imbued with [Sword Light Refraction]. It shattered the imitation Fenghuang Down inside her mind, which led to Theresa regaining her true memories of the second eruption.

Shi Tian wanted her to see the truth and decide on what to do next.

"...so you need my help when my grandpa goes out of control?"

"That's the gist of it."

She did not speak. Neither did Siegfried and Kiana. The former already told her the truth of the second eruption—of the honkai fission missiles deployed that led to Cecilia's death. That alone is an unforgivable sin. There was also the matter of Kiana's "death".

It took an entire hour for Theresa to calm down. She wanted to badly confront her grandfather about these things.

It wasn't an understatement to say that Theresa's world crumbled today. She did not have much energy to deal with other things. She was dazed a while back.

"Okay. You have my word."

Theresa did not speak further. The atmosphere turned more depressing.

Siegfried and Kiana are fine. They processed these things a long time ago. Nevertheless, seeing Theresa so downcast infected the two of them. Only Shi Tian remained calm.

'Don't be sad. Immortal cultivation can resurrect the dead.' He said to Kiana through his spiritual consciousness.

'..!'

It took her a while to process it.

'You didn't tell me that.'

'Because it's still too far away for us.'

'...'

Her eyes looked over to his.

'It's another reason to become stronger. I will do it.' Kiana declared.

'I know you will.'

Seeing the two of them staring at each other, Siegfried misunderstood it as a testament of their closeness. Talking with their eyes is a skill learned by close people—couples, in particular. Siegfried picked it up with Cecilia.

He is aware of his negligence to Kiana. Seeing her close to someone she could trust made him more at ease. The past could not be changed, hence all he can do is to support his daughter and the one she likes.

Shi Tian, after all, made up for the gap Siegfried left behind. He ensured both her safety and her happiness, something Siegfried missed out on doing.

He could not help but think of Cecilia, his wife.

'If you are here…'

*****

The playful atmosphere turned depressing.

Kiana hasn't opened up her 'real identity' to me yet. Everyone else at Anti-Entropy never spoke of it, too.

I don't know if Siegfried revealed it to Theresa, but if he did, it explains everything.

Otto…

Seeing the sins he committed first hand roused my anger towards him. I cultivated to the [Sword Light Refraction] realm. There's no need to say about my current mentality and mindset. I would not go as far as to see him as an absolute evil.

His actions are both good and bad; benefitting mankind while harming a select few.

Unfortunately, one of those select few happened to be Kiana and her family.

If I can obliterate his mind in one go…

I would have done it.

"Sigh…"

The mind network he possessed made him borderline immortal at this stage. There is also something only he can do; to reach the Imaginary Tree. Signing a "contract" with the Will of Honkai is necessary for that step.

I have a stinging feeling that there is a surprise to see at the Imaginary Tree. The "opportunity" within that place will greatly help in cultivation. Whether it is for personal improvement or the fight against the honkai, it is something I needed.

My focus went to the three complex Daos in my possession: Extremity, Causality, and Yin-Yang.

Extremity involves taking "something" to its "extremes". It can be body tempering, it can be the power of my spells, and so on.

Yin-Yang revolves around the fusion of two opposite forces, creating a third and brand new force. It can either enhance or destroy all things.

Finally, causality's specialty lies in causal lines. Connections of person-to-person, their past, and even their possible futures can be seen.

If I work along the line of causality, I might be able to thoroughly kill Otto using his causal lines.

My current decision is the right one.

I forsook qi cultivation. Instead, I allowed my body and mental cultivation to practice automatically. The former can be done automatically via honkai energy; the latter can be done by simply looking around at others' causal lines.

My [Encompassing Eyes] turned permanent. This is one of its perks. Solving puzzles can increase this cultivation speed further.

While these two are cultivating automatically, I am studying the applications of my supernatural seeds. Reaching the [Great Accomplishment] in any of my techniques grants a sharp increase to my combat power.

The twelve supernatural seeds inside me can work together, allowing me to comprehend all of them at an insanely fast rate.

Just then, I recalled my gacha quota. My eyes shifted from the bedroom to the golden orb space. I did the usual draws.

The middle stage qi cultivation ensured a hard pity of a middle third grade item at the very least.

The reward presented itself to my eyes.

It is not a spiritual plant.

It is not a spiritual ore.

It is not a storage ring, either.

It is… a flame. A pale blue flame.

Spiritual flames…

Oh, shit.

My fists tightened.

For well over a year, my [Xiutian Art]'s specialty got wasted. The job-specializations like Hexagram Spirit, Innate Spiritual Flames, and Treasure Organs needed spiritual materials.

While I accumulated a lot of plants, ores, and other miscellaneous stuff, I did not receive anything related to them.

Third grade, late stage. Pale blue flames, possessing a hint of icy coldness and high temperatures at once.

That's it.

I can finally become a professional drug cook—

An alchemist.

*****

A/N: Bro got lucky and hit a 92. I don't know what to say…