The next day.
One of the strongholds of the Yinkui Sect.
Orsaga lay lazily on a stone recliner, casually gnawing on a chicken claw. Beside him, two beautiful handmaidens were peeling sunflower seeds for his amusement.
Life was, in a word—good.
Dressed in a long black gown, Zhu Yuyan stood before him with her head lowered and said respectfully,
"Thank you for your help."
Though she found the information Wanwan brought back difficult to accept, when she thought back on certain details she'd once overlooked, something deep in her gut told her the story was true.
The simplest clue?
Over the years, more than a dozen cultivators had successfully shattered the void and "ascended," yet in the thousands of years since, not a single word had ever come back.
For the longest time, they'd believed the ascension portal was a one-way gate, dividing the mortal and immortal realms. That's why none of the sect's elders ever returned—or so they thought.
But not even a whisper of news? That never quite added up.
Surely, at least one of those powerful "ascended" cultivators would've made something of themselves—and even if they didn't, how was it possible not a single message made it back?.
After all, even the mortal world had carrier pigeons and long-distance sound transmissions!
In response to Zhu Yuyan's gratitude, Orsaga waved her off lazily.
"It was nothing. Just something I did in passing."
He said it plainly, and truthfully. But Zhu Yuyan assumed he was simply being modest.
Only Wanwan, standing beside her master, rolled her eyes in silence. She knew Orsaga had really just done it offhandedly—he hadn't taken the matter seriously at all.
But with her master standing right there, she didn't dare speak. One wrong word and she'd get a lesson in "respect."
After expressing her thanks, Zhu Yuyan sighed.
"I wonder... of all the founders and ancestors of the Holy Orders who ascended over the years... did any of them manage to survive?"
Those ancient pioneers, all once peerless talents of their era, had now likely ended up as little more than food on someone's plate. The thought was heartbreaking.
Wanwan's face reflected sorrow as well—but deep down, she didn't really care.
She hadn't known any of them. So aside from an initial moment of grief, she felt... nothing.
As far as she was concerned, as long as she and her master were safe, that was enough.
Just then, a thought popped into her head.
She suddenly recalled the man in black robes she had seen inside the Temple of the War God. There had been something oddly familiar about him... but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't place it.
After all, she'd only ever seen images of Xiang Yutian in ancient paintings.
And as everyone knows—whether Eastern or Western—ancient portraiture barely resembled real people.
The best she could say was that the man had looked "a little familiar."
So it was that Xiang Yutian, still sitting inside the temple, continued to meditate on the War God Codex, unknowingly working hard to "marinate" himself for future consumption.
And he was really starting to get into it—making impressive progress.
---
Over ten minutes later—
After Zhu Yuyan had taken her leave, Orsaga stood and strolled over to the window.
He looked up at the sun and casually pulled out a cigar.
In a world of martial arts and qi, things like cigars, suits, or mechs felt utterly out of place—but no one dared say a word.
Wanwan, curious at first, frowned as the scent wafted over.
It smelled awful, so she wisely chose not to ask.
After a brief silence, Orsaga finally spoke:
"Sometime soon, I'll revise your sect's martial arts. Once it's done, just train according to the new version. Your job from then on... will be spreading my faith in the other worlds you ascend to."
Wanwan blinked.
"Ascend? But... where exactly will we go?"
"There will be a force guiding you."
Thanks to the memory embedded in the War God Codex, Orsaga now had a decent understanding of this dimension's structure.
Overall, it resembled the Wizarding World's dimensional model—a collection of loosely connected worlds that were separate yet interrelated.
However, compared to the Wizarding World, where all the realms only fought and plundered each other, this realm's structure was relatively... peaceful.
Here, once a living being's strength surpassed the upper limit of their world, the world itself would eject them—forcing them to ascend to another world with a higher threshold.
That's where those War God Codex-baiting predators had set up shop: in the higher-tier worlds above this one.
In this system, Voidbreaker was essentially just the first stage of "ascension," much like how cultivation stories describe the path to immortality.
How many times one could ascend? Orsaga wasn't sure.
In some dimensions he'd encountered, it was completely normal to ascend three, four, or even five times.
Human → Immortal → God → Saint → Ancestral Being...
Some realms were especially rotten—they had infinite ascension.
Every time you hit the cap, you'd be thrown into a new world.
Because of the rule differences, most of your previous power would be wiped clean.
You'd start over as a "blank slate," and begin grinding from scratch.
Endless ascension = endless leveling up!
Who could survive that grind?
Then again, it wasn't all bad.
The more worlds you survived, the more experiences you accumulated.
Eventually, your soul and willpower would evolve and transform.
In fact, Orsaga had once seen soul fragments from such cultivators being sold at roadside stalls in the Abyss.
Their value depended on how many times they'd ascended—each added level made the soul more flavorful and nourishing.
You could say... the soul's resale value was their one true "ascension reward."
As for how many times people could ascend within this dimension?
Orsaga didn't know yet.
This body was just an clone, and Aeon was newly born and still developing—he couldn't sense everything just yet.
All he could say for sure was: Wanwan and her peers had a very long road ahead.
In his view, having his future followers spread his faith while they leveled up... was a solid investment.
Might as well make use of them.
Right now, Orsaga was following a three-pronged development strategy:
1. The Abyssal Classic – invade planes directly, brute-force style. One-and-done scorched-earth business.
2. The Passive Plague Inc Plan – lurk silently, spread the disease in the ecosystem, reap without being noticed.
3. Faith Farming – since he was already halfway to being an dark god, why not harvest some belief while he's at it?
Three revenue streams. All scalable. Switchable at any time.
With this setup, who could stop him from doing as he pleased?
Orsaga was very pleased with himself.
When Wanwan heard that after breaking the Void, she wouldn't be throwing herself into a trap but instead ascending to a real new world, her heart settled.
"Alright... but I can't guarantee I'll ever reach that level."
The path to Voidbreaker was littered with obstacles—countless cultivators had died trying.
Even Wanwan didn't dare claim she'd make it.
But Orsaga just waved it off with supreme confidence:
"No worries!. Once you start training with my upgraded version of the Heavenly Demon Codex—Voidbreaker will just be the beginner tier."
_____
T/N:
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