"A microchism universe? How funny. Arthur would have never been able to cultivate the Supreme Immortal Body."
Merlin had taken Jin Huang to his abode- a house built into a giant tree. The others had been transported here, and were instructed by Merlin's magical household staff to wait.
At first, they were shocked to see a scroll of paper and a quill floating all on their own. The quill wrote on the paper in order to communicate with them, which blew Hei Shisan's mind.
Even Cho Yanshi was impressed.
"How does he accomplish this without a formation of any kind?" She wondered.
When Merlin arrived with Jin Huang, he was expecting them to be hostile. Instead, they all bombarded him with questions.
Even Lu Chen.
As for Han Jianyu, he had regained his clarity at some point, and was characteristically silent as he sat, his hand still forming a sword seal.
He waited patiently for the right time.
"Why can't we use our internal energy here?" Hei Shisan asked.
"Well, part of the reason is because this Realm has its own system of energy. Internal energy belongs to the Heavenly Realm, but the Earthly Realm has been so absorbed by Heaven, that internal energy can freely be used their."
"That Realm has lost its will. This Realm is still very much alive. It does not tolerate internal energy use. Only magical energy."
After Merlin's explanation, even Lu Chen and Cho Yanshi were left pondering.
"How were you able to affect probability so freely? You used it to guide my dice and essentially communicate with me. That shouldn't be possible." Shen Wuyou asked.
"This invulnerability that you assign to concepts like fate is something that Heaven's influence has given you."
"You will soon learn that what you consider impossible, is very possible." Merlin smiled, a hint in his eyes of the trials and tribulations that would soon befall Shen Wuyou in particular.
"Enough of that crap," Jin Huang interrupted.
Those that had been sitting or standing around Merlin frowned briefly, but swiftly remembered their whole reason for being here.
However, Han Jianyu had yet to ask Merlin anything.
"Tell me about my Dao Integration. How do I do it?"
Merlin sighed, "Well, it's no easy feat, I'll tell you that. There's a reason that the Supreme Immortal Body's Dao Integration has never been completed."
"Not only does it require you to somehow avoid Heaven's interference while integrating, it also requires you to perfectly construct the Fourth Realm. The trick is, there's no recipe- no instructions."
"If there is even the slighest error in your path, you will fail. If that's not bad enough, there's no way of knowing what that path is supposed to be."
Jin Huang held the Journal tightly in his hands, recalling the entry relating to Dao Integration.
Looking at the green-eyed old warlock, Jin Huang groaned. "You're no help."
Merlin weased a laugh, "You thought I could help you integrate your Dao? You're the only one that can do that. The only thing I can do is make it more likely that you'll succeed."
Jin Huang's indifference to Merlin's words was again replaced with interest. "Oh yeah? How?"
Merlin leaned in. Not only Jin Huang, everyone else perked up.
"I will teach you how to use magical energy. All of you."
Hei Shisan and Shen Wuyou silently celebrated, Cho Yanshi and Lu Chen exchanged a glance. Qin Shuyue gulped, seemingly hesitant.
Lin appeared with a soundless chime, standing amongst them.
"But Jin Huang already uses the Color of Arthur better than Arthur ever could. What more is there to learn- Ow!"
Merlin had stretched his staff over and struck Lin in the head with the emerald.
"Stupid item spirit!"
"What you call the 'Color of Arthur' is just the energy of the Supreme Immortal. It closely resembles both internal energy and magical energy, because it can function as either depending on where you are."
Lin rubbed his head, eyes welling up with tears as he stared death at Merlin.
"So, you're saying that the Supreme Immortal can mimic the functions of these other types of energy?" Cho Yanshi surmised, partially confused.
"Not exactly," Merlin explained, tilting his head this way and that. "In truth, the Supreme Immortal's energy is one and the same as them. It has all their properties and then some."
In response their widened eyes, Merlin raised his hand to silence any questions.
"But try not to dwell too much on that. Not even I know enough about it to explain. What I know is magical energy, and that is what I will teach you."
His gaze passed over them, "All of you."
Qin Shuyue's eyes glistened curiously. "Is it possible for us to learn? We aren't even from this Realm."
"Yeah. Are our bodies even capable of cultivating this... magical energy?" Hei Shisan scoffed.
"Before we left," Lu Chen started, "we never even understood what cultivation was. To us, the energy we always had was just... inherent. A part of our bodies."
"We thought we had to supplicate that with even greater strength- with inherent energy."
Cho Yanshi sighed, "We were wrong. We just didn't understand enough."
Merlin chuckled, "You imbeciles almost ruined a perfect foundation. Thankfully, you came back before your Dao Rebirth."
"Rebirth?" Lu Chen asked, puzzled. "What's that?"
Han Jianyu's eyes lit up with realization, and for the first time he was about to open his mouth.
At that moment, as soon as the word formed on his tongue, Merlin's gaze cut through and the old warlock put a finger to his lips.
Strangely, no one seemed to see him do this. Han Jianyu silenced himself, and continued waiting.
Merlin grinned, but said nothing more. Instead, he snapped his fingers and caused them all to be whisked away against their will.
When they became aware of their surroundings again, they were standing in the lobby of an enormous building, illuminated by a massive blue flame chandelier that hung from the ceiling.
In addition to its light, smaller blue candles lined the many pathways ahead. Those carpeted pathways led to various bookshelf alleys, stairs, ladders, and even more books.
There was a practically endless amount.
"Welcome to my Library," Merlin gestured.
"In here is every single piece of literature on magical energy that exists in Albion, gathered by yours truly."
Hei Shisan was the first to step forward, "There're so many! I wanna read them all.
Jin Huang was right behind him, Lin by his side. He tapped Hei Shisan's shoulder and said, "Good for you, buddy."
Shen Wuyou silently rolled his dice and eyed the results before saying, "I'm going that way."
Cho Yanshi and Lu Chen stepped out together, and gazed at the vast collections of books, scrolls and other pieces of writing.
Han Jianyu hung back; Qin Shuyue seemed hesistant before she approached Merlin.
"Now, take all the time you need to scour the library. Let the Realm itself guide you. Choose one thing, and meet back here."
Merlin tapped his staff on the floor, the emerald glowing as an invisible force swept out through the Library. Letting go of it, Merlin conjured a chair and sat while the staff remained standing on its own.
"Feel free."
The others left almost immediately, excited to scour the Library. Qin Shuyue was about to ask Merlin something, but he smiled and urged her to go.
Nodding, she left.
Now, it was just Merlin and Han Jianyu.
"Senior-" Han Jianyu started.
"Did you hear them again? The voices?" Merlin asked, arms folded, without looking.
Shock and surprise gripped Han Jianyu, and his sword seal falered. "Yes... Just before we came."
"Good. And what did they tell you this time?"
Swallowing, Han Jianyu balled his fists as he recalled those terrible whispers. "They told me that the 'advent' is nigh. I am meant to make some kind of connection here."
"Heh! Those bastard things. They can never just be straightforward." Merlin spat as he laughed wryly.
"No matter. They told you enough."
"Senior. How do you know about the-"
"Don't worry about that. Those answers will come later. For now, I want you to go into the Library, and find what you alone are meant to find." Conjuring up a pouf for his feet, Merlin got comfortable.
"How do I know which-" Han Jianyu tried to get some guidance, but Merlin grunted.
"Do you want some of what Lin got earlier!? Get!"
Han Jianyu bowed deeply and left, leaving the area empty, and Merlin sitting comfortable in his chair.
"I would never have believed it, had I not seen it," Merlin sighed, a small frown on his face. "A boy from the Heavenly Realm, huh? How ironic."
Yawning, the grey warlock closed his eyes and took a nap.