Chapter 286: Dao Debate

[ Disciple No. 1: Han Xuhan ]

[ Race: Fused Hybrid ]

[ Ancestry: Endemic to CT-L4-G36-SS11-P8, #$#£¥®¥???.... Security protocols may be breached if further data is traced ]

[ Special Physique: Fusion Seed (Forbidden) ]

[ Self Cultivation: Core Liberation (minor realm) ]

[ Fused Cultivation: 4th Layer of The Physique Transformation Realm ]

[ Dao Foundation Quality: Can't be measured ]

[ Dao Heart: ??? (fused dao heart is too chaotic for grading) ]

[ Comprehension: B+ ] (fused) 

[ Qi Quality: B ] (fused)

[ Elemental Affinity: Water (B); Air (B-) ] (fused)

[ Overall Potential: A ]

This was Han Xuhan's situation after fusing with both Zhanxian and Tun Shi Tian. There weren't many changes compared to the first fusion, except for the increase in qi quality and an additional elemental affinity. The two minions' combined cultivation was now standing at the 4th layer, the highest stage of Xuhan's past cultivation. 

After Kong Ye explained the little differences between the two fusions, Han Xuhan began to guide Hai Yin Zhe into visualizing her own glyph. This turned out to be an insurmountable task very soon.

"Ceelingdikal shape? What does that mean, papa?"

"Papa, what's a layer?"

"Papapapa, what are you saying?! Dimonshons? What?"

"Uwwaaah! Stop hitting yourself, Papa!"

"Ahahaha, papa went crazyyyy!"

The snake burst out with uproarious laughter as Han Xuhan slapped himself in the face and gave up. He had indeed been a bit too optimistic about his chances. Attempting to teach a toddler how to draw an imaginary, three-dimensional, moving pattern from her instinct was a fool's dream. 

"Disciple Xuhan, maybe it's better not to have little Zhe be a part of your body anyway. I fear for your sanity if a toddler as chaotic as she influences you internally."

Han Xuhan ran a hand through his hair, his face a mirror of placid acceptance. "You don't understand, teacher. Hai Yin Zhe is a monstrously talented cultivator. If her mental age was a little older...tsss, I could be the strongest disciple of this sect's outer court. Didn't you say my potential right now is the greatest it has ever been? If I fused with Yinzhe, that potential would stand at the same rank as Brother Ran and Sister Zhou."

Kong Ye looked up at the bright sky, unbothered by the burning sun's glare. "Disciple Xuhan, we all must accept our mediocrity in some aspects of life. Not everyone has to be a monstrous genius in cultivation. Don't force what's not meant to be."

"Is struggling not the core of cultivation? To force our way beyond mortal chains, beyond body and spirit, beyond the ocean of stars?" 

Kong Ye's gaze shifted sharply back to Han Xuhan's face. 

"And which self-taught clown taught you that bullshit, disciple? Struggling to earn what you desire and forcing yourself for what you do not deserve are two poles apart on the scale of the righteous. He who struggles to separate the borders of both has had what I'd call a fool's enlightenment. Steer clear of fellows with such dangerous ideological handicaps. Your dao heart is already in a deep pit, don't dig deeper."

Han Xuhan coughed awkwardly, saying, "One of the Elders taught us to think this way, teacher. He used to teach us fundamentals of cultivation in the early days."

Kong Ye snorted disdainfully, his nose up in the air. "Next time you see that clown, ask him how many floors his dao tower has. If the answer is less than four, inform me. I'll go beat him up."

Han Xuhan's eyes were filled with shock. "Four floors? Does that mean one has to be beyond the fourth major realm of cultivation to be qualified to talk about the basics?"

Kong Ye shook his head, face grave. "No, one just has to be beneath the fourth major realm to qualify to be beaten by me."

"...."

Han Xuhan returned to Xiao Wu's hut that evening exuding a listless aura. Since everyone was out having their little hide-and-seek adventures, he snatched the opportunity to take a power nap. And he needed one sorely. Learning about an untested technique based on a concept as esoteric astral energy was no easy feat. Even inside Kong Ye's special cultivation chamber, Han Xuhan had not made substantial progress. 

The original idea behind cultivating the Astral Column Technique was to plant one qi accumulation point in each of his minions, each creating a column inside his dao tower that would support its foundation and strengthen it. But executing that plan was impossible now, because Han Xuhan no longer had a dao tower, or a traceable foundation to strengthen. 

Kong Ye still insisted that he should learn the technique, the basics at least. Since he could use his fusion mode to cultivate easily without damaging his own meridians, continuing the path of the Skeletal Monarch Technique was no longer a problem. In fact, the more minions he fused with, the less pressure there was on his meridians. So his path to the peak of the Physique Transformation Realm was now basically set in stone. 

By the time the sun was about to set, Han Xuhan woke up, refreshed. He was entertaining a variety of dreams about being able to fuse with ancient, terrifying creatures when he heard the thunderous sounds of a battle coming from a distance.

Sighing, he peeked out through the hut's window and discovered a scene that left him frozen in confusion for a solid few seconds. 

Zhang Dahai was crouching on the ground right past the front yard, covered in cuts too many to count. The clothing of his upper body had been torn to shreds, and even the lightweight armor beneath was showing signs of falling apart, revealing a body painted red in its own blood. Some of the cuts ran as deep as his bones!

Not too far away from him, his opponent stood still as a statue. The first thought that appeared in Han Xuhan's heart as he laid his eyes on her was not that she was a beautiful young woman, but that this was an opponent he could not face. It was like casting his gaze upon an ancient mountain, its aura so oppressive and steady that his instincts screamed, every chain of his thought broken by a chant– fear, fear, fear, fear!

His grip on the window slackened without a conscious mental order. His breaths fell in struggling hitches. His focused stare did not break, but gradually, all he could see when looking in her direction was the existence of a threat, an existence that could squash him as easily as a greatsword pulverizing an armor of glass. 

A greatsword. 

Han Xuhan found himself being absorbed into a world of imagination. In this world, he was sitting in an endless desert, feeling an unprecedented sense of weakness in his body. Covering the visage of heaven and earth ahead was a gargantuan mountain that cast a shadow over the realm no matter how far he looked. As he looked up to see where the mountain ended and the sky began, he noticed it beginning to tilt towards him. 

Fear so overwhelming consumed his mind that even the familiar voice of Zhang Dahai screaming didn't make an impact in his heart. All he wanted, sincerely, was to not be crushed by the falling mountain.

Just as he himself was about to scream out in fear of being obliterated, a deep voice spread out across the desert, seemingly uttered by the mountain itself.

"I accept no surrender without an appropriate price. Since you have no treasure set to buy yourself a harmless defeat, show me what else you think may buy you an opportunity to run away."