Breakthrough, new function

Knowing that he only has one chance, Nightin willed himself to stay conscious, reminding himself again and again that after all this, it will be a brand new future ahead of him and compared to all the pain that he has withstood thus far, this pain is worth nothing.

Try asking someone else if they can withstand the pain of being consumed by raging flames without putting up any defenses, by flames scorching enough to dye their skin red before burning deep down to their bones, burning away at their meridians and internal organs without any form of support or encouragement beside the will to live. Can one withstand the pain of having to collapse to their knees and realise how pathetically weak they are, so weak that they can't even protect their own friends.

The pain of having to destroy their own spirit core just to reform it, to be fully rid of the mortal body and mortal rank spirit core which brings about no future, that's something which only he alone can tank through and make it out alive, his eyes still radiating with light and the flames within his heart still burning with passion.

Looking at the miraculous lines that only exists in fantasy books of the mundane world, Nightin knows that these lines wouldn't be easy to comprehend and to make things worse, the lines were fading away with each passing second and if this keeps up, the lines will only exist for about a thousand more breaths before ceasing to exist.

Damn it, why is this happening? Nightin may be cursing, but he had already started to memorise those lines before anything else, he may not be able to comprehend everything in this dimension, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have the time to memorise the lines first and comprehend them in the future.

Sweats dripped down Nightin's forehead with each passing second, each drop of sweat reminding him of the reasons in which he should keep on moving forward, but right when the lines were about to fade, that drop of sweat actually triggered one of his memories as a mortal, one where he saved a young girl when some bandits were attacking her and got knocked unconscious.

Thinking back to that girl, he realised that she had the same determination and charm just like Charlotte and if his guess isn't wrong, that missing puzzle in his memories must be from the impact back then.

"I see, no wonder I felt so attached to Charlotte ever since the first day I saw her, or the day I reunited with her to be exact. Back before we were mature enough to understand the world, we had already tied the knot with each other behind our parents back. My little fool, why didn't you tell me the truth and act as though it was our first meeting? One year, give me one year at most and I'll kill all those that try to harm you, I'll slay down all those obstacles in our way." Nightin swore out loud within his heart, unable to understand why Charlotte refused to speak the truth, was she scared of losing him once again or is it cause she cares about him too much?

Charlotte and Phoenix, the two of you are the only close ones I truly have, I have never met my parents ever since that day and the me right now, I'm another person compared to when I was just a mortal and after learning about what my father did to me, I don't even know how I feel towards him right now, as such, such a fragment like you wouldn't ever stand in my way.

Suddenly, the fragment which Nightin was unable to understand at all actually began to break off into even smaller pieces and before he could even react, they dived straight for his mind as knowledge about the firestorm law flooded his mind, but all this only lasted temporarily before the panic kicked in.

The fragments may be trying to assist him, but there were those one to two corrupted pieces that are actually trying to seize his body, if he fails to keep them away and seal off the knowledge that can be gained from them, then he'll cease to exist from now on even though this body of his will still rule the system and as for the system…

"System, what do you suggest I do right now?" Nightin hurriedly asked, not realising that he has been asking the system more and more questions lately, the more challenges he faces, the more he turns to the system which already goes against his initial mindset. But even so, he knows that he'll already be dead without the countless times the system had saved his life.

"Due to the specific restrictions, any requests including this will have to be rejected, at least one quest will be ongoing every moment from now on to ensure a continuous influx of spirit coins used to purchase items from the shop and receive assistance for quests."

What? Does this mean that the system is going to leave me in the lurch this time around after so many times? Nightin questioned within his mind, but the next quest notification lets him know that he isn't abandoned yet.

"Ding!"

"Due to this news being too sudden, the system will provide its last assistance for free before this policy takes place."

As the system message was being read, Nightin could feel a soothing energy revitalising his body from head to toe, the energy then slowly moved into his body as they surrounded the few corrupted fragments and dragged them out.

But only the corrupted parts were dragged out, the contents were kept safe and untouched for Nightin to digest and due to him comprehending the gate fully, it gave him an even clearer view of the future he desires. He'll suppress his cultivation at the third gate as he returns in search of the scattered fragments from the previous two gates and fully absorb them, he'll make use of this strong foundation to soar up at once when the time comes.

Instead of taking things one step at a time, he'll take half a step at a time and by the time others are exhausted, he'll show them what a sprint really is in a year, the time for Charlotte to be rescued from the shackles of her family and enjoy freedom for the first time in her life.

When Nightin regained his senses, he realised that the barrier that he had put up and reinforced was currently trembling violently as Ash tries his utmost best to slow the process down, his face was calm, but the beads of sweat dripping down his fatigued body was betraying him.

Hand seals after seals, he reinforced the damaged areas and cracks one at a time, controlling his imagination energy to be used to barricade the cracks with the least amount of effort needed.

Unlike other cultivators that make use of spirit energy, what he cultivates is the imagination energy and the total capacity he can contain may be ten times of even most geniuses, but that's why he mastered the essence of perfect control to win every dragged on battle. As his opponent grows weaker over time, he'll always be at his peak strength with his fast recovery speed as well.

"Ash, leave the rest to me." Hearing Nightin's assuring voice from behind, Ash relaxed his body and allowed for the cracks to open at the same time, causing the barrier to collapse immediately as flames surrounded them in a swirling motion.

"Weren't you curious as to what I was doing?" Nightin asks as the flames gathers around him, his robe turning the colour of darkness with a diagonal white cut as his hair, the colour of violet after the Samsara law finally accepted him after that incident of awakening and understanding the past.

His wings then opened up behind him, flames coiling around his body as he revealed the samsara sword once again, suppressing its intention to evolve rapidly as he caressed its body, assuring through his actions and thoughts that it'll only be for a short while.

"Show yourself!"

Nightin commanded towards the blank space ahead of them as Ash looked at him in confusion, but acted immediately upon receiving the telepathy message from Nightin as he enveloped the area around the swamp and a small part of the land.

"Bzzzt! Bzzzt!"

The spider leaped off the ground as it vanished again, only to realise that its escape path was sealed off which means that it lost its elusiveness advantage over them, to make things worse, its movement being restricted means that it's unable to make use of the terrain and concealment advantage.

"Do you need help? That spider is still in the Half Great Saint realm even though it has lost its edge over us." Ash stated, hoping that Nightin would think about their current situation and back down a bit, the constant changes he was undergoing was becoming too much for him as a friend to accept. How can someone even change this much in two months?

"It's fine, I want to give my newfound strength the chance to experience going on a full roam rampage as well." Nightin replies as sharp blades of feathers pierce through the air towards the spider, the defensive webs being torn apart like nothing as the spider tries to dodge, only to realise that it was being cornered as it took a blow intentionally to reposition itself and pounce on Nightin.

"Rage has consumed you." That's what Nightin told the spider as the feathers gathered before him into a sharp blade as it sliced towards the spider, destroying its webs used as armor and taking away two of its legs at the same time.

Ignoring the cries of the spider, Nightin slashes forward with his sword again, decipicating the spider once and for all as he tells Ash "Let's rest here for three days, someone will be here to help us out soon.