"No, no." The black-horned snake waved its tail as it mimicked a hand gesture. "You are smart enough to realize it by now, are you not? Take me, for instance. I can’t interact with you or cause direct harm to you, but I can still pull some tricks, and anyone close to you is just fair game. I can decide to kill everyone close to you if I want to; there’s no one stopping me. Not many beings at my level are benevolent. They would do anything in order to break you, or better yet, turn the world against you."It puffed its underbelly forward before using its tail to pat it lightly. "But rest assured, I don’t have any plans to do that. As I said, I am here to help you."Alaric still hasn’t come to terms with that yet. With a serious voice, he asked, "Why are they after blessed? With their level of power and status, why would they be so interested in blessed, and more importantly, why are you helping me?" He narrowed his eyes.The tone had changed from what it was before; the jovial, almost theatrical atmosphere the black snake had maintained all this time seemed to shatter at the weight of this question. A trace of hesitation mixed with pity flashed across its eyes. "I am sorry, kid, I can’t tell you why they are after your kind, just that you need to prepare. As for the reason why I now choose to help you, it is because I am from the old world."This revelation rattled Alaric a bit; he had to take in several deep breaths just to calm himself, otherwise his curiosity might take over. He assumed this being would be ancient, but he hadn’t expected it to be a treasure trove of lost knowledge. Not a lot was known about the world before the culling, or why the culling even happened in the first place, just a record of destruction and ruins confirming the existence of trillions upon trillions of years of past civilization. Having an existence who was alive during those times, actively helping you, is a treasure, and he loved treasures, especially golden knowledge like this.There is one problem. He did not trust this mysterious being or his knowledge, even if he swore on his mother’s grave. Someone who actively sought to take your life, suddenly turning friendly, is something that only occurs in fantasies, and this was the real world.He has no way of confirming the authenticity of the knowledge that would be provided. For now, that is. He believed that, with the start of this journey, he would gain a massive amount of insight into the old world.Still, getting information, no matter how distorted or filtered, may offer some insights as to what he was up against.When a blessed one awakens, they are provided with wisdom from the Heavenly Dao, containing all sorts of knowledge about their newly attained status. One thing it doesn’t contain is knowledge of what they were fighting against. But with knowledge of the old world, they could theorize or even find answers that led to their objective."I don’t believe you."Alaric’s gaze sharpened, his skepticism etched into every line of his face. "Prove your value - share something about the old world that only someone like you could know.""Kukuku, I see what you are doing, but since I have decided to help you, I shall share with you a secret that only a few know about.""Before the culling, the heavenly Dao also picked 12 chosen individuals."Surprise flashed within his eyes, but inwardly, he wasn’t too shocked by this information; it was just a show. He could easily guess that, after all, blessed individuals are chosen when a threat that can end the world or permanently alter it flows is identified by the heavenly Dao, so, before a grand event like heaven’s wrath can occur, it would take measures to prevent that outcome before it becomes the only way."But they failed, which left the heavens with no choice but to destroy everything. If this new set of blessed fails again, this entire realm is doomed forever. I believe that is why the heavenly dao added an anomaly like you. You might not have noticed it yet, but compared to other blessed, you are unique."

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After an hour of discussion with that entity, Alaric decided to just let it be; he couldn’t chase it away, and it couldn’t harm him, so if it decided to be his informant, he wouldn’t say no to it. He already confirmed that only he could see or interact with this mysterious entity. Before beginning his journey into the world with Eva, he needed to get something done immediately, which was why he was still cross-legged in meditation. He was going to fix one of the fundamental aspects of willpower that he genuinely lacked. He could still vividly remember the conversation he had with Tian in that tavern just after leaving the merchant’s paradise about the qualities that define the top cultivators of the realm. The answer he got was not talent, not technique, nor was it martial spirit, but the driving force of willpower, Mentality.It was something formed from a strong perception of the Self. Someone ignorant might even call it delusion, but it was a very important fuel that drives the engine called will.The concept of self as something that had alluded Alaric since birth. There was no HIM; he just lived life because that was what others did. But now, he felt whole.With the help of the innate will technique, his willpower was vast. So much so that it was about to break a threshold. Before today, he couldn’t break that threshold, but now that he was in the flesh/sinew refinement realm, he felt that he could break through at any moment, but it was better to do it now, as there was safety here, at least to a certain extent.This stage is called the demon seed stage of the innate will technique. It allows one to condense their Self into a seed in their mental world, using their will to nourish it until it germinates into a more powerful Mental Image of themselves.This was a very powerful, yet very volatile stage. If your Self wasn’t good to begin with, it would amplify that mentality to an absurd level and start to influence your behavior in subtle ways. If a cultivator’s self-image is lacking in worth or self-destructive, after cultivating this technique, they wouldn’t be able to walk far in their cultivation journey and might even end their lives soon after.But if your self-image is powerful, profound, or worthy of pushing you forward, the results would be significant. For instance, he has come to realize that the image Eva had for herself was the absolute belief that she could cut down anything in front of her. If she couldn’t now, she would sharpen her sword and try again tomorrow. She would keep hacking until everything in her way is cut to pieces.This benefit outweighs the probability of failure for him. Since he didn’t know which aspect of his Self made up his Self-belief, he spent the last eight years gathering knowledge, hoping that the image he built for himself would be what was amplified. It was a gamble, but he could tilt the odds to his favor somewhat.Freely entering his mental world, he was greeted by the vast void of every color variation. Their forms are now uniform and move smoothly. An indication of his mental calmness and fortitude of will.Following the technique’s instructions, the moving colors froze, then converged and condensed into a ball that kept growing before compressing.Countless micro profound runes appeared in the void before etching themselves around the mass of energy, stirring up his vast willpower to act. That invisible force converged on the newly formed seed, enveloping and gently nourishing it.’That’s ominous.’ He gave the seed a blank stare. He expected it to at least have a gradient of different colors mixed together to form a unique blend, or, at most, to take on a white color. What he didn’t account for was a pitch-black color that seemed to devour light itself. It just hung in the middle of the sea of colors, rotating slowly while feeding on his willpower.’I hope nothing went wrong. I won’t be able to grasp every aspect of it until it fully hatches. for now, all it can do is subtly nudge and influence me a little, without me even noticing.’He left his mental world. It might take a few months to a year before it hatches, so he just left it for now. He had other important matters to deal with. For one, he needed to check up on Eva and gather some information before leaving the bubble they currently live in.

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Quotes.

"Talent is borrowed. Technique is learned. But your mentality is built on the bones of who you are. A cultivator without a Self is just a flame with no wick, bright for a moment, then gone." - The Greatest sin.

"Will without Self is just noise. Self without will is just dreaming. The cultivator who finds both becomes something the world has no word for yet."- Older Alaric.

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