It was pretty dark right now, and I honestly didn't feel like explaining to both Liang Yu and YuYu what had happened earlier, not that I had done anything wrong, but try and explain to a woman that you're not wrong and you'll be the one saying sorry by the end.
I've decided to take my leave and go on a lonely walk to calm my mind.
I took several Ancient Steps and was away from the Heavenly Academy's housing area in almost no time.
Under the gaze of the moon, the fresh calm breeze of a summer night. I was able to calm myself and slowly think of what went on.
I've thankfully managed to obtain some good treasures from the venture I just went through, though it wasn't all too easy. I learned many things, such as the full Ancient Martial art, the Fist of Roaring Ki, and then gained this new body that is far firmer, stronger, and faster by all means and it can only grow in power.
All thanks to the hidden treasure of the Ancient Sect, sect master, The Golden Titan, one of the few great powers of the Vast Expanse.
He had taught me himself, and I gained knowledge and ability far beyond what anyone has the right to. I'm blessed and I acknowledge it. Not to mention I've gained one of the very few and rare mounts that belonged to one of the superpowers that used to rule the vast expanse in ancient times. Though It's in terrible condition, nothing short of a few weeks of work can't fix.
The Dark Beast is also a good addition, though I'll probably have a hard time making it survive in light, I'll try and find a good use for it. Now, this is all good and fine, but I'm still worried about many things.
I moved until I found a small rock standing alone atop a low hill.
I sat crosse legged and resumed my thoughts.
With the Heavenly Academy backing me, I'm sure I'll be able to propel my knowledge and prows to higher levels in half the time and effort it would take anyone else. Not to mention the fact that I'll be taught by the academy's best teachers. Siphoning knowledge and understanding of people of age and wisdom is a great way to increase my own knowledge.
The issue remains, however, of the danger of the very thing that brought me all the way here.
The book of the poison god, The Poison God's Heritage.
A book, a curse disguised in a blessing. Which became more obvious now.
There harbored the remains of two of the Poison God's own followers, people who followed a man that was once considered a genius, a mad man, a killer, and oftentimes, a just person if that is even possible.
The words of the Poison God's Heritage, all of them have yet to speak of a man of a crazed nature. All the teachings and knowledge within this book lead the person to believe that the Poison God is a benevolent master and teacher. But the terror he left in the world before his passing and the carnage and chaos he left whenever he went through is a clear indicator that either whoever wrote the book and the poison god are two different people. Or that everyone in the world has a clear misconception of the Poison God's antics.
I am not such a petty person to take the Poison God's knowledge, power, and his grace upon me, saving me from the pits of death and leading me all the way to where I am, then call him a vile foul person.
I would be nothing but an ungrateful bastard, the same as my own children.
I have benefited a lot, to which I am thankful, but I will not be corrupted or corroded by the Acolytes living in this book.
For whatever reason, my soul power is far greater than anyone I've ever met, and perhaps, it is the reason why these vile Skulls, these acolytes never managed to corrupt me. But, even a rock can be broken with a drop of water, if pressed on long enough.
I cannot just blindly trust my own will and believe that I will forever remain master of my own thoughts, thus, I need to grow stronger and find a way to either rid myself of these skulls, or make sure, that they are no longer a problem to me.
The Poison God's trial is something I need to challenge in the near future. It should hold the secret to the Poison God's complete Heritage, and the remains of a man who once terrorized the vast expanse. With all of his secrets unfolded in front of me, I should be able to capitalize on his knowledge, and either make use of his acolytes or outright remove them if they proved to be a threat to my wellbeing.
With my convictions set, I took a breath, there was something I needed to do earlier but never had the ability to do so in the depth of the Under-Void.
I began galvanizing my cultivation, agitating it and roiling it to bursting levels. And soon a shocking powerful wave of energy blasted from around me. Declaring to the world that I took another step towards the peak.
And with this step, a few changes happened to me.
The first was the soul. My Nascent Soul, which turned into a true Soul after I had reached the Soul Formation level, is now what we can call a complete soul since I had finally set foot in the Soul Transformation level.
The small scales that used to randomly grow on my Soul, seemed to take a definite shape this time. They grew like a reptile's scale all over the soul's skin, then once they took their defined and final shape, they sunk inside, hiding away and leaving nothing but pure human skin.
The soul's eyes, however, had changed from normal green eyes to those with draconic slits, sharp of sight, and cold as ice.
The Soul's form didn't change much, but I could see that it became far more condensed, far more…physical for the lack of any other world.
Then came the body, my already improved body thanks to the Stone Aged Milk seemed to be on the verge of breaking, only for even purer looking skin to appear from underneath the old broken shell.
The skin's pale tone was still there, yet for some reason, it seemed to be glistening under the light of the moon. While the well-chiseled muscles of this old body of mine seemed to define themselves far more.
My stature and posture seemed to get corrected as the bones on my body felt as if they bent and snapped to take a firmer sturdier shape. While every tendon and muscle fiber on me felt as if it had been reconstructed anew.
My hair for whatever reason seemed to grow longer as did my stature, and I didn't know if it was only the posture being corrected or if I had visibly grown slightly taller.
The occasional suffocating feeling within the back of my mind seemed to slowly disperse and along with it went the headache that I was feeling throughout the day.
As if I was born anew, I felt that the world for a moment fully accepted me.
Only for a moment though…
The world around me seemed to change. The cool night breeze stopped, and the grass that was slowly swaying seemed to be frozen in time.
The darkness of the night that was only lit by the moonlight seemed to become stronger.
And the white light reflected upon the moon's surface soon turned pink, then blood red before the world was completely covered in darkness.
Thunder roared in the high heavens as the skies were once again ordered to gather. Channeling the might of the Heavens and summoning once again, a gate as great as the world to appear in such a small place where I sat still.
A gate of gold, where the sculptures of warriors and dragons were but the decoration on it, seemed to land in front of me.
The gate's presence was enough to wake every soul in the Heavenly Academy, as it had come with a loud thundering boom that would rip a mortal's eardrums in a single beat. And it roared and roared, unable to accept the presence of a person so ready to face against the Heavenly Will.
The heavens were ready to smite those who defy it, with fire and lighting. And it was adamant about making everyone watch how the fate of those who defy would end.
That is of course if I were to cower and hide away, not if I were to raise my head in the challenge..
"It's time, come," I spoke as my whole cultivation base seemed to surge in power, blasting away in every direction.