Soryn didn't move…
Her half-lidded eyes were unfocused. As her breathing slowed down—one breath… two breaths… then another, and another… becoming deep, resonating, and settled in a calm, natural rhythm. What remained wasn't mere emptiness, but a compression, a power that folded tighter and tighter, until it was drawn in, condensed, and completely forced into a single point in her dantian!
-
Inside Soryn's dantian, her 'Golden Core' spun faster and faster! It had already been refined to an extreme degree over her many years as an adventurer, but now it had compressed even further and pushed past a limit!
The core began to pulse—
Once, twice, thrice! It began to beat like a real heart!
Soryn's grip on her sword tightened as an inexplicable heat rushed through her meridians and was immediately swallowed by the cold nature of her spirit root! Frost crawled up her arms, slowly spreading, and sank deep into her skin, her bones, and united with every breath she took!
Crack!
A faint sound echoed in her ears!
Her golden core cracked!
Soryn, in her trance, trembled as an overwhelmingly sharp pain shot through her body!
Her golden core, it hadn't shattered—no! It was peeling open! In a flash, her mind was washed with white, and her consciousness waned!
Her body convulsed as every muscle in her body contracted at once!
Buzz! Light spilled from within her dantian, producing a pure and clean ray, like the whitest light breaking through the surface of the morning ice! The fractured core didn't collapse, it reshaped, melted, then reformed like a piece of paper submerged in water, saturating from the inside out, forming something new, something fragile but absolute, a new step towards an unknown path!
The egg of light, once her golden core, pulsed with a heavy pressure, Ba-dump! Then—
It split open! Ca-ca-crack!! From within, something emerged…
A tiny white figure slowly unfolded, its eyes closed with soft features, and an unmistakable resemblance to her own. A small, perfect infant formed from soul and frost, intertwined with oneself, now hovered where the Golden Core had been. Behind its head floated a delicate white halo shaped like a snowflake, each branch precise and symmetrical, mathematically methodical.
Soryn's 'Nascent Soul' opened its eyes…
The moment it did, her spiritual energy changed! Boom! Her physical body erupted with an explosive momentum. It was no longer just power, but with the birth of her nascent soul, her 'cultivation base' was now mixed with a 'small piece of her soul', and by proxy, a 'small thread of her consciousness'.
This formed a 'presence' that exceeded the innate ability to simply control spiritual energy!
This was what it meant to be—
The Fourth Order: Nascent Soul Realm!
The frost around Soryn's body stilled, then, slowly, it spread again, but unlike before, it seemed to almost morph with more freedom, persuasion, and control.
Rose felt it instantly!
Her hair stood on end as the pressure doubled, then sharpened, as 'Soryn's presence' turned towards her. This wasn't raw strength, no, it was control on a level so different that it felt unnatural.
Soryn raised her sword.
Her eyes were clear as a triumphant smile crept across her face! She had just stepped into an entirely new realm, and she was the first to do so! This was a feat that she was completely unable to do alone!
Now it was time to teach this silly cat a lesson!
-
Swoosh! Before anyone could react—
Lira jumped into the arena!
It was so quick that even Petra was surprised.
One moment, she was in the stands, her ears flat in irritation, and the next, she had jumped over the railing and flopped into the arena!
She landed belly first, like a fat fool…
It seems, someone was overfeeding the cat again…
Cough-cough-cough!
Mm, anyways…
She shot up on all fours and jumped over, skidding to a halt beside Rose. "Brother!" She shouted, "You're about to get your ass kicked! Let me help you fight!" Rose, still stiff, barely had time to react before Lira was already moving! Unlike Rose's controlled violence, Lira was untrained chaos given form!
Woosh! She didn't restrain herself, she just lunged!
She needed to act before Soryn could adjust, her wild instincts had told her that!
Her small claws flashed, her body twisted, and she launched herself straight at Soryn with reckless speed. Unlike Rose, she didn't have any special armor or weapons. Her movements were wild, explosive, and completely unrestrained.
If Rose fought like a storm, Lira stalked like a batshit insane predator!
As the two cats moved—
Soryn didn't step back, she just shifted her weight and smiled.
Lira's strike cut over where Soryn's head should have been, but her claws swiped nothing but frost-filled air. Soryn, slightly to the side, moved with a blur as her palm snapped up, catching Lira by the wrist with a precisely positioned vice.
Lira's eyes widened.
So fast!
Rose rushed in immediately, her fists flaring as she attacked from the side, forcing Soryn to split her focus. Boom! The two cat girls moved together, Lira twisting in her grip, and Rose aiming for the back, instinctively synchronizing her attacks, and yet—
Soryn remained in place!
For the first time in a long time, she felt the difference between one large realm 'should' normally have over a lower realm! Her feet barely moved as she turned their assault away with ease.
Every strike was met with a minimal effort, her body flowing smoothly, almost effortlessly, as if the attacks were predictable, even slow in a sense. Ribbons of frost traced her hands and reinforced her limbs as she turned away the incoming attacks. It was such a contrast to their previous fight that it was almost comical.
Then—
The air shifted!
Swoosh!
Soryn's eyes flashed as the spiritual energy in the arena trembled. She inhaled slowly, clearing her mind, and the surrounding spiritual energy 'responded'. Her thoughts turned as she began to recreate an advanced technique that she had learned about long before entering the fourth realm!
This was a technique unique to the immortal cultivation pathway…
Following her will, the nascent soul in her dantian began to move. With its movements, the spiritual energy outside of her physical body began to shift with it.
'The air began to condense'.
Not into mist, no, not even into ice! Two 'massive translucent palms' slowly took shape around her, each one formed from compressed spiritual energy mixing with ice-element elemental energy and strengthened with natural energy.
They were two meters tall!
These twin palms 'mimicked' the motions of her nascent soul.
They moved as naturally as her own hands, mirroring her intent without delay, and could freely change size and shape, appearing wherever she willed, as long as it was within the 'range of her presence'.
Petra blinked from above, her little mouth agape.
What an iconic move!
Woosh! The air broke as the palms slammed down!
In an instant—
One swept Lira off her feet mid jump, flattening her against the stone wall with a loud thud, and the other grabbed Rose from above, forcing her to the ground with a crushing pressure that smacked the air from her lungs!
It ended the battle in an attack!
Both cats were shocked!
This was the power of a genius in the Nascent Soul Realm!
They couldn't get close at all!
Soryn stepped forward, the ethereal hands dissipating mid-air.
She had pinned both sisters to the ground without any effort at all, surprising even herself.
But her expression remained calm, almost relaxed.
"This ends it," she said simply.
She released the power, and both cat girls collapsed.
Lira sprawled face-up on the ground, limbs twitching, and her chubby belly formed from a year of gluttony fully exposed. Rose dropped to both hands, facing down. She was completely exhausted, but equally surprised at just how easily she was beaten.
Petra made it look so easy to fight above her level!
Was she really just average? Could she really not beat this old lady? (Old Lady -> Soryn)
Silence settled over the arena—
Petra hopped down and landed with a poof. "Ok ladies! It's almost time to get going! Go have a bath and pack up, the others have already started!"
She clapped her hands.
Soryn lowered her head, smiling, while the two cat girls limped away, groaning. None of them knew that Petra was watching, but now that they did, they were all embarrassed.
No one said it out loud.
But everyone here understood the same thing. Soryn had reached a level where training with her was no longer an option. They all needed to level up! And quickly!
-
At the same time as the battle was happening…
Noah stood off to the side of the combat hall, hands clenched into fists at his, er… her sides. Her eyes were fixed on the arena, or rather, on where the battle should have been. She could 'see' flashes, the occasional burst of light, rippling spiritual energy, and the vague outline of the girls in the field…
He could 'hear' the battle, frost chipping, claws striking, stone cracking beneath their weight…
But—! The movements… she couldn't follow them at all!
It was all a blur. If someone at that level attacked her, she would die without even knowing what happened! By the time her eyes adjusted, the exchange was already over. Every clash happened a step ahead of her perception, leaving only afterimages and latent sounds behind.
Noah's jaw tightened.
"…I can't even tell what they're doing," she muttered. "I can barely see them move."
How frustrating! She hated being so weak!
It was a harsh lesson to her ego, which had been swollen since she was a child. Noah had no idea she was surrounded by monsters that would normally only appear once every century. Even if she did know, she wouldn't care. Noah was a headstrong person by nature! That would be no excuse!
If she were left alone, following her original fate, then perhaps Noah would have grown into a very traditional 'male protagonist'…
Unfortunately, he, erm… 'she', had met Petra, which derailed her entire fate!
Petra was sitting nearby, legs dangling off a railing, erratically changing her position in boredom, chin propped up in her hands as she watched the fight with interest. She tilted her head towards Noah, her black eyes flickering.
She didn't say anything, but Noah understood she turned her attention to him...
Noah let out a long breath. "They're a realm above me, sure," he said with disappointment. "But it feels like… like I'm not even on the same playing field as them. How can there be such a huge difference?" he asked. Before being kidnapped, Noah had seen a Golden Core Cultivator fight, but looking at these girls, she didn't feel the same at all! They almost felt like a different species entirely!
The gap was just that big!
Petra blinked a bunch, then leaned in closer, peering at him, er… 'her', like she was inspecting a disobedient pet…
"Hey," she said, poking him in the cheek—
It was really soft…
"—That's not true at all…"
He looked at her, unconvinced.
Petra smiled unapologetically. "You're absolutely on the same level as them, I wouldn't have 'taken you' in if you weren't! You're just… hm, it's just 'not your time yet'."
Noah stared at her.
"…What?" He didn't understand how such poor advice could be given…
Petra shrugged. "They've been fighting nonstop, both of them, sparring, surviving, training, suffering, blah blah blah, they get beaten half to death on a daily basis, and they were like this even before the time I met them. You're comparing yourself to crazy people who've been growing for many years, while you just learned to be greedy! Even if you had a rough childhood, don't forget that human greed is a bottomless abyss! Remember what you want!" Petra rubbed her nose. "If you really want, I can spice—"
"No! Thank you! Little master! I will train hard!" she instinctively screamed, not wanting Petra to even think about finishing that sentence!
She swung her feet lazily back and forth. "Mm, too bad…."
Noah looked back at the arena.
Petra nudged her shoulder. "You'll get there. Just… don't quit halfway through, or I might have to 'help you', hee-hee!"
He nodded slowly, hiding his trembling eyes.
The fight came to a close, and Petra blinked from above, before falling down into the arena.
She clapped her hands, landing with a poof! "Ok ladies! It's almost time to get going! Go have a bath and pack up, the others have already started!"
* * *