Luna sat in the ruins of her cultivation chamber, cradling Nova's unconscious form against her chest, and let herself simply feel for the first time in hours.
The chamber was destroyed. Cracks spider-webbed across every surface—floor, walls, ceiling—some wide enough to see through to adjacent rooms. The formation arrays that had regulated spiritual energy for centuries were completely burned out, their crystal matrices shattered beyond repair. Chunks of ice-blue crystal lay scattered across the floor like debris from an explosion.
But Luna barely noticed the destruction.
Her entire focus was on the man in her arms and the questions that circled endlessly through her enhanced consciousness.
What are you? she thought, gently brushing a strand of hair from Nova's forehead. What secret are you hiding that grants access to impossible power?
A transdimensional gate. To a realm of qi so pure, so dense, that it transcended even Immortal Realm energy. That wasn't a physique ability. That wasn't a bloodline gift. That was something that defied every principle of cultivation Luna had learned in over a thousand years.
Ancient reincarnators—those who'd lived multiple lifetimes and retained their memories—sometimes advanced with shocking speed. But their power came from accumulated knowledge, from knowing which techniques to pursue and which bottlenecks to avoid. They still had to gather resources, still had to cultivate step by step.
Nova had opened a gate to infinite resources. To energy that literally couldn't be exhausted. That alone would make him the most valuable person on the continent if the secret got out.
But it was more than that.
Luna had watched him maintain that gate for twenty minutes while simultaneously cultivating and tempering his body and soul. The multitasking required for that was beyond most Mahayana experts. The control needed to prevent the gate from expanding catastrophically while absorbing energy and enduring constant destruction-regeneration cycles?
Impossible.
Yet he'd done it.
And collapsed from soul exhaustion afterward, proving he was still mortal, still limited, still vulnerable.
Luna tightened her arms around him slightly, feeling his steady breathing against her chest.
I should be terrified, she thought. I should be demanding answers, preparing contingencies in case he's actually some ancient monster wearing a young face.
But she wasn't terrified.
She was... grateful. Protective. Deeply, irrevocably in love.
Whatever secrets Nova held, he'd used them to benefit her. The Infinite Qi exposure had vaulted her to Peak Mahayana, awakened a Dao-tier constitution, activated her dormant bloodline. He could have kept that gate closed, could have used the energy purely for himself.
Instead, he'd told her to cultivate beside him. Had shared the impossible treasure without hesitation.
That's not the action of an enemy, Luna decided firmly. That's the action of someone who loves me.
And if he had reasons for keeping secrets—and those reasons would have to be extraordinary, given the magnitude of what she'd witnessed—then she'd trust him to share when he was ready.
Until then, she'd simply love him and protect him and stand beside him.
Her decision made, Luna allowed herself to relax slightly. She looked down at Nova's peaceful face, so young and beautiful, and smiled.
"What have you gotten yourself into, my love?" she whispered. "And what have you gotten me into?"
But the words carried no accusation. Only affection and curiosity and absolute certainty that whatever complications arose, they'd face them together.
Luna carefully stood, lifting Nova with ease despite his considerable height. Her newly enhanced body made his weight feel negligible—she could probably carry a mountain if she tried hard enough.
She navigated through the destroyed chamber, stepping over cracks and debris, and made her way to her personal bedchamber. The bed had somehow survived the chaos intact, the formation arrays woven into its frame having protected it from the worst of the pressure.
Luna laid Nova down gently, arranging the pillows to support his head and neck properly. Then she spent several minutes just examining him with her spiritual sense, making absolutely certain there was no permanent damage.
His body was fine. More than fine—it radiated power that seemed barely contained within flesh. The tempering had transformed him into something that transcended normal biology. His muscles were denser than spirit steel. His bones harder than spirit diamond. His blood carried so much concentrated spiritual energy it glowed faintly even in rest.
His soul, despite being depleted of active power, was intact and incredibly strong. Luna's new Dao-level perception allowed her to see its structure in detail—a crystalline geometric construct that looked more like sacred architecture than a normal soul. Beautiful. Perfect. Unbreakable.
He just needs rest, Luna confirmed. A day, maybe two, for his soul power to regenerate naturally.
She pulled a blanket over him, then stepped back to finally examine her own changes.
Luna closed her eyes and turned her spiritual sense inward.
The first thing she noticed was the sheer density of her cultivation base. Peak Mahayana wasn't just a quantitative increase in power—it was qualitative transcendence. Her body, qi, and soul had achieved perfect synchronization. Every aspect of her being worked in flawless harmony.
Her meridians had evolved beyond Divine Grade into something that didn't have a classification in mortal texts. The pathways were wider, more efficient, more optimized than should be physically possible.
Her Golden Core, the foundation of her power, rotated with perfect balance. All impurities had been burned away by Infinite Qi exposure, leaving only crystallized perfection.
Her three peak Laws—Ice, Water, and Lunar—had deepened through proximity to Dao comprehension. She could feel the boundary between Law and Dao clearly now, could sense that with just a bit more insight, she could cross that threshold for all three.
But she'd already crossed it for Lunar.
Early Lunar Dao.
Luna opened her eyes and activated the ability consciously for the first time.
The phantom moon behind her materialized—not quite physical, not quite illusion, existing on the boundary between states. It rotated slowly, cycling through phases, each one radiating different aspects of lunar power.
She focused on it, experimenting with conscious control.
Full Moon phase. Her power surged dramatically. She could feel her physical strength multiply, her techniques become sharper, her presence more overwhelming.
New Moon phase. Her power became subtle, almost undetectable. Perfect for stealth and concealment, for moving unseen and unnoticed.
Quarter Moon, Crescent Moon, Gibbous—each phase offered different tactical advantages.
Luna shifted back to neutral and let the phantom moon fade to near-invisibility, still present but dormant.
Then she examined the new abilities her constitution had granted.
Gravity Manipulation first. Luna extended her hand toward a chunk of fallen crystal on the floor. She didn't use qi, didn't activate a technique—she simply willed gravity to change.
The crystal lifted smoothly into the air, rotating slowly. Luna increased the gravitational force around it, and the crystal began to compress, its molecular structure condensing under impossible pressure. She released the effect before it could shatter.
The control was intuitive, natural. She could feel gravitational fields throughout the palace, could sense how they bent and warped space. With enough focus, she could probably create zones of crushing weight or perfect weightlessness.
Lunar Disintegration Beam. Luna pointed at another piece of debris and channeled moonlight through her Dao comprehension.
A beam of silver light, almost invisible, lanced out from her finger. Where it struck the crystal, molecular bonds simply ceased to hold. The material didn't melt or explode—it just stopped being solid, the atoms drifting apart as if they'd forgotten how to stick together.
The beam cut off after a second. Luna stared at the pile of dust that had been solid crystal, slightly disturbed by the weapon's efficiency.
Shadow Sovereignty. The chamber was well-lit by ambient spiritual glow, but shadows still existed in corners and crevices. Luna reached out to them with her will.
The shadows responded instantly, flowing across the floor like living liquid. They gathered around her feet, solidifying into tangible darkness she could shape and manipulate. She formed a shadow blade in one hand, the construct as solid and sharp as any metal weapon.
She could also merge with shadow completely, she realized. Become darkness itself, move through any shadow anywhere within her perception range.
Void Freeze. This one Luna tested carefully, targeting a small pebble she'd placed in an empty corner.
She channeled the ability, and the pebble's temperature plummeted. Not just to absolute zero—beyond it, into temperatures that shouldn't exist in normal physics. The pebble froze so completely that even the concept of motion ceased within its structure. Time itself seemed to stop around it.
Luna released the effect after a moment, slightly shaken by the weapon's implications. That ability could freeze enemies at a fundamental level, stopping not just their bodies but their thoughts, their qi circulation, their very existence in time.
Lunar Regeneration. Luna created a small cut on her palm with a blade of shadow. Blood welled up, gleaming silver in the moonlight.
Then she activated the regeneration ability. Moonlight—not from any physical moon, but from the concept of moonlight itself—flooded the wound. The cut sealed instantly, flesh knitting back together with perfect precision. No scar, no residual damage, as if the injury had never existed.
As long as moons exist anywhere in reality, I can regenerate, Luna understood. Even if my body is completely destroyed, as long as any moon shines anywhere, I can reform.
The ability had limitations—it required time and energy, couldn't happen instantly in the middle of combat—but the implications were staggering. She was effectively immortal as long as celestial bodies existed.