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As my master was reprimanding me for wanting to recklessly eat that super overpowered pill, suddenly, the pill was in her hands out of nowhere.
When did she take it from me?!
I didn't even notice!
Maybe because I'm too dizzy right now?
No, master is still super strong, though; she's the fastest of the two Venerables too.
Damn, she sure got me good.
"Eh?! Wait, master, don't take it from me!"
I panicked; at first I thought she would want to keep it until I grew strong enough.
But…
"I'll give it to you, but first, let me help you."
She wanted to help me?
"Oh? How so?"
I was confused, honestly.
"I'll build a formation for you, so that small chance of absorption becomes a guaranteed chance, or close to."
Wait, a formation? So she could create a formation that can increase the chances of… not dying!
Is this why she did it?
But did she have to take it from my hands?
It's not like I am a child that would recklessly eat the pill before she could finish her words.
…
Okay, maybe I would, but that doesn't mean I'm a reckless child!
"R-Really?!"
I was shocked, though, that she offered me such a thing for nothing in exchange but my smile.
Do I even deserve such a master?
I can't believe how nice my mom is!
"There are no other tricks or something?"
I was nervous that she would ask me to do something first.
"No tricks," she smiled. "The formation has already begun to be made; it'll be over by the end of the day. Until then, why don't we train first? There's lots to do!"
"Okay, sure… But why go this far?" I wondered. "You've already given me so much that… I guess it's a bit excessive."
"B-Because…" She blushed a bit, covering her face with her fan. "Well, you're my… my daugh… my disciple. And spoiling you every now and then is not too bad, right?"
She was about to say daughter, wasn't she?
"And well! It's also because, as my disciple, I want you to grow strong, and I clearly don't want you to die, happy?" She sighed, crossing her arms. "Now, finish what you were doing and…"
She looked around the room, making me notice there was a huge mess in the middle of it; the floor was completely blown away by the explosion, and everything was a mess.
"And clean your room, then come to have breakfast. Hurry, or you'll end up skipping it!"
"A-Ah, yeah!"
"Hurry up, Anna, or I'll eat everything!" Song giggled, running away.
I quickly called my Egos again.
"Girls, can you clean for me?"
I smiled a bit apologetically, but they glared at me angrily.
"No."
"You think we are your slaves?"
"No way, I'm tired."
"Bye."
However, against my own commands, they just… disappeared.
"W-Wait a second! Don't go!"
I ended up having to clean my room on my own; well, Bastet and Sepa helped, and Uroboros, who I can actually order unlike the rest of my egos for some reason, was also forced.
After finishing that at time record, I moved to the items that had been waiting for me. I quickly absorbed the Martial Art Scrolls; their knowledge gave me small glimpses of enlightenment as I learned a series of random Martial Arts.
Ding!
[You have used the [Random Martial Arts Scrolls (A Rank)] x5!]
[You learned the Martial Arts: [Black Crow's Talon: Tier 1], [Silver Turtle Shell: Tier 1], [Fiery Meteor Fist: Tier 1], [Yellow Heaven's Palm: Tier 1]
"Huh, a lot of new ones…"
And then…
[Your [Celestial Golden Dragon Divine Fist: Tier 5 (Core Martial Arts)] is reacting to these Martial Arts, which seem to derive from its own Martial Arts.]
[Do you wish to let it absorb them to increase your Core Martial Arts proficiency?]
[Yes] [No]
"At least this time I'm given a choice…"
Though they all sound great, they are indeed inferior to it, so let's absorb them.
I pressed [Yes], and then, I felt their power suddenly transfer and empower my core martial arts; I was able to further comprehend it to a small extent.
Enough for this to happen.
Ding!
[The [Celestial Golden Dragon Divine Fist: Tier 5 (Core Martial Arts)] has absorbed enough Comprehension and its Growth has increased!]
[The [Celestial Golden Dragon Divine Fist: Tier 5 (Core Martial Arts)] Tier has increased to Tier 6!]
[New Martial Arts Techniques are now available, as you've gained proper Enlightenment.]
FLASH!
Visions reached my mind.
Visions of a golden dragon soaring the cosmos.
And how lonely he looked.
His giant eyes, resembling stars, endlessly sought after something.
Perhaps a place worth protecting, somewhere where they could be happy.
"Where can I find you, my nest?"
He sorrowfully whispered to the stars as he traveled endlessly.
He wanted a place to belong to.
And after endlessly searching for billions of years.
"This…"
His eyes glistened with bright starlight, as his entire aura, made of an energy he had created, unique to him and only him, surged endlessly.
It was in the middle of a gigantic Universal Singularity.
What resembled a black hole, twisted around itself, and spread across many Galaxies at once, spreading countless cracks.
"A Lower Dimensional Root…" he smiled. "This is ideal. To spread my power, to create life… to make a family. My children, I've finally found a nest where I can take care of you."
Stories wrapped around him, endless runes, words, concepts, and then a Dao, the Heavenly Dao, his own creation, materialized like a golden sun.
It was placed in the middle of this Singularity, melting through it and then generating countless threads of gold color.
It exploded, reaching deeper and deeper into the Lower Dimensions where he could not easily go without losing his powers.
Each thread ended on the collision between black and white; yin and yang clashed against one another and then were separated.
Heaven, Yang.
Earth, Yin.
With this basic, yet incredible ability, the Golden Dragon Emperor conjured and created worlds, a true Cosmic God.
And then many eggs were placed over this nest; they were dragon eggs, his children.
The eggs absorbed the threads of golden light, Fragmented Stories, Fables, which he shared with them as food.
As his golden threads spread and new worlds were formed, where countless people were born, fought, cultivated, and survived…
They all become rich stories, beautiful dances between life and death.
Martial arts, spiritual arts, sorcery, honor, pride, brotherhood.
"What a beautiful set of Stories…"
The Golden Dragon smiled, finally feeling at home.
"A name…"
He quickly glanced into the stars.
"You shall be Murim, you, who will suffer below my restrictions, will grow to be stronger than any other Worldline. I will make sure that that is the case."
By giving the Murim Worldline great restrictions, such as the inability to have Mana, banning Magic, Skills, or even basic access to the "Hidden System" that is spread across the Cosmos upon a world undergoing Awakening, which is usually invisible until the Third Awakening, the Golden Dragon created worlds where people had to grow on their own without help.
They had to take what they could from Heaven and Earth, fight, survive, and understand what it truly meant to walk down the paths they had chosen.
"Your strength will not come from that wicked game…"
His eyes continued shining brightly as the heavens of countless worlds swirled below him, unified as a supreme entity below his command.
"Your strength shall come from your own path, from your own decisions, and from your own efforts."
The endless sea of clouds of many colors continued dividing, spreading across countless worlds; martial arts spread everywhere, fights, death, origins, destruction.
"These worlds… I cannot take care of them all; they will be unforgiving, full of challenges and suffering…" he sighed. "It is inevitable; to create a perfect world without suffering is impossible even for the greatest of them all."
Then, his jaws tightened.
"However, where such darkness festers, light will always emerge, because without darkness, light cannot thrive," he smiled. "And they shall rise, an eternal fight between yin and yang, between good and evil, between light and darkness. The Venerables they shall be called. The Heavenly Demon and the Heavenly Emperor, they shall become this Story's Main Tropes."
"When darkness prevails, light will emerge soon after, and when light is too strong, and it suppresses and blinds everyone, darkness shall revel and fight back against order." He smiled. "It will never be as simple as good against evil, but of those that seek freedom no matter the suffering they must go through, and of those that seek peace no matter how much they must suppress."
FLUOSH!
Then the multiple heavens swirled together into a single being, a heaven shared by all!
"But I will give you a guardian, someone who will guide your Fates, and someone who will protect your worlds…" he smiled. "Heavenly Will, you will be the reason for their fight; you will be someone they hate, someone they detest, the restraint of fate itself. But you will also be their greatest guardian and the one that loves them unconditionally. You will also become a Main Trope."
Amidst the clouds, images emerged of a tall man with pale skin and long black hair, wearing black and red clothes, with crimson eyes, glancing at the peak of another mountain.
In there stood another man, with long silver hair and golden eyes, wearing white clothes and holding a golden sword.
Both of them were the absolute peak of their worlds, the first of their trope. They led countless armies, they created countries, and they always fought against one another.
Their rivalry knew no bounds, and at the end, they both died in the same battle, felling one another.
And in their last moments…
They smiled.
"This life has been worth living, hahahah!"
"You insane bastard, hah…"
As they laughed seconds before death, they were called by him, the Golden Dragon Emperor.
"The First Heavenly Demon."
"The First Heavenly Emperor."
Soon after their deaths, they ascended, their story becoming a Myth across endless Murim Worlds, and they reached the Golden Dragon's side, as sparkles of light and darkness.
"You shall become the two of my Six Cosmic Gods," he spoke. "My children will require your assistance. I hope you can help me."
"T-The Golden Dragon…"
"I-I can't believe my eyes…"
"Better believe them now."
The Golden Dragon glanced down below, targeting more stories, the first of their kind; they all became unique tropes.
A just emperor of incredible wisdom blessed by the Heavenly Jade, an artifact of tremendous power. An almighty force between heaven and earth.
"The First Jade Emperor."
A woman of eternal darkness, someone that represented pure Yin and nothing else, creator of the Murim Sorcery, at the same time terrifying and benign, both creation and destruction.
"The First Witch of Black Heaven."
A man that achieved complete ascension through the balance of Yin and Yang, someone that was divided, someone that was both light and darkness, the first and perhaps the only one that has achieved this. Someone who achieved true enlightenment.
"The First Yinyang Duke."
And lastly a woman, imbued with eternal brilliance and endless mercy for all things, endlessly giving everything to the innocents and the world, even in such a harsh world, she died a saint.
"And the First Heavenly Mother."
All five lights emerged before the Golden Dragon.
"Your Stories shall ascend into the Constellations that will create this Nebula."
His Singularity now resembled a beautiful nebula in the shape of Yin and Yang.
"And I shall give you new names."
Their forms, made of light, quickly took shapes.
An ancient king wearing green and azure robes, with a crown made of jade, a handsome face, and a short white beard.
"Yudi, The Jade Emperor."
The beautiful heavenly mother, with long cascading golden hair, eyes like stars, a gold and white dress, and the essence of hope within her.
"Doumu, The Queen of Heaven."
The dark yet wise witch of the black heavens, her sorcery and darkness connecting to the deepest roots with the abyssal Yin, long black hair, abyssal eyes resembling swirling black holes, and a dress made of stars and the dark matter.
"Xiwangmu, The Witch of Black Heaven."
A tall man of indescribable height and divine heavenly power, a leader of the orthodox alliance, and a man that guided countless others towards righteousness, the maker of justice.
"Dongwanggong, The King of Order."
A man eternally made of light and darkness, resembling a smiling Buddha and a furious demon, divided in two, as Yin and Yang existed simultaneously within his body.
"Yinyanggong. The Yinyang Duke."
And lastly, a demon-like man of tremendous size and power, governing over the underworld and the demonic faction, leader of freedom but also king of punishment.
"Yanwang, The Purgatory King."
The golden dragon then smiled.
"All six of you shall become my children's tutors; your Stories shall weave theirs…"
Then, as the countless Murim Worlds were born and created, they oversaw it all…
And I noticed something within this vision.
Faraway…
The farthest of all Murim Worlds, a strange one unlike the others, where Yin and Yang took the form of two beasts.
A world that would give birth to the Dokkaebi, the Demonic Beasts, and then to the Animal People.
A Murim World… without humans.
Bestia…
It was a world overlooked, even ignored, as it was so far away from the rest.
But it ended up becoming, perhaps, the most unique of them all.
And then I opened my eyes, realizing that it was all enlightenment.
But that was enough to give me tremendous power.
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