Chapter 21: Imitation and Learning
Just as the Flame Demon Syndicate was engulfed by the silver radiance surging from the depths of its own spirit.
In the Mycroft World, Joshua severed the mental link with the distant other end.
"Consider this payment for serving as my weapon last time."
Muttering to himself like this, the warrior closed his eyes, then, amidst the exclamation of 'Wait, Master, what are you talking about?!' from the silver-haired girl beside him, he reached out and rubbed her head, silencing her.
"Don't disappoint me, my 'First Saint.'"
— A few days later.
"Are you ready?"
In the outskirts not far from the main city of Moldavia, green grass had already begun to sprout. Now, one could see the earth dotted with scattered yet vibrant patches of green. At an open plain, Joshua had finished packing his gear and called out loudly to the two behind him.
"Ready, Master!"
No sooner had the warrior spoken than the black dragon girl answered without hesitation, her voice brimming with joy: "Ready to depart at any time!"
As she spoke, amidst a violent flash of surging magical energy, she transformed into a majestic and enormous black dragon. She spread her wings in the wilderness, then raised her head and let out a mighty roar that shook even the distant mountain ranges.
"Don't get too excited."
Seeing his mount so spirited, Joshua was in a good mood as well. He patted the black dragon's foreclaw, then turned to look at the other girl: "Number Three, are you ready?"
"Ready, I suppose..."
As magical energy rippled gently, Number Three's magical projection slowly materialized beside Joshua. Unlike Noir, who was overjoyed at finally being able to go out for a spin after her painful training, the girl looked somewhat puzzled. She spoke softly: "Are you really taking me along? Bringing my main body feels a bit embarrassing..."
As she spoke, Number Three looked at Joshua's right hand. The warrior was carrying a silver steel case, densely covered with flowing azure-violet runes.
"Of course. To ensure my mental state doesn't suffer the same distortion as last time, I need your help monitoring all mental fluctuations."
Joshua replied matter-of-factly: "A mere projection wouldn't have enough computational power, so I have to bring your main body this time."
"That's true, I suppose... but then, won't the city be unmonitored?"
"There was never a need for such strict monitoring."
Regarding Number Three's rather practical concern, Joshua was unconcerned. He leaped lightly and landed on Noir's dragon head. Standing between the black dragon's horns, he explained to the artificial intelligence girl, who had floated up to hover beside him: "Everything running smoothly, with no conflicts or contradictions—that's certainly good. But you have to consider the type of city this is."
"Moldavia's prosperity relies on adventurers heading to the Great Aias Mountains and mortal cultivators who admire my strength. Their conflicts were never meant to be resolved through ordinary methods. As long as there are no criminal acts or disturbances affecting ordinary people, let those adventurers and cultivators settle their private fights as they wish. That's their way of life."
Saying this, Joshua seemed to recall something, a nostalgic expression crossing his face: "Whether male or female, if they want to fight, let them decide the outcome. Otherwise, anger and resentment festering in their hearts will only cause greater trouble later."
"...Mm."
Number Three didn't fully grasp Joshua's logic or explanation, but she understood that the method proposed by Joshua—who was more of an adventurer than a noble—was likely better than her rigid monitoring and precautions.
Even an artificial intelligence understood that when facing floods and human hearts, one needed to guide rather than block.
All three were ready. After Noir confirmed her readiness, she prepared to take off. Number Three's projection floated in midair, rising as the dragon beat its wings and ascended. She cast a strange look at the suitcase in Joshua's hand and muttered: "I'm both there and here at the same time... this feeling is so weird..."
She rarely viewed her own main body from a projection's perspective like this. After all, most of the time, that violet runic crystal was housed in the deepest central room of the Lord's Manor, accessible only to a few people close to Joshua.
These scattered thoughts eventually dissipated in the wind. Following her master's instructions, the black dragon, now soaring among the clouds, employed a technique she had only recently learned. With a prolonged dragon roar, she began to accelerate violently. Down in Moldavia, the residents looked up and saw a black dragon's shadow tearing through the clouds, streaking across the sky like a black meteor toward the horizon.
Its destination was a fortress nestled among the mountains in the northeastern part of the Empire.
That is, the location of the Divine Calamity Mist.
A few days earlier, after conversing with the old Pope Eagle, Joshua had decided to visit a site of Divine Calamity Mist to explore the mysteries of the soul. To that end, he had even inquired of the Imperial Emperor Israel a few days prior, asking where there were still Divine Calamity Mists that had yet to be successfully challenged.
"To be honest, so much time has passed that most of the Divine Calamity Mists have been breached by a steady stream of challengers, leaving this world with a new batch of inheritors of ancient legacies."
Israel hadn't seemed surprised by Joshua's sudden question. In a somewhat helpless tone, he had said to Joshua through the communication array: "These people, having gained powerful inheritances and strength, are now stirring up trouble across the Empire. Many have returned to their hometowns and clashed with the original nobility and official forces... But the Divine Calamity Mist near Berlin Fortress has yet to be successfully challenged by anyone. It's still expanding its range. I've even had to order a crystal wall to isolate the mist and seal it within the hills."
"Be careful, Joshua. That's no ordinary Divine Calamity Mist. Compared to other marks, it's on an entirely different level."
Bringing his thoughts back to the present, Joshua stood atop Noir's head, flying rapidly toward the northeast of the Empire.
"Recently, the Boundless Heaven has become increasingly unstable. But even so, the divine marks falling from it are at most second-tier existences among the pantheon of the Era of Radiance."
Noir flew at supersonic speed above the clouds, and Joshua stood with his arms crossed, staring ahead as he pondered: "But even second-tier means a powerful deity, probably just a notch weaker than Xing Zheng. What kind of existence could show such a clear gap compared to a second-tier deity? That's obvious."
"It's a Chief God."
A Chief God's mark had fallen early due to some accident? Then who could it be? The Sovereign of the Seas? The Earth Mother? The God Who Nurtures Storms? Or the Lord of a Thousand Rivers and Ten Thousand Streams? Joshua didn't dwell on it. He was simply pleased that when he needed it, he could find a Chief God-level Divine Calamity Mist. Compared to ordinary deities, those pantheon lords who once stood alongside the Sages and created the glorious era of the Era of Radiance—the secrets hidden in their souls were far more worth exploring.
Noir was fast. Clouds and earth were flung behind them like flying. Continuous mountain ranges and lakes stretched into lines. The violently rupturing air formed distinct rings of sonic boom clouds behind the black dragon. At this speed, Joshua and his companions soon reached their destination—the area around Berlin Fortress, east of the Ural Mountains.
"So this is the Divine Calamity Mist."
Tapping his foot to signal Noir to stop flying and descend slowly, Joshua, after passing through the cloud cover, immediately saw his target: a pale white sea of mist spanning several valleys, constrained within the mountains by a thin crystalline wall.
It was like a true ocean. Colorless, indescribable by any word except white, like the empty sky itself, this white mist sea churned restlessly among the hills. Waves tens of meters high surged, seemingly trying to break through the crystal wall set by Israel. It had already swallowed several mountains, plunging all living beings within into its dreams—plants and animals, insects and birds alike—all brought under its control.
This was the final remnant of an ancient deity's fall, the inherited imprint left by their soul, known as the 'Divine Calamity' mist.
Standing atop Noir's head, Joshua looked down at the mist sea. He had seen a similar scene before in Moldavia, at the site of the River God's Divine Calamity Mist. Clearly, the mist here near Berlin Fortress was far larger than that of the River God. Shinur's soul had at most covered a lake, but this one could envelop several peaks and the surrounding valleys.
"How beautiful."
Gazing at the mist sea churning within the crystal wall, the warrior sighed in admiration. He reached out his right hand and grasped at the air. Instantly, the mist sea stirred, and a few stray thought particles detached from their original mist mass, flying into Joshua's hand. He looked down at the white light particles dancing in his palm, his expression solemn.
How to describe it? This soul, which had not decayed or weakened even after a thousand years—even though its spiritual core and mental center had long been destroyed in battle, its divinity and physical form long dissipated and lost—this remnant soul was still so full of vitality that upon falling from the Boundless Heaven into the Mycroft Continent, it could transform into a divine mist capable of devouring everything.
Beyond ultimate, perfect, and inconceivable, there were no other words to describe it. This was perhaps the most perfect form of the 'Soul's Ultimate Essence.'
For Joshua, the Divine Calamity Mist itself was the best reference target. He raised his hand, continuing to gather the stray thought particles scattered in the surrounding air. These smallest units of a deity's thoughts contained mysteries. The warrior observed them carefully through his Steel Vision.
After a while, under Number Three's curious gaze, Joshua returned the handful of mist to the sea below. Undoubtedly, this was a realm his soul warrior had yet to reach. These thought particles, unless attacked with nuclear fusion-level force or higher, would suffer virtually no loss. They could almost be called indestructible. If converted to muscle, they would be at least on par with his current degenerate matter body.
But he hadn't come here today to marvel at the power of the pioneers or to imitate the strength of these deities. Although, with his Legendary-level control and the power of Steel Force, Joshua could easily use the surrounding Divine Calamity Mist as raw material to transform his soul into a roughly equivalent quality, he had no intention of doing so.
What Joshua wanted was to seek.
To seek the method by which those deities had elevated their souls to their current state.
What was the point of admiring someone else's strong muscles and body? None.
Was there a difference between muscles gained through genetic modification and a tough body honed through step-by-step training?
Although many might think there is a difference, in reality, there isn't. Power gained through external means is still power, no different from power gained through hard work.
The problem is that the former's level will forever remain at the moment the modification is complete, unless they find a better model to imitate. Otherwise, there will be no room for improvement. They have bypassed all the hardship, effort, and most precious experience. They will never know how to obtain that power. If this person's power disappears, they will revert to being weak, falling from the sky into the mud.
The latter, however, has put in immense effort and time. The process of gaining power is itself the most valuable treasure. They have tempered their will, learned how to become stronger. Even if they lose this power, they can stand up again, climb the already-built ladder to the heavens, return to the clouds, and once again become strong.
Moreover, they can find the path to becoming even stronger, to reaching farther places.
Joshua naturally had no intention of being the former. He was a strong man.
So he ignored the readily available, abundant divine-level thought particles around him. Instead, he tapped his foot on Noir's head.
"Descend, Noir."
He narrowed his eyes, a gleam shining within them: "Don't just hover."
"Let's go inside and take a look."
——————
An ancient city suspended in the sky.
Above was the azure high heavens; below, an endless sea. Gale-force winds howled, and over a dozen enormous black tornadoes moved slowly between heaven and earth like colossal pillars supporting the sky and sea. At the center of these tornadoes floated a magnificent, ancient city, like a work of art.
Towering spires and sharp, pointed buildings formed the city's main structure, while countless rotating gears and runes served as its base. Vast magical energy, obeying the commands of alchemical machinery and runes, formed a semi-transparent barrier. It negated all gravity and external winds, allowing the city to float steadily in midair even amidst the raging tornadoes.
This was an autonomous city. As runic light flickered, one could see that the streets could move on their own. Pedestrians only needed to stand on them to be carried along automatically. Though it appeared ancient, it contained incredibly advanced technology.
Yet this city, which seamlessly blended history, technology, and art, was now largely in ruins. Towers and buildings had collapsed or cracked in large numbers. Rubble and gear fragments littered every corner of the streets. Traces of something having been burned to ash could even be seen.
Time seemed frozen here. The destruction wrought by war a thousand years ago remained unchanged, motionless. Even as tornadoes raged between sea and sky, this enormous floating city hung calmly and alone at the center of the sky, maintaining a silent stillness.
And just as it seemed this would continue forever.
A black dragon, carrying a human and an artificial intelligence, abruptly appeared above the city.
Time began to move.