I opened my eyes to find myself exactly where I'd left my body – cross-legged on the floor of my quarters in the Outer Disciples' residence. Through my window, I could see the sa crescent moon hanging in the night sky. It was almost as if no ti had passed at all.
Almost.
"Azure," I said, stretching muscles that felt simultaneously well-rested and oddly stiff, "how long was I gone?"
"Three days in the Starhaven Realm," he replied promptly. "About six hours here."
"In the Two Suns world, two months only equals about two hours here. The ti dilation should be..." I did so quick ntal math, then gave up and let Azure do it.
"The Two Suns world operates on roughly a 720:1 ratio, while the Starhaven Realm appears to be closer to 12:1."
"That's a massive difference," I mused. "I wonder if it has sothing to do with inner worlds naturally having less temporal displacent from the main world? Or maybe the ti difference depends on the creator's comprehension of the Dao of Ti?"
"Both are possible factors," Azure agreed. "Though I suspect the relative distance between worlds plays a significant role. If the Two Suns isn't an inner world at all, that would explain the greater temporal displacent."
I nodded thoughtfully. From everything I'd seen of the Two Suns world, it didn't really fit the pattern of an inner world. The sheer scope of it, the complexity of its power systems – if it was soone's inner world, they were operating on a level that made even the Celestial Sovereign look like a beginner.
"Master," Azure's voice interrupted my contemplation of cosmic architecture, "you might want to check your inner world. We have a... situation."
I closed my eyes and shifted my awareness inward, expecting... well, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't this.
The red sun, which had always been a bit of a bully, was currently trying to crowd the newly acquired star into a corner of the sky. The tiny stellar body was doing its best to maintain its orbit, but the crimson orb kept drifting suspiciously close, radiating what I could only describe as celestial smugness.
anwhile, the blue sun had positioned itself between them, sohow managing to convey protective older sibling energy despite being, you know, a sun. Every ti the red sun tried to edge closer to the star, the blue sun would emit a pulse of energy that pushed it back.
"Are they..." I watched this cosmic drama unfold with a mixture of fascination and exasperation. "Are they actually fighting?"
"The red sun appears to be asserting dominance over the new arrival," Azure explained, sounding like a nature docuntary narrator describing particularly unusual animal behavior. "The blue sun seems to have taken on a protective role."
"Great," I sighed. "My inner world is turning into a celestial soap opera. What's next? The Genesis Seed starting a reality show?"
As if in response to my sarcasm, the massive tree extended one of its branches, gently nudging the star into a slightly higher orbit where the red sun would have more trouble reaching it. The red sun actually managed to radiate indignation at this intervention.
"At least soone's being helpful," I muttered. Then, trying to focus on more practical matters: "What effect is having a star going to have on my cultivation? I an, besides providing entertainnt."
"Quite significant, potentially," Azure replied. "Unlike the red and blue suns, which are essentially representations of another world's magic system, this star is a legitimate cultivation resource. You have access to stellar qi…"
"Stellar qi," I breathed the words slowly, tasting their significance. I'd heard of the Stellar Realm, of course – it was the next realm after the Elental Realm. Where Qi Condensation cultivators worked with raw qi and Elental Realm practitioners commanded the fundantal forces of nature, Stellar Realm cultivators wielded the power of the stars themselves.
The difference in power was... substantial. Regular qi was like a creek compared to the river of elental qi, but stellar qi? That was an ocean. The raw energy density alone was orders of magnitude greater, and its applications were correspondingly more diverse. While elental qi was limited to its natural properties – fire burns, water flows, etc. – stellar qi could be shaped into almost any form or function.
"I should note," Azure cut into my thoughts, "that while you now have access to the sa type of energy as a Stellar Realm cultivator, the quality and quantity are... sowhat lacking."
"Sowhat lacking? Let guess – trying to use stellar qi with my current cultivation level would be like trying to drink from a firehose?"
"More like trying to contain a supernova in a paper cup," Azure replied dryly. "Currently, I estimate you could manage one attack using stellar qi."
I blinked. "One? As in, singular? Unity? The loneliest number?"
"Yes," Azure confird. "And I should warn you that even that one attack might be more than your current body can safely handle. Stellar qi is not exactly friendly to Qi Condensation realm cultivators."
"So, it's a 'break glass in case of ergency, but be prepared for the glass to explode and take your arm with it' kind of thing?"
"That's... actually a fairly accurate analogy."
I watched as the red sun made another attempt to buzz the star, only to be intercepted by its blue counterpart. "Well, I guess it'll have to be my absolute last resort trump card. Speaking of which..." I pulled my attention back to my physical form. "We need to learn more about inner worlds in general, maybe there's a way to speed up the annexation process. The library here must have sothing useful."
"I doubt they'll have the specific information we're looking for," Azure cautioned. "Most sects keep their higher-level cultivation knowledge restricted."
"True, but it's a start. Besides," I grinned slightly, "we can add all their recorded beast information to your database. Two birds, one stone."
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
***
There's sothing deeply unsatisfying about spending hours in a library and coming away with less knowledge than you started with. At least, that's how it felt as I sat cross-legged at one of the reading tables, surrounded by stacks of books that had systematically crushed my optimism one page at a ti.
"Master," Azure's voice held a note of amusent, "I believe that's the fifth ti you've sighed in the past minute."
"I had forgotten just how annoying libraries could be," I replied.
Most people assu cultivation sects keep their libraries under lock and key to prevent outsiders from stealing their precious techniques. And sure, that's part of it. But the real reason? It's to force disciples to actually read the books instead of just scanning them with spiritual sense.
See, there's this thing that happens when cultivators reach a certain level. They discover they can "read" entire books in seconds by extending their spiritual sense through the pages. Great for information gathering, terrible for actual learning. It's like trying to drink from a waterfall – sure, you'll get so water, but most of it just rushes past.
The Azure Peak Sect's solution? Every single book in their library was sealed with formations that blocked spiritual scanning. You had to physically open the book, turn the pages, and read with your actual eyes. Though, in my case opening the books and turning the pages were sufficient as I had Azure to do the rest.
"Builds character," the elders said.
"Prevents shortcuts in learning," the teachers claid.
"Makes want to bang my head against the wall," I muttered, carefully turning another delicate page in "Advanced Inner World Theory and Practice." The book was so old that even breathing on it too hard might make it crumble.
"Such violence would be unwise," Azure comnted dryly in my mind. "The librarians are already watching you suspiciously."
He wasn't wrong. I'd noticed the two junior librarians taking turns to "casually" walk past my reading alcove. Apparently, soone requesting access to advanced inner world texts was unusual enough to warrant surveillance.
"They're probably just worried I'll damage the books," I thought back, carefully setting aside another to that had turned out to be useless. "Though given how fragile these things are, I'm starting to think looking at them wrong might count as damage."
The shelf I was working through was dedicated to inner world developnt beyond the Qi Condensation realm. Unfortunately, everything I'd found so far was basic – the kind of information you could get from any decent cultivation manual.
The inner world grows as the cultivator advances...
A strong foundation is essential for later developnt...
The size and complexity of one's inner world reflect one's understanding of the Dao...
"Perhaps," Azure suggested, "we should focus on specific aspects rather than general theory? The Genesis Seed's annexation attempt might be ntioned under world-rging phenona."
It was a good idea, but after two more hours of careful searching, all I had to show for it was eye strain. There was plenty about how inner worlds could theoretically rge or split, but nothing about actively annexing other realms.
"There has to be more information sowhere."
The sun had moved significantly since I'd started my research, its light now slanting through the high windows at an angle that made the dust motes dance like tiny cultivation stars.
"Master," Azure pointed out, "you've noticed the pattern in these texts, haven't you? They all stop at roughly the sa point..."
He was right. Every book I'd found had detailed information up through the Stellar Realm, then suddenly beca vague or stopped entirely when discussing higher levels. It was too consistent to be coincidence.
Ti to be direct. I approached one of the librarians who had been "coincidentally" organizing nearby shelves for the past hour.
"Excuse ," I said, keeping my voice appropriately respectful, "I notice these texts don't cover inner world developnt beyond the Stellar Realm. Are there more advanced resources available?"
She blinked, then gave that particular look librarians seem to master early in their careers – the one that says 'I'm going to pretend you didn't just ask for restricted information.'
"Those topics are only available to Life Realm experts," she replied with a tight smile. "Perhaps I could help you find sothing more appropriate for your current level?"
I was tempted to point out that understanding advanced theory didn't necessarily an I was going to attempt anything dangerous, but I'd been around cultivators long enough to know that particular argunt never worked.
It was like trying to convince a rchant that you were "just browsing" their most expensive treasures – they'd smile and nod while quietly calculating how quickly they could separate you from your spirit stones.
"No, thank you," I said instead. "It's okay."
She nodded and moved away, though I noticed she kept glancing in my direction as if worried I might try to sneak into so hypothetical restricted section the mont she turned her back.
"This would be so much easier if Elder Chen Yong wasn't in closed-door cultivation," I muttered, starting to pack away the books. "He'd probably tell everything just to spite whoever ca up with these restrictions."
"And likely share so wine-related taphor about knowledge flowing freely," Azure added.
I smiled at that. The elder did have a tendency to relate everything back to wine sohow. I could almost hear him now: 'Knowledge, like fine wine, should be shared freely! Though perhaps not with those who can't handle their drink...'
"The Formation Guild might have better information," I mused, touching the guild token in my pocket. "Level Two formation practitioners should have access to more technical docunts, right?"
"It seems worth investigating," Azure agreed. "Though I suspect they'll have their own restrictions."
I nodded, standing up and stretching muscles that had gone stiff from hours of sitting. The morning sun streaming through the windows told I'd spent far longer here than intended. Still, it wasn't a complete waste of ti – Azure had at least been able to add several volus worth of beast lore to his database.
***
The walk to the Formation Guild buildings gave ti to think. Why would information about higher-realm inner worlds be restricted? It wasn't just that they were keeping information from junior disciples – that was practically a cultivation world tradition at this point. No, it was the specific nature of what they were hiding, it must be so sort of big secret.
"Azure," I said as we approached the guild's deceptively simple exterior, "what do you make of all this secrecy around inner worlds?"
"It is curious," he replied thoughtfully. "Especially given how openly other aspects of cultivation are discussed. Even forbidden techniques are usually just restricted rather than redacted entirely."
"Exactly. It's like they're trying to hide sothing specific about how inner worlds work at higher levels. Sothing they don't want anyone below the Life Realm to even know exists."
I showed my token to the guards at the entrance, who waved through with barely a glance. The guild's interior was quieter than my last visit – most practitioners were probably out on missions or working in their private study rooms.
The main hall still impressed with its soaring ceiling and formation-inscribed columns, but I didn't stop to admire the architecture this ti. Instead, I headed straight for the information desk where a different clerk from my last visit sat organizing docunts.
"Excuse ," I said, placing my token on the desk. "I'm looking for information about inner world formation theory, specifically anything relating to realms beyond Stellar."
The clerk barely looked up from his work. "Formation level?"
"Level Two."
Now he did look up, though only to give the sa kind of look the library attendant had perfected. "Inner world theory beyond Stellar Realm requires minimum Level Five clearance or Life Realm cultivation."
I blinked. "Level Five? Just to read about it?"
"Guild policy." He slid my token back across the desk. "Was there anything else?"
I was about to give up when movent near the entrance caught my eye. Mada Butterfly had just swept into the hall, her white robes with six lines drawing every eye in the room.
I found myself smiling as an idea began to form.
"Master," Azure's voice held a note of warning, "whatever you're thinking..."
"Don't worry," I assured him. "I'm not going to do anything reckless."
"Sohow that's not as reassuring as you think it is."
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