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The next day.
When Laura woke up, her eyes widened.
The ceiling wasn’t the one from her room.
When she sat up, she realized the entire room was unfamiliar!
"What the hell?! W-Where am I?!"
She panicked, leaping out of bed and stepping onto smooth wooden floors. She found herself in a vast hall lined with ancient paintings, scrolls, statues, and delicate bonsai trees.
"What...! What’s going on...?"
Her worry deepened as she hurried to the window. Outside stretched an impossible vista.
"Ahhhh! What?!"
Endless grasslands rolled beneath towering mountains. Floating islands drifted in colorful skies, fantastic forests shimred, and giant beasts road freely.
This surpassed anything she had ever seen in a Field Dungeon or Gate.
But the mory of yesterday’s traumatic event flooded back—her sister dragging her into a place like this.
"I-Is this...! Fran’s world? Her soul... soul realm or sothing?"
She looked down. She stood inside a gigantic tower shaped like a massive black-and-white pagoda, radiating a strange, ghostly aura while floating high above the clouds.
"Fran?! FRAN!"
She dashed out of the room and encountered strangers—Asian-looking n and won in white-and-black robes. They weren’t her family.
When they noticed her, they bowed deeply.
"We greet the great master’s sister."
"What? Great Master?"
Confusion mounting, Laura ran downstairs—still in her pajamas—and found her sister deep in conversation about martial arts and cultivation with a strikingly handso man. He had long black hair and piercing red eyes.
"Ah, Laura?! You woke up earlier than I thought...!"
"Is this your sister?"
"Ah yeah, it’s her!"
"Hm, I see. Now that I see her, she does have a healthy and strong body. It has no impurities either. She could start the training right away."
"You think so?"
"Fran, who the hell is this guy and why did you drag here?!"
Laura rushed forward and shook her sister—sothing no one else would ever dare attempt.
"Hahaha...! Sorry, sorry! I just wanted you to et my sect," Maria said. "This is the Ghostly Fist Sect, and the Alliance master over there is the Heavenly Demon of Murim—a world from the Tower."
"It’s an honor to et you, Laura," he said calmly. "Your sister has told quite a lot about you. She asked if I could teach you my unique thods. She cannot learn them properly because she struggles with traditional cultivation techniques, but you have no such restriction."
"H-Huh? Teach ?" Laura blushed as the very handso man smiled at her with genuine warmth. "You want to train ? Haah... heheh... I-I an... if you want to... uuhh... um."
She fidgeted with her hair, suddenly shy and adorable in front of him.
"I just wanted you to stop relying on the blessings of Olympus," Maria explained. "I already removed them from you, by the way. Now you’ll polish your body and soul with the teachings of the Heavenly Demon."
"But we weren’t going to look for Mom?!" Laura asked.
"We will, but we’ll have to fight very strong enemies," Maria replied. "And I don’t want to worry about you all the ti, Laura... You yourself said you wanted to be relied on, not to rely on ."
"...Yeah," Laura sighed. "I do but... how long will I have to train here?"
"A month should help you grasp the basics," the Heavenly Demon said with a gentle smile. "Normally you would need several years... but you’re special. I analyzed your constitution, and you possess a Perfect Divine Blank Slate Constitution."
"What? How? And what does that an?" Laura asked, sitting on the floor beside her sister.
"Apparently it manifested when I removed the blessings and healed you," Maria explained. "It appeared automatically when I infused Ki inside. I don’t know if you were born with it or if the divine blessings altered your body and kept it sealed, but when I took them away and let all that accumulated divine power fuse with your body and the Ki I injected, it awakened."
"O-okay?" Laura stared in shock. "So I’m actually talented?!"
"Kinda. It’s not sothing you were born with, but what erged from these events," Maria smiled. "It’s quite intriguing, right?"
"Indeed," the Heavenly Demon agreed. "A Heavenly Divine Blank Constitution allows incredibly fast absorption of knowledge for soul, mind, and body. It should let you learn anything I teach as though you were a blank slate. However, once you concentrate and master one path, it becos harder to learn from others. Imagine a blank slate where you can draw anything—but once you draw sothing, you must commit to it."
"Oh, okay... I get it," Laura nodded, rubbing her chin. "So... uh, I’m learning from you? Why not my sister? Doesn’t she have one?"
"You can learn mine once you build a powerful foundation from him," Maria said. "My thod doesn’t require talent at all. But the stronger your base, the better."
"Ahhh..." Laura sighed. "Hmmm... this is still complicated. Ugh... but I rember there were Murim Sects in Asia. So the concept of Cultivation and Martial Arts is known on Earth, but not many practice it because proper masters are so rare... I do have a close friend who learned from a Murim visitor who called himself ’Golden Core’ or sothing."
"I see. With your great talent, it should be possible for you to call that man a junior soon enough," the Heavenly Demon laughed. "In a month I will turn you into an Immortal."
"...Immortal?!" Laura asked, bewildered. "A-Ah, this is so sudden! What does that an?"
"Well..."
Maria patiently explained the many Cultivation Realms of Murim and everything else. Laura felt overwheld but burned with determination to learn and grow stronger.
Their conversation yesterday had strengthened her resolve more than Maria had expected, and it filled her with trendous happiness.
Maria also explained that Laura would spend a month here. Thanks to her Soul Realm’s Ti Dilation, a month inside would equal roughly three days outside.
"It’s as fast as I can move it right now," Maria said. "In three days of the outside world, we will find Mom. A month here... you ready, Laura? I will invest a lot in you so you can beco soone reliable I can trust and not worry about. The Heavenly Demon is the brightest mind, the most talented genius, and the strongest man of Murim—soone I’m not even sure I can surpass. Maybe we’re on equal terms; we haven’t fought all-out yet."
"Hahaha, I wouldn’t say I am stronger than you, Maria," the Heavenly Demon replied. "I still have not recovered my power completely."
"See?! If he does, he’ll be even more of a monster!" Maria laughed. "Don’t worry! You’ll see every day and I’ll help you too. My whole family will be here as well, so you won’t feel lonely."
"Thanks..." Laura said, a small tear escaping. "You’ve done so much for already... Fran..."
"Aw, but you did so much for too! You kept alive for twenty years. Without that, I wouldn’t even be able to co here and finally beco who I am!" Maria said. "So, what do you think? Want to eat breakfast here? Unlike our house, this huge building is big enough for all of us to eat comfortably."
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