Han Yu's spirit sense swept through his ridians, tracing every pathway with ticulous care. They were wider, smoother, reinforced in subtle ways that he had not achieved even through prolonged tempering. There were no hidden injuries, no unstable nodes, no lingering fatigue.
His Core drew his attention next.
The deep crimson sphere rotated slowly, radiating a calm, powerful presence. It was stable to an almost frightening degree. There was no turbulence, no imbalance. This was not a rushed breakthrough, nor a forced advancent.
It was perfect.
Han Yu frowned slightly.
"I thought the Stelae only granted inheritances," he muttered inwardly.
Yet his body had clearly been refined as well. Not just repaired, but optimized. It reminded him of high-level body refinent techniques, the kind that only elders or ancient legacies could provide.
He did not dislike it.
But it raised questions.
There was still that feeling.
That subtle tug, like sothing calling to him from a place he had not yet looked.
Instinctively, Han Yu shifted his focus inward and stepped into his Soul Space.
Darkness enveloped him.
Then the familiar sight erged.
The vast soul sea stretched out before him, its surface shimring faintly under unseen light. Waves rolled gently, far calr than before. At the center floated the Eight Emotions Lotus.
Or rather, what had once been just the lotus.
Han Yu froze.
"What…?" he whispered.
The lotus was still there, its eight petals intact, glowing faintly with their respective hues. But from its center, where only the core should have been, sothing else now stood.
A stela.
A miniature inheritance stela, rising from the lotus like a sacred pillar.
It was unmistakable.
The sa shape. The sa ancient presence. The sa endlessly shifting Blood Script flowing across its surface, only scaled down to a size that fit within his soul space.
Han Yu felt his mind blank for a mont.
"What happened to you?" he asked slowly.
The lotus responded imdiately, its petals fluttering as it let out a series of cheerful, aningless sounds.
"Yi ya… yi ya!"
That did absolutely nothing to help.
Han Yu approached carefully, half-expecting so kind of rejection or backlash. But the lotus showed no hostility. Instead, thin, luminous roots extended from its base, wrapping gently around the stela as if cradling it.
Only then did Han Yu realize sothing.
The stela was not separate.
It had been absorbed.
Integrated.
His breath grew shallow.
"This isn't just storage," he muttered. "It's… fused."
The implications sent a chill down his spine.
This was not a simple inheritance engraved into mory. This was sothing far more profound. A living construct, bound directly to his soul, rooted into the very foundation of his cultivation.
And if what he sensed was correct…
This was only the beginning.
Han Yu stood there in his soul space, staring at the lotus-stela fusion, realization slowly dawning in his eyes.
Whatever the Inheritance Stelae had given him, it had not rely answered his request.
It had invested in him.
And that realization was both exhilarating and terrifying.
Han Yu remained within his Soul Space, standing silently before the miniature Stelae that had taken root inside the Eight Emotions Lotus.
At first glance, it truly looked like a reduced copy of the original Inheritance Stelae. The proportions were the sa, the presence was the sa, and even the faint pressure it exerted on the soul felt eerily familiar. Yet the longer he observed it, the more differences he noticed.
The most obvious one lay in the runes.
Just like the original Stelae, countless runes swam endlessly across its surface, appearing and disappearing in fluid motion. They were not static inscriptions ant to be read casually, but living symbols that seed to breathe and shift with intent. However, unlike the Blood Script carved upon the true Stelae, these runes were written in Dao Script.
That alone should have made things easier.
And yet, it did not.
Han Yu frowned slightly as his eyes followed the flowing characters.
Dao Script was sothing he was quite used to. It was the foundational script used in many high-level techniques, formations, and cultivation manuals. While complex, it was still a known system. With enough study and familiarity, one could decipher it.
But the problem was not the script itself.
It was the speed.
The runes moved far too quickly, rearranging themselves in constantly shifting patterns. One mont they resembled fragnts of cultivation principles, the next mont they dissolved into sothing entirely different. Even when Han Yu focused his perception to its limit, enhanced by his soul cultivation, he could not hold onto a complete sentence.
It was like watching water flow through one's fingers. The more he tried to grasp it, the faster it slipped away.
Han Yu did not give up.
He stood there and watched.
Minutes passed. Then hours.
He adjusted his perception again and again, experinting with different ways of observing. Sotis he tried to focus on the Stelae as a whole. Other tis he concentrated on a single cluster of runes, ignoring everything else. He even attempted to synchronize his breathing and soul rhythm with the movent of the runes, hoping to catch a pattern.
Nothing worked.
Three full hours passed in this manner.
Han Yu felt a faint ntal strain, but he did not withdraw. Instead, he steadied himself and continued to observe in silence. There was no frustration on his face, only patience. He had long learned that rushing things like this was the fastest way to failure.
Ti flowed strangely within the Soul Space.
Eventually, what felt like an entire day passed.
Han Yu could not tell exactly when it happened.
There was no dramatic change, no sudden flash of light. It was rely that, for a fleeting instant, the runes slowed.
That was all it took.
Han Yu's eyes sharpened instantly.
The swimming Dao Script aligned just enough for his perception to latch onto them. A single line stabilized, hovering at the forefront of the Stelae's surface before dissolving once more.
But it was enough.
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