Chapter 60

  Adam needed a few more days to adjust to the immense power surging through his body. Every movement felt lighter, sharper—his Qi pulsed like a star burning beneath his skin. When he finally checked the talisman, the number glowed bright: 405 years of life remained.

  That was more than enough time. The next step wasn’t about physical strength anymore—it was about the mind. Awareness, comprehension, and control. And for that, Adam’s memory manipulation ability gave him a tremendous advantage.

  Lyne voiced “Take your time getting used to that power. It was the same for me. We’ll meet again in ten days—there’s a lot of general knowledge you need to catch up on.”

  Adam nodded, watching her leave before turning his gaze toward the horizon.

  He spent the following days familiarizing himself with his enhanced Qi flow, his star core’s radiant rhythm, and the way his senses extended into the world around him. When he finally felt ready, he stood beneath the moonlight and whispered—

  “Now… it’s time to activate you.”

  From his storage ring, he withdrew a small black cube—the Granitsa’s Subspace Cube, his tournament reward.

  As he infused it with Qi, reality blurred. His consciousness was pulled inward, spiraling through white light until—

  Everything turned blank.

  He opened his eyes to a white world, empty and still, like an unpainted canvas.

  Then, a voice echoed softly through the void.

  ???- “Are you my new master?”

  Adam turned—and blinked. A floating will-o’-wisp hovered before him, its flame dancing lazily.

  Will-o’-wisp talked like a human “Hey! I’m talking to you.”

  “Ah, yes. I am. Who are you?”

  The wisp puffed up its nonexistent chest, radiating confidence.

  “I am the great spirit of this artifact—Granitsa’s Cube! You may call me… Cui!”

  “Cui, huh? Alright. I’m Adam.”

  “I won’t be calling you that. You’re my new master, so I’ll just call you Master.”

  “As you wish.”

  Cui’s flame flickered nervously before dimming slightly.

  “Master, I have some bad news. This artifact—it’s damaged. I can only contain a living being for seven days at most. Why would you activate me knowing that?”

  Adam smiled faintly.

  “Because I have a special reason. And I’m sure you’re the perfect artifact for me.”

  “Really? Perfect… for you?”

  The wisp’s glow brightened with excitement.

  “Then let’s complete the binding! Link me to your core—same process you used for that little fox of yours.”

  Adam extended his hand. As his fingertips touched the wisp, warmth flooded through him. His Qi resonated with Cui’s essence, the energy thread linking his Star Core to the spirit’s flame.

  In that instant, the cube’s white world trembled—light spiraling around them both as a new bond was born.

  Adam looked around.

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  Nothing had changed. The white void remained blank, endless, and still.

  His gaze returned to Cui. The wisp’s light flickered erratically—then began to glitch, its glow distorting like a broken reflection in rippling water.

  Suddenly, Cui froze mid-air.

  “What happened?”

  Cui’s voice came out fragmented, but filled with dawning realization.

  “I… understand it now. Master… why? Just why are you like this? Why are you so troublesome?”

  Adam raised an eyebrow.

  “What do you mean?”

  “After binding with you, I can access all your abilities… including your memory manipulation.”

  Adam exhaled slowly.

  “So, you saw my memories.”

  “All of it.”

  A quiet pause lingered. Adam smiled faintly.

  “Then I suppose I don’t need to explain why you’re perfect for me, do I?”

  The wisp dimmed, a long digital sigh escaping it.

  “No, you don’t. But if I were still in my undamaged state, I wouldn’t have to worry this much. Back then, I was called—Granitsa’s Eternal Prison.”

  Adam’s eyes widened.

  “Wait—you were a prison artifact?”

  “Not just any prison. I was the prison. In your world’s terms, I was the place where even gods sent those unworthy of death—eternal oblivion, they called it.”

  Adam’s lips curled into a smirk, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.

  “So if I can repair you… bring you back to your former glory…”

  “Then yes—” the wisp’s light brightened, pulsing with quiet power “—you could use me to imprison anything. Even that which should not exist.”

  A spark of excitement flickered in Adam’s gaze.

  “Good.” He smiled. “Then we have work to do.”

  “That’s not going to be easy, Master. You’ll need an ancient artifact—one lost since time immemorial—to repair completely me.”

  Adam blinked.

  “Damn.”

  “For now, Master, will you give me permission to do… whatever I wish to those you cast inside me?”

  Adam frowned.

  “Why?”

  “It’s better if Master doesn’t know. Let’s just say—your memory manipulation gives me some creative liberties.”

  Adam gave a half-smirk.

  “Then… sure. Go wild.”

  “Excellent! Then, shall we explore what else I can do?”

  Cui’s light pulsed, and the white expanse shimmered.

  “Just imagine how you want this space to look, Master. Think of it as… customizing your prison cell.”

  Adam chuckled, closing his eyes. He pictured his old room back on Earth—its cluttered desk, the soft glow of the monitor, the bed by the window.

  The white void twisted and folded in on itself—

  —and suddenly, it was his room.

  A perfect replica. Every detail, every imperfection.

  “Oh, this is fun.”

  He walked toward the desk and tapped the keyboard.

  “Does it work?”

  “Unfortunately, no. The interface is cosmetic. Sorry, Master.”

  “Worth a shot.”

  “However, I can serve as a subspace ring—an infinite storage realm, unlike those primitive rings outside.”

  “Now that’s neat. How long can I stay here?”

  “Master and your companion are not bound by time limits here. Others would be—fatally so—but you and the fox are exempt.”

  “Perfect. You’re even better than I thought.”

  He paused, smiling faintly.

  “Guess I wasn’t familiar with your game.”

  Adam summoned Red, his two-tailed fox. The creature appeared within the recreated room, still deep in its centuries-long hibernation.

  He crouched beside it, resting a hand on its fur.

  “Wake up soon, buddy.”

  Stepping out of the subspace, Adam emerged under the open sky. The sect lay below, bathed in the afternoon light.

  “Time to meet the princess.”

  Adam left the subspace and relocated to the cafeteria.

  “Ahhh, the place where some bullshit always happens.”

  He stepped through the doors—

  —and sure enough, there it was.

  A man was kissing the floor. Literally. His face pressed flat against the tiles while the princess herself stood tall, one foot resting neatly on the back of his head.

  Adam froze mid-step.

  “Oh no… what did she do this time?”

  Lyne turned the moment she noticed him. Her expression softened immediately into a radiant, way too innocent smile.

  “Welcome back, husband.”

  Adam’s eye twitched. He pointed at the half-conscious man under her foot.

  “...And this is?”

  Lyne tilted her head, her tone completely casual.

  “Ah, this one had the audacity to try and court me. A married woman.”

  “...You’re serious.”

  “He said something like—‘just because there’s a beast guarding the treasure doesn’t mean we can’t steal it.’”

  She sighed theatrically, then smiled again, all teeth.

  “So I helped him understand the error of his ways. I broke about half the bones in his body. May this be a good reminder of his own stupidity.”

  Adam stared at her, speechless for a long moment.

  “You know, sometimes I wonder whether I’m the one in danger here.”

  Adam sighed and crouched beside the groaning cultivator on the floor. He grabbed the man by his torn robes, propped him up against a wall, and with a calm gesture, erased the hate and thirst for revenge from his memories.

  “Let’s eat. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

  “Right! Let’s sit with your friends over there.”

  Across the cafeteria, his old group was gathered around one of the long benches—Bo Jin, Lian Hua, Han Feng, Zhou Ren, Mei Lan, Shen Xinyi, and another girl Adam didn’t recognize. They waved him over the moment they noticed.

  He grabbed a plate; Lyne did the same. Together they walked over.

  Everyone in sync “We greet the princess.”

  Lyne nodded gracefully, and Adam smiled.

  “Long time no see.”

  Han Feng was first to reply “Yeah, it’s been a while.”

  Zhou Ren the next “Why do you always rush to the next breakthrough, man?”

  Bo Jin after “Yeah—seriously. Give the rest of us a chance to catch up!”

  Adam shrugged, spearing a dumpling.

  “I only get about half the usual lifespan benefit. So I don’t really have a choice but to push faster. Even now, I’ve only got about four hundred and five years left.”

  Bo Jin blinked.

  “You’re in Core Formation now, same as me. You should’ve gained eight hundred years!”

  “For some reason, I just… don’t.”

  Lian Hua leaned forward, curious.

  “Still, you’re quite famous now. A Star Core—people rarely choose that path.”

  “Didn’t exactly have much of a choice there either.”

  Han Feng said sarcastically “Man, you really do have it rough.”

  Adam chuckled.

  “I don’t have to worry too much now. From here on, it’s all about the mind—and that’s one thing I’ve got plenty of confidence in. Guess I can relax a little.”

  Shen Xinyi voiced her good wishes “Good for you.”

  Adam glanced toward the unfamiliar girl.

  “By the way, who’s that?”

  Bo Jin grinned proudly.

  “Ah, let me introduce you to our daughter—Bei Jin.”

  Adam froze, face tightening into a strained poker expression.

  Mei Lan retorted “Hey, are you trying not to laugh? That’s disrespectful!”

  “Forgive me—it just reminded me of a city from my home world. Its name sounded the same: Beijing.”

  Bo Jin laughed it off.

  “Forget about it. Bei Jin, introduce yourself.”

  “Hello, Uncle. Hello, Auntie.”

  Adam’s soul left his body for half a second.

  [Being called ‘uncle’ by someone who looks my age… yep, that’s a new low.]

  He forced a smile, though a faint twitch tugged at the corner of his mouth.

  [Technically, she’s twenty-five. I’m a hundred and eighty-six. Guess she’s not wrong—but still… could’ve just called me senior brother or something!]

  Lyne smirked, catching his expression.

  “You’re really not used to being called that, huh, Uncle Adam?”

  Adam groaned.

  “Don’t start.”

  “Too late.”

  The whole table laughed, the air finally relaxing after weeks of chaos and fighting.