THE UNSHACKLED'S BANQUET

Immortal Ascension Tower.

A tower not quite meant to be climbed.

Instead, each floor represented a corresponding Stage on the journey of cultivation. Cheng Hao would be granted a reward at each Stage he overcame.

Tracing back through his karmic connections and making use of the Tower's outlandish means, Cheng Hao had went over all the people, objects, and grounds that he had encountered in his past, and had selected a specific few. These were all thus sealed behind the gargantuan gates: only once he cleared the necessary conditions in terms of cultivation base would he be granted free access to the corresponding content.

Not to lie, he had almost immediately entertained the idea of sealing Tian in there until the end of time. Then, as the Great Sage's reason prevailed over his cheekiness, he soon recalled the fourteenth Stage Immortal's means to defy comprehension. In the end, he dared not take that risk.

Instead, he made sure to extensively plan what beings and treasures might actually help him in his cultivation. He then let the tower seal them within the corresponding level he recognized they would be of use.

However…

"...you've gotta be kidding me."

"...I really should start watching what I eat. Was it the mushrooms? Definitely the mushrooms."

When Cheng Hao made to summon Blindlight, he discovered the damn guy had actually Rebirthed!

A mere Inferior Stage hatchling, he saw no point in sealing him in the upper floors as he had projected.

As the foot-long snake blankly looked around the dreamy subspace, Cheng Hao had the urge to cry as his plans crumbled before him. Then, just as he racked his brain thinking how to fix things, inspiration struck both the reborn Sage and the Rebirthed snake.

"...would that work?"

"...it might have been that tree sap now that i think about it. Was it the tree sap? Definitely the tree sap."

As a close ally, the Heaven Devouring Dragon wouldn't be a threat to him. Similarly, his cultivation base and fleshly body that could destroy any lower plane were both no longer a problem, with the rewinding of Blindlight's condition to his infancy.

Cheng Hao was hoping to have the primordial be his 'newcomer boon' instead.

Though it took a whole lot more 'arguing' with the Tower than expected, Xu Ling was rather experienced at pulling the wool over the World's eyes. In the end, an accord of sorts was drawn, and among the terms, he had managed to keep Blindlight by his side straight away, in exchange for one Immortal Realm slot.

Though it might seem like an exorbitant price to pay, Cheng Hao wasn't in the least bit moved.

For one, the golden-eyed boy was confident it wasn't that the tower only gave one chance per floor, but rather that it required time for each chance to replenish back up. As such, he disregarded the upper floors that would require him decades to reach, in favour of the lower floors. Even if the Spark hadn't recharged by the time he reached those stages, focusing on the vulnerable early stages would never be wrong.

Cheng Hao had mused how in this life too, the dragon would be his first companion yet again.

"Actually, the more that I think about it… the mushrooms make more sense."

"...truly, a tearjerker."

…

The time had come to meet one of his dear guests.

The Qi strands had been gathered and refined, a Qi Sea had been weaved, the Pseudo Core had been condensed, and the Inferior Stage had been achieved.

As a matter of fact, those had been the least of Cheng Hao's concerns for the night: a much more dreadful trial awaited him.

Fortunately, thanks to his ways from back when he was an Immortal, even a transmigrated Evil Saint didn't lack in methods.

Namely, he had devised plenty of means that wouldn't need an Immortal's ichor as fuel to trigger. Merely, his lack of a cultivation base had made it difficult to access them.

For one...

With the retrieval of his cultivation base, the boy could alas feel two of such powers move about as he stirred them from their slumber.

This sensation had come from both his hands. With a slight push on his part, his left palm released a faint chill, and the right began to emit slightly perceptible warmth. Smiling in reminiscence, Cheng Hao clenched his fists and felt the opposites of cold and hot spread to his fingertips.

Then, Cheng Hao inhaled: ever clearer than before, he felt the unwavering connection to the illusion in his left eye.

Feeling confident from all these abilities being startled awake from their lethargy, the child raised his head, a complicated gaze landing on the first of the fifteen entrances.

The gate itself was quite impressive, being ten thousand or so feet tall; from its smallest floor alone, it could be inferred how gargantuan the tower truly was.

Dozens of locks, hundreds of chains, thousands of seals… everything that could be thought of as even barely useful to keep something slammed shut: they were there, all to prevent this massive door from being pried open by its prisoner.

...

Whenever he entered the world of the Tower, Cheng Hao would feel as if waking up from a dream.

In a way, one big reason for that was that this strange space lacked both the flow of Spiritual Energy and a World of Qi.

In here, the Laws weren't as readily apparent as those in the land of countless planes, where even mortals could engage with the Strands through their Seas. As such, abilities that relied on Qi other than this place's own Sovereign Qi would not work in this dimension.

The everpresent Spiritual Energy that cultivator would usually incorporate into their abilities as fuel, was also absent. One could only draw a limited amount from one's own reserves, but without the Qi to guide it, it would be akin to harnessing the raw energy from an explosion.

In other words...

In this world where only the Law of the Sovereign existed, Cheng Hao was a borderline untouchable existence.

Of course, while the Laws of the World of Qi didn't apply, there still existed hidden rules and regulations that dictated physical interaction.

A strong physical force battering at the gates would still be enough to eat away at the seals of Inferior Sovereign Qi, albeit slowly. In fact, this one guest was particularly rowdy at times, speeding up that process tenfold.

The difference between Mortal Strands of Sovereign Qi was negligible when facing raw, physical strength. Inferior or Reverend; neither would last more than a few weeks before such a fierce onslaught.

On the other hand, while Ageless Strands and above were virtually indestructible in this place, Cheng Hao didn't want to imprison this guest that high up.

It would mean pushing this particular encounter a few years forward, and this was a trump card he had especially thought of for the late Mortal Realm and the early Ageless Realm; he couldn't just let it go easily.

Hence, Cheng Hao had pondered on how to take care of it quickly.

First, he had come up with a plan that would save on Golden Blood Essence.

After all, his one drop had been an unexpected boon, while the other he might have somewhat expected, but was necessary to mentor Xiao Wu properly.

Still, in the case the plan didn't work, he could still rely on his Immortal Methods. That'd mean depleting most of his stock, though. For a few months, he'd be left powerless in his most vulnerable period, so he'd rather not waste any of the precious ichor if he could.

Especially given the better part of that would be squandering Little Wu's tuition, he could only go with his initial plan.

The golden-eyed boy examined the shackles on top of the gigantic gate and he let out a relieved smile: many of those restrictions were presenting cracks, but had yet to show evident signs of giving in.

It looked like he was still on time, albeit barely, to appear as the one in control.

"You did a phenomenal job, everyone. Come. Join with the others."

With a wave of Cheng Hao's hands, one of the seals grew opaque and shattered into countless light motes. Following it were one more, and countless more, until every single seal had exploded in a cacophony of shattering glass.

They then turned into a stream of strands, flowing towards Cheng Hao. Expertly, he had it spiral as it entered his Sea; at once, they were pulled inwards, clutching onto the Pseudo-Core's surface like a second layer of skin: in a few hours' time, they'd be seamlessly melded in with the rest.

Following the shattering of the glowing symbols and talismans was that of the chains and the locks. One by one, the rings of the chains were dismantled, the locks shattered, all turning into Strands and pouring into the boy's Sea.

By that point, the first floor's gate was being held together solely by a single golden blade.

That one blade of Sovereign Qi was the utmost Limit of the Inferior Stage. The breaking point that Cheng Hao's Sea of Consciousness could handle before he would breakthrough.

After eating it up, he'd be completely full. He'd have attained the apex of his stage.

This mind-numbing scene would repeat in the future, going from peak to peak.

Again and again.

A talent-defying-talent.

Very rarely would Cheng Hao personally care for treasures and elixirs. Instead, the bottomless well that needed countless treasures to feed, the Heaven Devouring Dragon, would be able to grow twice as fast if Cheng Hao was willing to give up his share as well.

The rebirthed Primordial was not to be understated; from the Basic Stage onwards, his heritage and Path alone would make him peerless in his stage, and often across them, even. After all, Blindlight's Path was one that needn't be activated, but rather one that had fundamentally shaped his entire existence. His ravenous Way had changed himself into a living, breathing Immortal method, in a lifelong baptism of Golden Essence Blood.

And once Blindlight finally got to make a Core at the Advanced Stage - He couldn't make do with a Pseudo-Core earlier, given he was forced to discard his Martial Way before he rebirthed - he'd be virtually unmatched until the Reverend Stage.

Only a Reverend, those who had overcome the second, major upheaval of the Mortal Realm, would be his match by then.

Of course, the current Cheng Hao was no slouch either.

With his methods plus the Pseudo-Core, were he to fight an Advanced stage cultivator right there and then, he would be able to overpower them without batting an eye.

Then again, the one he was about to face was incomparable to the mere Advanced stage.

Eclipsing the Mortal Realm, and again, beyond the Ageless Realm.

No matter how weakened by its current environment, the 'thing' trapped inside the first floor of Cheng Hao's Immortal Ascension Tower...

Was formerly a powerhouse at the Immortal Realm!

...

A golden longsword.

It was embedded at the bottom, where the two doors' frames met, and it appeared indescribably flimsy when compared to the massive gates.

The blade of this sword was completely made out of Sovereign Strands, whereas the hilt was made of the same, novel material from the Gates; with enough imagination, the handle somewhat resembled a key, and the blade was preventing it from rotating all the way and unlocking a certain mechanism.

Now, the fragmentation of the seals, chains, etcetera, had not happened in silence. Instead, each restriction had emitted a noise similar to that of glass shattering; when put together, a deafening 'harmony' had rung out for a full minute before the racket finally died down.

By that time, if the being had not been aware of Cheng Hao's presence there, then it surely would be now-

Bang, bang, bang.

Just as expected.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

That Something had begun hammering at the gates from the inside.

From the sound alone, it appeared to be a being with an incredibly massive body. So much so, the whole ten-thousand-foot tall first floor appeared to be trembling whenever the being moved. Gradually but surely, the colossal frames began to shift under the extreme forces…

The beautiful bronze blade embedded between them bent dangerously.

Cheng Hao chuckled at the situation unfolding in front of him and then unhurriedly approached the gates.

Every step the boy took left behind a ripple on the glass film beneath his feet.

Feeling someone was approaching, the Thing inside stopped its attempts of breaking out. The silence had a tinge of wonder, almost as if a big question mark had appeared in midair.

Cheng Hao took the hilt of the sword in his hands and slowly took it out from where it was embedded. The blade was shockingly long. The child spent more than five breaths before he could extract it fully. He grasped the astonishingly lengthy golden sword in his hands and its blade, as if liberated, turned back into the final bit of Qi, which the youth gladly absorbed and then proceeded to layer onto his Pseudo-Core. After he had done this, all that remained in his hands was the handle of the sword: a bronze key.

The handle presented a primitive rendition of a vicious serpent, coiling around a cage of tortured spirits. Remarking on his Tower's artistic sense, Cheng Hao chuckled to himself and placed the key into its compartment.

A loud clacking noise accompanied its turning within the keyhole.

There was a brief moment of silence. Following that...

Creak.

The massive gates inched ever so slowly outwards, as the Thing made use of its strength to open enough of a crack to peer outside. Amid the pitch-black, a lone eye opened horizontally; thin, white, and a dozen feet tall.

A rasping voice could suddenly be heard, as 'it' struggled to talk through its physical body, rather than with its Will as it was used to back in the land of countless planes.

"Who….." uttered the depths of a howling chasm.

The eye eerily spun, taking in the cosmos of fixed lights, the land of rippling glass, and the swirling clouds underneath it.

It pried them all in marvel, forgetting itself in its wonder.

Alas, its gaze fell on a boy with golden eyes.

"...human youngling.....who….."

"I am Cheng Hao," Cheng Hao's voice was as steady and measured as it could get, even as the Eye's colorless pupils scrutinized his every inch.

"I am the tower's chosen as well as its master. I will not withhold this; you are being held in here because of me. My stepping stone."

Hearing this, the eye widened in surprise as it processed the information contained amongst the youth's claims.

"Stepping stone….. oh, Humanspring….. misheard or misunderstood, wonders me….. you people's language, as old as your ancestors….. unmodified since time immemorial….. changed all of a sudden?" The rasping voice appeared weary from its effort as the creature sighed with feeling.

The golden-eyed boy patronized his antiques not, though, stating ruthlessly: "No need for such theatrics, Immortal. Here, you're but a sack of flesh, withering away. I require a servant. Pledge your soul to me, or suffer the consequences."

Cheng Hao had vanished: in his place was an arrogant and fearless Sovereign, a being beyond anyone else. His whole presence had shifted.

That quirky and affable Cheng Hao that Xiao Wu had interacted with was gone, replaced by a lofty, lazy persona that the gigantic Eye couldn't help but twitch at: why did that tone sound especially vexing?

"You….. really me here….. imprisoned…..?" Alas, a trace of annoyance betrayed its collected demeanour.

"Indeed." The boy's voice reverberated in the depths of the unlit hall.

Suddenly, a sharp glint appeared in the depths of the gigantic eye's pupils.

"Entrance Stage….." the eye recognized.

"I'll help you remember that in this epoch, we refer to it as the Inferior Stage."

"...Apt denomination….."

"Perhaps. Now, bow down."

"...play….."

"Pardon?"

"Game….. I win….." The eye blinked and maliciously gleamed, "I free….. you take my place….. for thousand years I rule this tower….. after that….. maybe free you, rash humanspring….."

Cheng Hao stared emotionlessly at the gigantic figure whose only feature that could be discerned was its eye, gleaming viciously.

'Oh, Blackie, you are so transparent-'

Ah.

'...Goldy, Blackie... I'm starting to see the pattern here.'

The child remained silent for a few moments as if he were deeply pondering the advantages and shortcomings of such a bet, but ultimately nodded, "Fair. What competition have you in mind?"

"Within twenty breaths, I come out….. get out, tower is mine….. you be imprisoned here….."

"...So be it. If I stop you, please cooperate." The youth nodded and exclaimed: "I, Cheng Hao, accept your terms and declare that this bet may begin-"

"Accept….. amusing….."

The sound of a humongous body unravelling and of scales grinding on pavement followed as the eye narrowed, visibly humoured.

"...was….. not proposal."

'Ah.'

Cheng Hao immediately noticed.

"More a kind warning."

The creature had stopped dragging their words out, embracing the pain that came with it out of sheer wrath.

"Do best you can, rash humanspring."

'They're really, really mad.'

"Tonight, I feast."