I Laugh, the Immortal is Flat

Taixu Sword Ki, a pinnacle martial art created by Shenzhou's Immortal Azure Empyrea, comprises Five Essences: mantra, form, sanction, ascension, and eminence. Mastering it allows one to roam the world unhindered, almost matchless.

Otto Apocalypse and Immortal Azure Empyrea had known each other for a full five hundred years. When he brought Fu Hua into Schicksal, he had long since swindled... or rather, acquired the cultivation method for Taixu Sword Ki, renowned throughout Shenzhou.

However, after carefully studying and attempting to promote Taixu Sword Ki, Otto discovered a very awkward problem.

Taixu Sword Ki was indeed a rare, top-tier cultivation art, but its entry barrier was far too high, directly disqualifying over ninety-five percent of the world's population.

Moreover, not only was Taixu Sword Ki difficult to begin, but cultivating it to its peak was even more arduous, a step that filtered out another ninety-nine-point-nine percent of people.

Therefore, even though Otto had obtained the cultivation method for Taixu Sword Ki from Immortal Azure Empyrea, he had been unable to effectively promote it within Schicksal.

Otto could only settle for the next best thing: he modified and simplified the "Heart" Essence of Taixu Sword Ki, removing the threshold that screened out the vast majority of people, and applied it to the psychological training courses in the basic training for Valkyries.

Although he had only known Ren Amamiya for a short time, Otto had already discovered that Ren's mental fortitude and strength were both exceptionally outstanding, and his undeveloped potential was also incredibly vast.

The Heart Essence of Taixu Sword Ki could only be cultivated during one's formative adolescent years, allowing the body to spontaneously grow and evolve in a direction more suited to accommodating and unleashing the power of Honkai energy.

Ren Amamiya's physical age met the criteria for cultivating Taixu Sword Ki, and Otto was also very optimistic about his mental fortitude.

If it was Ren Amamiya, he should be able to successfully cultivate Taixu Sword Ki and master it to a formidable degree.

Even if he couldn't surpass Immortal Azure Empyrea, Fu Hua, or Li Sushang, who was currently still in slumber, he should theoretically be able to cultivate Taixu Sword Ki to a level comparable to the Seven Disciples of Taixu from five hundred years ago.

Otto wanted to defeat all the Herrschers, ultimately confront the God of Honkai, and seize divine authority to perfectly resurrect Kallen Kaslana using the power over time and samsara.

To achieve this goal, Otto had to find ways to strengthen the Current Era's combat capabilities, increasing their leverage against the Honkai.

Regardless of the role Ren Amamiya played in the pre-Previous Era, he was, after all, the only person in this world who possessed more complete intelligence and data than even the Previous Era.

To prevent Ren Amamiya from perishing prematurely, as he might have in the Previous Era without making a sound, Otto decided to provide him with a certain amount of investment and assistance.

The power of Personas was indeed formidable, but compared to the summoned Personas, Ren Amamiya's own physical abilities as a Persona-user seemed somewhat lacking.

Taixu Sword Ki could use the cultivator's body as a bridge to directly communicate with, manipulate, and utilize the Honkai energy freely existing between heaven and earth, greatly enhancing the cultivator's own combat prowess.

As long as Ren Amamiya completed his cultivation of Taixu Sword Ki, this obvious shortcoming of his could be perfectly remedied.

Facing the golden feather tossed to him by the pseudo-god, Ren Amamiya didn't hesitate. He reached out decisively and touched the magnificent feather, which shimmered with a golden aura.

With the power of a pseudo-god like Yaldabaoth, there was no need for schemes or plots to target him. That being the case, Ren Amamiya had nothing to fear.

The instant his fingertips touched the golden feather, a visible golden ripple spread out from the air in front of him.

A series of awkward, obscure, and strange tones, like words spoken in a dream, quietly emanated from the golden feather.

As that ethereal, phantasmal, and bizarre sound played, a vast amount of knowledge regarding sword stances and power exertion techniques suddenly flooded Ren Amamiya's mind.

Ren Amamiya's handsome, obsidian-like eyes became somewhat unfocused due to the sharp mental impact of the Taixu Sword Ki knowledge, which felt as keen as a divine sword.

In a daze, Ren Amamiya seemed to see a grey-haired youth with a transcendent aura, dressed in flowing ancient attire. The youth's face was veiled as if by mist, making it indistinct, though Ren could vaguely sense a delicate and handsome face behind the veil. The figure was agile and slender, demonstrating exquisite and profoundly deep sword techniques.

Having mastered and integrated both Hokushin Itto-ryu and Yae Shrine swordsmanship, Ren Amamiya's understanding of the sword path had long since reached a whole new level, verging on the pinnacle of perfection.

Precisely because Ren Amamiya now possessed such a high level of swordsmanship, he could more profoundly realize just how perfect and marvelous the sword techniques recorded in this golden feather were.

Ren Amamiya watched, entranced, as the grey-haired youth moved with an ethereal grace, like a sword dance. The forms and stances of Taixu Sword Ki were deeply imprinted into his mind as if carved there.

As the grey-haired youth in ancient attire demonstrated the sword moves, Ren Amamiya gradually found himself drawn not only to the exquisite and ingenious sword forms of Taixu Sword Ki.

Even the grey-haired youth performing the techniques seemed to gain a different kind of profound charm in his eyes due to the sword dance.

...Wait a minute, I'm not gay! This can't go on!

Can't let a femboy lead me astray!

While Ren Amamiya's mind was completely immersed in practicing Taixu Sword Ki, Otto retrieved all the golden feathers except for the one mimicked Feathers of Fenghuang he had given to Ren.

Setting the illusory realm of the mimicked Feathers of Fenghuang to automatically dispel only when Ren Amamiya woke up the next morning, Otto withdrew his consciousness from Ren's dream.

The child-form Otto, standing before Ren Amamiya's bedside in the real world, slowly opened his emerald eyes.

Otto left the last mimicked Feather of Fenghuang with Ren Amamiya.

Besides allowing Ren to repeatedly review the secrets of Taixu Sword Ki for study and reference, it would also enable Otto to invade Ren Amamiya's dreams at some future moment using this feather.

Although not retracting this mimicked feather would somewhat affect the power of the Void Archives, it was entirely inconsequential.

Just as he had arrived, Otto silently left Ren Amamiya's room.

He didn't directly return to the safe in the Raiden residence to disguise himself as a golden bracelet. Instead, he first went to a secluded corner of the Raiden residence's vast courtyard.

From the shadows behind the dense trees in the courtyard, a graceful and slender figure in a black and green, form-fitting battlesuit walked out款款, approaching the child-form Otto.

"Lord Overseer, the Immortal Blades squad has assembled and is ready to deploy at any time... Hmm?!"

Rita, now wearing her Phantom Iron Valkyrie battlesuit, more suited for stealth and assassination, found her composed and elegant smile stiffening for an instant upon seeing the child-form Otto walking slowly towards her.

"Due to the urgently requisitioned Soulium reserves, my body can only mimic up to this size. However, this will not affect anything."

The child-form Otto, resembling a delicately carved, jade-like little girl, paid no mind to Rita's imperceptible pause and wavering. He simply handed the Void Archives, which had reverted to a golden cube, to Rita.

Although he had successfully deceived Ren Amamiya for the time being, as long as the Void Archives remained here, there was always a possibility of Ren discovering it and potentially controlling it with Jizo Mitama's authority.

Quantum transmission technology not only consumed an enormous amount of energy but also could only transmit one-way from Schicksal HQ's laboratory. Otto couldn't send the Void Archives back from the Raiden residence; he could only temporarily entrust it to Rita for safekeeping.

"Cocolia's ambitions and plans have been shattered, though she herself hasn't realized it yet. Let's make her a bit more clear-headed, open her eyes and see reality."

Recalling the Gem of Conquest he had seen in Ren Amamiya's dream, Otto couldn't help but feel that Cocolia was pitiful and pathetic, like a clown.

The Gem of Conquest had been flawlessly separated and stolen from Raiden Mei's body by Ren Amamiya. Cocolia's plan to artificially catalyze Raiden Mei into the Herrscher of Thunder was undoubtedly and utterly bankrupt.

Otto had previously stood by and watched Cocolia's plan progress in order to observe various data variables in the experiment, thereby increasing the chances of success for his own experiment to resurrect the Herrscher of the Void.

Even though he had learned the truth from Ren Amamiya, Otto had not given up on the idea of resurrecting the Herrscher of the Void; he was simply preparing to advance both plans simultaneously.

However, compared to Ren Amamiya, the survivor of the pre-Previous Era, Cocolia—whose plan had completely failed, who no longer held any observational value, and who even posed a potential threat to the important figure Ren Amamiya—was now an unneeded existence.

"Rita, the task of destroying Cocolia's forces deployed in Nagazora City is yours and the Immortal Blades squad's to complete."

Like a domineering CEO from those "it's getting chilly, time for the [target company] to go bankrupt" webnovel tropes, Otto gave Rita his instructions in a calm and casual tone.

Before Schicksal, even the entirety of Anti-Entropy couldn't stand as an enemy, let alone Cocolia, merely the leader of Anti-Entropy's radical faction.

Every member of the Immortal Blades squad was an elite among A-rank Valkyries. Even if some members couldn't immediately assemble due to missions around the world—for example, the Immortal Blades' captain, Durandal.

But in Nagazora City, where it was confirmed the Herrscher of Thunder would not be born, annihilating Cocolia's Anti-Entropy forces would still be effortless, meeting not a shred of resistance... Oh, right, there was also the other Herrscher of the Void, K-423, and her old man Siegfried in Nagazora City.

However, from a strategic standpoint, there was no way K-423 and Siegfried would turn around and help Cocolia.

"As you will, Lord Overseer."

After giving a graceful bow to the child-form Otto, Rita shifted her gaze from his childish face towards Ren Amamiya's room in the Raiden residence behind him. A curious glint appeared in her wine-red eyes.

Perceptive and sharp-witted, Rita could easily detect the change in Otto's attitude towards Ren Amamiya.

When she first reported to him, Otto had only shown a fanatical interest in the Kallen Persona that Ren Amamiya summoned; he hadn't been particularly interested in Ren Amamiya himself.

Even when Ren Amamiya summoned the Siegfried Persona and used the Might of An-Utu ultimate, Otto's attention remained steadfastly on Kallen.

However, after Otto emerged from Ren Amamiya's room, his attitude towards Ren had undergone what could only be described as an earth-shattering transformation.

Having served as Otto's "black glove" for many years, Rita was adept at reading people. Although the order to strike Cocolia's forces hadn't changed, the mentality behind Otto's command had undoubtedly shifted.

The idea of punishing Cocolia for Saint Kallen hadn't disappeared, but a new thought had been added: to eliminate obstacles for Ren Amamiya.

To cause such a noticeable change in Otto Apocalypse, the Overseer who had lived for five hundred years, the secrets Ren Amamiya held were undoubtedly of heavyweight significance.

After bidding farewell to Otto, Rita took out her communicator to direct the Immortal Blades Valkyries to assemble at ME Corp, where Cocolia was located, while internally looking forward to meeting Ren Amamiya the next day.

...

Though it was but a single night's dream, Ren Amamiya felt as if he had spent at least a month within it.

He had listened to what felt like a month's worth of obscure and profound sounds filling his ears.

When he awoke the next morning from the luxurious king-sized bed, Ren Amamiya found that he had already reached the second stage of Taixu Sword Heart recorded in the golden feather: the Realm of No Dust. The sea of his heart had transformed into a boundless ocean of ice, as clear and bright as a mirror.

Having achieved initial mastery in Taixu Sword Heart, Ren Amamiya felt completely refreshed and invigorated, not at all like someone who had arduously practiced all night in a lucid dream.

Oh, wait. According to the records in the golden feather, males could apparently only cultivate Taixu Sword Heart to the Realm of No Dust. This meant Ren Amamiya had maxed out Taixu Sword Heart in a single night.

Theoretically, reaching the Realm of No Dust in Taixu Sword Heart required a cultivator to practice diligently, day in and day out, for ten years.

Yet, Ren Amamiya had, in just one night, surpassed ninety-nine percent of Taixu Sword Ki cultivators.

Is this the true value of being a Persona-user?

The only thing out of the ordinary about Ren Amamiya was that he was a Persona-user. Clearly, maxing out Taixu Sword Heart overnight was a perk of that status.

It was just a pity that this immortal art seemed to have some sort of gender discrimination; men could only cultivate it to the Realm of No Dust. This had Ren fuming at the sheer injustice.

The grey-haired youth who had demonstrated the sword moves and taught the Taixu Sword Forms, since they could appear in his dream, must have cultivated Taixu Sword Ki to an extremely profound level, to the point of being textbook material.

Even for males, there should logically be a way to cultivate Taixu Sword Ki to its absolute limit.

Surely that grey-haired swordsman with the misty veil over their face wasn't actually a girl, right?

Ren Amamiya carefully recalled the chest of the grey-haired swordsman from the dream. He nodded with certainty.

Judging by the figure of the grey-haired swordsman in ancient attire from the dream, they were at least sixteen or seventeen years old. No matter what, it was impossible for them to be completely flat-chested. Definitely a bro, no doubt about it!