Divine Resonance of the Mirror Realm

"So, did you get everything?" Astoria asked as she crossed her legs as if to portray herself as a stern teacher.

Raiden nodded, but he still had questions.

"You mentioned the realms' names and all, but you forgot to mention how many stages each has," Raiden pointed out.

"Oh, that? My bad, I forgot." Astoria genuinely forgot about that. It was her first time teaching such a subject. There were bound to be mishaps, "Other than the Soul Embryo Realm, which has nine stages, the other four have four, namely, early, middle, late, and the peak of the realm."

"What about the Soul Embryo Realm? You said that this realm determines your future potential. Can you go above nine stages and perhaps make your potential higher?" Raiden was indeed a special youngster and was able to ask some good questions.

"Not that I know of." Astoria was uncertain. From Rictoli's memories, she had an answer, which was no; she knew better than anyone that there was always a bigger fish, a mountain beyond the mountain. So, while her known reality said no, she was a bit hesitant to agree so easily. Still, she mentioned this to Raiden.

"While I don't know if you can go through more than nine stages, I don't see the point in doing so. Think of the Soul Embryo Realm as if you were building a staircase, and each step you place is the same as if you were to advance a stage. Sure, you can make a bigger staircase by having more steps, but if your steps are big enough, then it doesn't really matter. The end height will be the same," Astoria said, explaining her thoughts.

She didn't want to give a firm, objective answer because answers like that could easily be proven wrong. So she decided to be more abstract, despite it not being a good answer. However, Raiden liked the theoretical answer very much, nodded with an understanding expression, and didn't ask any more questions.

"Since you don't have any more questions about the first few realms, my job here is done for now." Astoria said, "Take this jade slip and place it on your forehead. It will transmit to you my immortal-level soul cultivation technique. But do note, my understanding of it is superficial at most, so I cannot answer all of your questions."

Astoria thought of herself as someone in the Child Soul realm, but actually, she didn't really have a Child Soul Realm cultivation base. Rather, she just absorbed a great amount of Soul Essence without converting it.

If cultivation was building a large tower that could pierce the skies, then Astoria just had all the raw materials needed to build a Child Soul Realm tall tower. 

She didn't have the time to read the immortal-level soul cultivation technique that Rictoli left and, following the previous example, did not read the blueprint her tower would follow. 

Thankfully, there was a rare moment of peace right now, and for the foreseeable future, so Astoria planned to comprehend the soul cultivation technique and convert her Soul Essence into a more powerful and substantial cultivation base.

So, after giving Raiden some words of encouragement, she vanished, appearing back in the immortal ring. Then, after pulling out a jade slip similar to the one she had just given to Raiden, Astoria began her first studying session in this new world.

—

The immortal-level soul cultivation technique Astoria had learned from Rictoli was named Divine Resonance of the Mirror Realm.

An extremely difficult technique to not just cultivate but to start even. Even after Astoria opened her upper dantian she still had a huge task in front of her to do before she could start: Establish a connection with a different dimension called the Mirror Realm.

Astoria wasn't foreign to alternate dimensions. Her old home, Terra, had more than a few small pocket dimensions that were used for agriculture, industrial, and water plants. 

However, those lifeless landscapes couldn't sustain life without billions or even trillions of Terrain Currency worth of money. 

But the Mirror Realm wasn't a pocket dimension and nothing like the ones Astoria was used to.

The Mirror Realm was an entire, separate and foreign dimension with its own laws, rules, and special creatures, not dissimilar to the Immortal Realm, the Netherworld, Hell, and so on. Those were where the similarities ended.

In every other manner, the Mirror Realm was its own being.

Unlike the Immortal Realm above or the Netherworld and Hell below, the Mirror Realm was, just like its name said, a mirror. Everything that was in the Nine Desolate Domains had a copy in the mirror world.

Whether it be Astoria, Raiden, or even the house Raiden was living in right now, there was another version of it in the Mirror Realm.

However, because of the realm's obscurity and reclusive nature, not much else was known about it. 

Some people thought that heart demons were just your Mirror Realm counterpart trying to take over your body and invade the real world.

Others thought that the Mirror Realm was a parallel universe that served no large purpose, while some ignored the entire dimension completly.

The truth was, though, no one truly knew what it was.

Even Life and Death Seal Realm powerhouses couldn't break into the place. So how could other, weaker cultivators possibly know?

Thankfully, even if Astoria didn't know what the Mirror Realm's true purpose was, Rictoli's scroll had more than enough information on how to establish a connection with it.

Upper realms like the Immortal or Divine Realm that Astoria knew of could only be ascended to by reaching the limit of their mortal realm and passing one final trial. But the Mirror Realm was very different.

There was no way to enter that realm.

The only way to enter it was to break in or reincarnate in the place forcibly. 

Astoria didn't want to die again so early and take a gamble with her next reincarnation, so her only option right now was to break in.

Thankfully, after reading the information on the scroll more thoroughly, she realized that she didn't need her entire body to enter. A small strand of her soul was enough.

Floating down to the ground and adopting a comfortable curled up position, Astoria began her first attempt to connect with the Mirror Realm.

—-

"Take a deep breath, then calm your mind to absolute tranquility. Only when your thoughts are clear, and your mind is empty, will you see through the illusion." Astoria repeated the words she read from the jade slip, only for her brows to furrow. "What the f*ck does that mean?"

The words were nicely written and beautiful, but after rereading it a few times and thinking about it, Astoria was still as confused as ever.

"Isn't it just telling me to concentrate hard? What the hell is the point of all those fluff words? Are word quotas a thing in this world too?" Astoria was confused beyond belief, but since the jade slip was her only help, she was forced to follow its directions.

Astoria took a deep and heavy breath, even though she didn't have lungs, and began to calm her mind. She quickly grew bored, and time began to go by at a snail's pace, but soon, Astoria realized, slowly but surely, the intrusive thoughts and the random nonsense in her mind began fading away.

Before Astoria knew it, she felt like she had reached the second step. Her thoughts were clear, and her mind was empty; now, she only needed to see through whatever the illusion was.

But even with clarity filling her mind and time passed quicker than ever, nothing ever came. No sudden enlightenment, nothing illusion-like, nothing at all, and because of this, Astoria was as confused as ever.

Eventually, Astoria could no longer ignore the stray thoughts and the clarity left, but not before she felt something different.

"Though it might've been because I was meditating for so long, I could've sworn I saw something flicker," Astoria mumbled to herself as she opened her eyes. 

The second before she decided to stop this first cultivation session, Astoria saw something odd in the corner of her vision. If it weren't for her decently high cultivation base and new form, she wouldn't have seen it, but even though she did, she still didn't think it was something.

However, since this soul cultivation technique was mysterious, Astoria kept the experience in mind before she stood back up.

She didn't know how much time had passed while she was meditating and wanted to see how her disciple was doing.

With a thought, Astoria disappeared from the immortal ring and appeared back in Raiden's hut. There, she saw the boy sitting cross-legged on his bed, but rather than meditating like she was, he was asleep. He had fallen asleep in the middle of his cultivation session.

"It had been a long day for him. It's a miracle that he even tried to cultivate and didn't just fall asleep." Astoria thought to herself.

Raiden had been on the run from those Foundation Establishment Realm assassins for days, and then after all of that, encountered the even more terrifying Astoria, and to top it all off, was given an immortal level soul cultivation technique. For a mortal without a cultivation base, it was already a miracle that he had stayed awake for that long and still had the endurance to cultivate.

His tenacity and determination only further reinforced Astoria's guess that Raiden was a child of fate. 

Still, the sun had been up for a long time by now, and Raiden had to face the new day. So, without any guilt, Astoria made a pillow float and sent it flying at the boy's sleeping face, knocking him backward and waking him up.

"I'm up!" Raiden shouted instinctually as he fell backward. Very quickly, he composed himself and saw Astoria looking at him weirdly.

Embarrassed, he tried to explain himself.

"My mother used to use the same method to wake me up. You just reminded me of her for a moment." Raiden said as he hopped off of his bed.

"So what? You think I'm your mother now?" Astoria replied, "Call me mommy, then."

Stun-locked, Raiden didn't know how to respond for a second.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every little thing helps - https://ko-fi.com/slarbi123.

There is now a discord for this novel. However, be warned. It is rather bare bones. I suck at Discord. The link is in the synopsis.

Also, if you like this novel, you can check out my others!