Chapter 2395: Foundation
"Hey, do I look like that kind of person?" Tianming defensively said after Lin Lingxiao left.
"You do indeed," Feiling said, sneaking a smirk.
"Dammit... I'll discipline you on the spot, you hear?" he grumbled.
"Oh? Well, come on, then!" Feiling giggled before disappearing into the reges mundi level.
Other things aside, her playful and mischievous streak annoyed him quite a bit sometimes. "Just you wait!" He charged inside right behind her.
After entering, he felt a huge difference between this level and the previous two. The others had bright, starry skies above, but there was nary a light in the reges mundi level. It was as black as pitch. Tianming couldn't even see Feiling.
"Big Brother, are there perhaps no caeli in here? It's so dark!" Feiling asked. She shuffled back to his side and wrapped her arms around his.
"There is! However, the cultivation of the previous reges mundi had exceeded the Cosmic Cartography stage. Their caeli and order changed to a new phase which can't be seen by us. However, if we feel it with our hearts and try to reach out and gain their recognition, their caeli will reveal themselves to us," Tianming smoothly explained.
"Is that so.... Does that have anything to do with what your hand’s doing?" Her voice sounded shaky in the darkness.
"Ling'er, do you know what the stage of these previous reges mundi is called? It's said that the stage could be the final form any advanced cosmic deity can aspire to reach! That's the basis of why they're called reges mundi!"
"Got it. Now get your naughty hand away from me." To think that Tianming had been offended by Lin Lingxiao's implication moments before.
"What? You don't even know that? Then let me enlighten you! That stage is called Foundation. So, tell me, do you know how it's so different from the Cosmic Cartography stage?" Tianming continued his proud lecture, ignoring her protests.
"Get your... hand away... Hnng...."
"Actually... I don't know either! But it's said that clues to that lie in their caeli, which is why I've been looking forward to this for a long time. Do you remember? The order within the caelum in the Order stage is shaped like a spherical honeycomb briquette. During the Cosmic Cartography stage, it looks like a hive that contains the ordo. That's already impressive in its own right. So what in the world does the Foundation refer to? Guess we'll find out!"
"I know all that! Tianming! The seniors' caeli are around us! Your hand! Hey!" Her embarrassment and anger were building up at the same time; how could someone so shameless exist?
"Ahem...." Tianming pulled his black hand back and cleared his throat as if nothing had happened. Then he pulled her deeper into the darkness. There was a slight gray glow near the entrance which they could use to find their way back.
"The word 'Foundation' has a character that represents 'earth' and one that represents 'order' in it. Does 'earth' really refer to the dirt on the ground, or the concept of the wider world? It’s often said that all life is built on the foundation of the earth, after all," he continued the lecture. [1]
Feiling slapped his hand away. "I know what 'earth' represents."
"You do? Then tell me."
"It means your flirting needs to be more down to earth and sensible. You're too cringey."
"My destiny is mine to control! If you want to stop me, you'll have to try harder than that."
"Snap out of it and see if you can communicate with the caeli of the reges mundi." Feiling pinched his arm before moving away. She also needed the caeli to become an astral god.
"Ling'er, you can't do it without me! Given my character, the reges mundi caeli will definitely come for me first." Just as Tianming said that, he felt a rumble not far away behind him. "What?"
He turned to look and saw the entire level illuminated with blinding starlight. A gigantic white star that endlessly stretched on appeared before his eyes. The light was so intense that he could barely keep his eyes open. He felt like that star was as large as Ebonia itself.
"Ling'er?" He watched as she got sucked into the white star in an instant. After that, the white star completely vanished, leaving nothing but still silence. The contrast almost made Tianming blind.
"I felt the power of space and the sword. It must be the Unisword Goddess, Lin Xiaozhi's caelum!" He took a deep breath. "Dammit, I got shown up by her."
He had thought that it would be easy for him to commune with the two reges mundi whose techniques he had obtained, yet Feiling didn't even take more than a few moments to do it. "Well, it's my turn. I’ll definitely succeed. How can someone as pure as me not?"
He cleared his throat and began looking for caeli. One day passed, then two, and three.... "Huh?" He was completely dumbfounded. "It can't be.... How can I be ignored by every single rex mundi? Someone of my character?"
He felt like crying, but the tears wouldn’t flow. "Well, Ling'er's forte is related to spacetime, so that's probably why she was able to instantly connect with Lin Xiaozhi's caelum. I guess the reges mundi caeli here are all rather picky."
At the thought of that, he took out the Grand-Orient Sword and held it in his left arm. "Looks like I have to be targeted in my search. Let's go for the Grandsword Voidfiend.... I mean, the Grandvoid Swordfiend!" That was a legendary figure that belonged to the second branch. With the Grandvoid Compendium, he had reigned supreme! Even the first move of his technique, Delayed Capture, was terrifying enough.
Tianming took a deep breath and began practicing his swordsmanship, clearing his mind of everything. "Hmm, the dark environment here really helps me focus. I'm able to perceive Delayed Capture much better." He executed the move again and again. Eventually, he forgot the flow of time and even forgot that he was in the reges mundi level.
"Phew! Looks like I still have room to improve for this move. I still don't have order, so I'm not able to use it to its full potential. But I wonder.... Will using it with totems make it even more effective...?"
The speed of his sword continued increasing as he was mired in deep thought. Like a flash of black light, he projected images of the sword in this pitch-black world.
All of a sudden, he started back into focus when he felt someone looking at him from behind. They seemed to have been there for quite a while. Is that an assassin?! He abruptly turned back, cold sweat forming on his back.
1. 垿 is translated as foundation. It's made up of 'earth' 土 and 'order' 序. 👈
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