Chapter 85: 85. Old Habits Die Hard

Han De felt he could accomplish a lot today. The meeting with Tan Renshu was a huge boon to his confidence.

Even if the accountant patriarch could only achieve a quarter of the larger plan, Han De would gain an amazing place to 'enter secluded cultivation' in the future. If he could survive until the locals developed a modern-ish society, he would never have to worry about content ever again!

Now all he needed was to make sure to support the Tan family when S#$% inevitably hits the fan after sects realize what had happened. But that was something for his lackeys to worry about.

'It is quite fortunate that most, if not all of the high-level monsters have already left. Hmm…'

Han De realized he might have raised a flag just now. However, he didn't lose his calm. All he needed to do was to evict any and all cultivators that are above the Immortal Realm. There was no need to pollute his backyard with nonsense.

Having the control of a frickin' planetary seal was truly convenient.

"Disable the seal now."

|Young master, this servant is useless. The ancient world array is beyond this servant's understanding…|

'…'

It took Han De a few seconds to register what Sebastian had said. He looked back and narrowed his eyes at the mini-sized leviathan.

Sebastian's reply was immediate, but it had already mulled over his words to find the most concise and accurate answer possible.

|These ancient arrays were made by a primordial being of great cultivation. This useless servant can only read the signs left by those creators.|

Han De controlled his facial expressions and successfully prevented his mouth from dropping.

'…Not good. Not good at all…'

The meeting with Tan Renshu was far shorter than the first, and that meant the residual calming effect of the sacrificial chambers was almost gone. There was a slight feeling of concern that slowly started to creep in.

'Scenario #1. I get stuck here with limited resources. I take out or deal with powerful sects, and live a happy life with a bunch of locally grown disciples. Risky, but doable.

Scenario #2. My family somehow realizes I'm here and destroys the planet to get to me. Literally begging for an MC to appear and kill me for revenge. Certain death.

Scenario #3. I cram all of the array knowledge in my head and try to work it out. Useless. If a higher being like Sebastian can't understand it, then there is no chance for me to figure it out with a bunch of standard array scriptures. Wishful thinking.

Scenario #4. Indirectly ask Sebastian to study the array and find a non-destructive way to disable it. Directly asking is out of the question…'

Han De considered the pros and cons of each scenario and even created sub-scenarios based on his previous contingency plans. In the end, he decided to try both #1 and the subtle version of #4. He looked at the sky and muttered with a mild sigh.

"Using this body to interact with the array… So…"

By the time he shook his head disapprovingly, the calming effect was completely over.

Sebastian had teleported him to a nearby grassy plain outside the city. Han De hadn't specified a location; he simply wanted a cool exit at the time. Now that he was outside, feeling the warmth of the sun, and generally not knowing what to do, Han De noticed something. Something.

'Wait, sunlight?'

There was starlight as well. Han De's cultivator eyes could see stars even in broad daylight. This was very convenient for divinations, because Han De's divination scripture, the Immortal Sentinel Scripture relied completely on starlight as its medium.

Recognizing the age and the distance of a star was the basis of the Immortal Sentinel scripture. And the stars he was seeing right now, didn't look fake. If this wasn't real starlight, then Han De wasn't a grandmaster!

'Since when did I become this stupid. If an ancient freak can create an entire world from arrays, he can make realistic-looking starlight. The end.'

Han De inadvertently frowned as he struggled with his grandmaster divination intuition. In the end, he decided to ask Sebastian. This was more important than keeping up appearances!

However, Han De the Earthling couldn't simply accept asking the question in a straightforward manner. He kept staring at the stars, but now his eyes appeared as if he had lost interest. As if he had remembered a distant memory, but realized it was just that. A distant memory. A moment later he finally asked the question and followed with a slightly bitter smile.

"Hmm. Sebastian, how many star clusters does this array hold?"

This was the 'Asking Out of Habit Rather Than Curiosity' move. It took constant practice to maintain the 'habit' part of the facade.

|…|

This was a difficult to answer question for Sebastian. Anything could be called a star cluster; the phrase was too vague. However, looking at the young master's expression and body language, Sebastian decided it was best to assume the largest definition, but answer without specifying its assumption. That way it could be seen as it had grasped some of its young master's meaning, without coming off as presumptuous.

Unfortunately, Sebastian spotted a problem right away. Light was information, and previously it said no information could go in or out of the seal. Sebastian was a leviathan, it didn't care for stars, or world arrays. The word information was based on context. Obviously, the young master took the leviathan at its word and assumed this was a far larger array, but their context was completely different!

|…|

Sebastian suddenly felt enlightened. Could an array of that size exist? Of course not. At that size, it would compete with the Heavens.

|…|

Did the young master mean breaking through the heavens? After deeply thinking about it, Sebastian thought this line of thought could be right. Unfortunately, it had only recently become a higher being. Surpassing the universe itself was simply unthinkable for a newly ascended higher being. Perhaps he could create a new one but…

|…|

A misunderstanding of this size had to be resolved now, rather than to let it cause a huge disappointment in the future. Sebastian thought the risk was too great to ignore.

|…|

Meanwhile, Han De was doing his best to keep his calm.

'Why the F#$% isn't he answering?!'

Sebastian's thoughts only lasted five seconds. But those five whole seconds felt like an eternity to Han De, who had gotten used to Sebastian's always immediate replies.

|Young master, this servant is useless. The seal in question only encompasses a solitary star. This servant has made a mistake, and begs for punishment.|

Han De was a little taken aback, but he nodded anyway and spoke with disinterest.

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"It is good to admit one's mistakes. I will decide your punishment later…"

Sebastian's chin touched the ground once again, though Han De stopped paying attention to it. The leviathan was convinced that it had made the correct call. The young master didn't refuse to give punishment! If Sebastian had lungs, it would've sighed with relief.

Naturally, Han De didn't have any intentions to dish out punishment to a higher being. He hadn't lost his mind just yet. He couldn't wait to conveniently forget about it in the future and never mention it ever again!

The bigger problem was, Sebastian hadn't answered Han De's question.

'Ugh, I should've just asked about it normally. S#$%…'

Han De the Divination Grandmaster truly regretted taking a roundabout approach. In theory, he could try to divine anyway, but if the stars were fake, doing so would be too embarrassing and suspicious in front of Sebastian.

'I guess even if light could go through, sending a message that way is impossible. Who would know how to listen to Morse code made of concentrated light beams?

No, it's better to proceed with the Hidden Top Dog plan.'

Han De decided to start with his lair, right after he tested his new abilities.

"Bring some human-sized rocks and put them over there."

Han De gave a glance at a nearby spot and started inspecting his status windows. He didn't forget to 'mutter' under his breath.

"Just how weak this body can be…"

* * *

With the knowledge he had from the modified scriptures and spells, Han De knew that there wasn't any reason to modify them. He also more or less guessed that he was aware of this fact during the enlightenment. What he needed back then was a cultivation method, but for some reason, he did in fact modify nearly all of his spells and scriptures.

Han De could decay the Primordial Light Qi into regular Light Qi anytime he wanted. This was obvious from his cultivation method alone. The process wasn't hard, nor complicated. Though their effects differed, the so-called Primordial Light Qi was a different version of Light Qi in the end.

'Well, there wasn't much to modify anyway. 3 spells and 5 scriptures aren't anything to write home about.'

[Immortal Bastion (Mortal II)]
[Power: Extremely Weak]
[Comprehension: Grandmaster]
[Minimum Cultivation: Early-Stage Foundation Establishment]
[Effects: Creates a barrier made out of light.]

Han De never had a chance to use this basic, but spammable shield spell. Due to increased comprehension, he could now change the shape of the shield to a great degree. Before he could only make a bigger or smaller round shield, now he could make a sphere, a dome, or even a cube. Increased understanding of the spell technique also allowed him to make certain sections thinner or thicker.

'Basically, now I can make the shield much tougher in certain sections while using the same amount of Qi.'

All of Han De's knowledge about power levels of major realms came from the cultivation idiot. If this was a Core Formation level shield, he could gauge its effects with some accuracy. But since the spell had Nascent Soul level power behind it now…

'That looks sturdy holy S#$%...'

A Nascent Soul realm expert could spot the locations where the shield was thicker or thinner, and adjust their attacks accordingly. But this fact couldn't deter Han De's enthusiasm. Perhaps the random shield spell he picked up ended up being a hidden gem, after all. Maybe. Probably.

'No, no. Wait. This smells like an MC-level development. Let's not be too hasty.'

The effect of the Primordial Light Qi was difficult to spot at first. Before, maintaining the shield spell had some ongoing Qi cost, otherwise it would disappear after half a minute on its own. There was a reason this spell was so simple! With Primordial Light Qi though, once Han De created a shield, it would stay there on its own without deteriorating. After thinking for a while, Han De understood the reasoning.

'Primordial Light Qi is much more stable than regular variations of Light Qi. Once it takes shape with a spell, it'll stay there without outside stimuli.'

Han De nearly whistled after thinking about the applications. If the barrier could stay stable for extended periods of time, he could build layers upon layers of shields as long as he had enough spiritual power. His realm didn't matter! Each shield was basically a free, single-use defensive formation.

Seeing was believing. Han De continued his experimentations. Against all odds, Immortal Bastion was really worth wasting Enlightenment time on.

[Golden Spark (Mortal II)]
[Power: Extremely Weak]
[Comprehension: Grandmaster]
[Minimum Cultivation: Early-Stage Foundation Establishment]
[Effects: Heals minor wounds.]

If the Immortal Bastion was a hidden gem, this spell was hidden garbage. Han De had picked it up with lofty expectations, but it turned out to be a great disappointment due to his constitution.

That was all in the past now though…

[Can passively absorb all types of Light Qi that comes in contact.]

Utter garbage had turned into a Cinderella by the grace of the almighty Otherworldly Light Body constitution. The emphasis was on the word 'Can', which was missing in Luminescent Body. The always active absorption feature could now be turned off!

Han De didn't even need to make a cut anywhere on his body. He felt the restorative effects of the Golden Spark spiritual spell as long as he turned off the absorb mode of his constitution!

The amount of healing medicine he had wasted since he returned was too painful to think about. He had hundreds of filthy-rich grade panaceas still, but from now on they were listed under emergency resources. The days of swallowing a panacea for a papercut were no more. The days of spamming Golden Spark had arrived.

The healing spell was still simple. It didn't regenerate limbs or organs. The amount of healing was determined by the body's constitution and the amount of Primordial Light Qi provided to the spell. Although it had the potential to scale with Han De's cultivation up to the Ancient Realm, its overall usefulness would come to an end long before that. The wounds of a Nascent Soul 'disciple' and an Ancient Realm expert were completely different in nature.

Overall, this wasn't a good investment, but still a good short-term solution. Han De gave it a solid B-.

[Heavenly Gaze (Mortal II)]
[Power: Extremely Weak]
[Comprehension: Grandmaster]
[Minimum Cultivation: Early-Stage Foundation Establishment]
[Effects: Generates heat at a small spot through concentration of light. Range depends on the amount of Primordial Light Qi.]

After the modifications, the previous spell's cultivation requirement was lowered, but for some reason, this one was increased from the 5th Stage of the Qi Condensation realm to the Early-Stage of the Foundation Establishment.

A few minutes later, Han De was puzzled. There wasn't any notable change on this spell at all. The sentence about the range wasn't there before, but that was already a feature of the spell.

Like before, whenever the spell hit the rocks, there was an explosion caused by the vaporization of the rock from rapid superheating. A physical reaction rather than a mystical one.

The grandmaster level comprehension allowed him to optimize and pre-optimize the usage of the spell. He could form the spell structure faster, and prime multiple output points ahead of time. Through the usage of Primordial Light Qi, he could also form a simple structure outside of his body and activate the spell with a timer, or via his spiritual sense.

The bonuses gained were superficial because the Heavenly Gaze was a beginner spell. It was extremely simple by design. There wasn't much power to gain by increasing one's comprehension of it.

'It is still good for intimidation and wow factor I guess.'

One of the reasons why Han De wanted to re-test was to figure out whether or not he was missing something. Aside from the minor surprise from Primordial Light Qi being more stable, everything was as he had expected.

'MC level development my A#$...'

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