As Rand in his new attire made his way to the exit of the Outer Sect Repository building, he drew the gazes of those around him. It was rare to see someone in the sect walking around not in the usual robe but in heavy plate armor. Such attire was popular in the knightly orders of the empire and in some areas of the capital, where again it was predominantly worn by knights. However, in the rest of the empire, seeing someone in such armor outside of battle was quite unusual.
But the gawking stares, filled with emotions ranging from surprise to disdain, meant nothing to Rand. He had been accustomed to constant attention since childhood and had learned to completely ignore it. Instead, he pondered his new acquisition, weighing all its pros and cons.
"Perhaps the initial reason this artifact caught my attention among all the others was largely due to nostalgia. But even after completely setting that aside, this armor still remains a good choice that covers all my current protective needs.
Although it is not without serious flaws, such as the fact that only the outer shell, made of valuable metal, remains of the working artifact in the armor… And even that is not without imperfections, having suffered damage and undergone subpar repairs. The built-in armor techniques were completely destroyed due to excessive use and restoring them would be very difficult and so costly that repairs would be only slightly cheaper than buying a completely new set of similar armor. Moreover, even the ability to reinforce the armor's structure with Qi is damaged and limited, making it quite inefficient. Essentially, it's just a fairly durable piece of metal armor without any additional useful functions, likely inferior in many ways to a high-quality ordinary magical artifact.
Also one must not forget about the pendant artifact I have to wear along with the armor for the next few weeks. It constantly consumes a small amount of my Qi, creating an unpleasant sensation like an insect sucking your blood, and it cannot be removed. All this for the sake of imitating an almost useless spiritual sense that cannot extend more than a couple of meters from me. And this isn't the only problem with this counterfeit; it can't perform most functions of a true cultivator's spiritual sense. For instance, it won't let me sense if someone is observing me or talk to anyone with its help... This poor imitation only allows for attaching artifacts and gives a general sense of the area within three meters around me...
However, the armor does have a plus that outweighs all its minuses, making even the temporary wearing of the pendant not so unpleasant. Unlike most artifacts that provide impressive protection through techniques, this armor will offer nearly the same level of protection without requiring any energy from the practitioner, allowing more Qi to be used for attacks. Purely because of the valuable metal it is made from, the armor will protect its wearer. Moreover, I can wear Byron's gifted robe, which is a peak magical artifact, underneath it. Since the armor has almost no working formations, their protective functions will not conflict, and they can work effectively together."
Lost in these thoughts, Rand made the long journey through the sect to Byron's house, which jutted out from the cliff. As soon as Rand was within fifty meters of the building, the front door opened, and a young-looking woman, who served as elder Byron’s maid, stepped out. She cast a surprised glance at Rand, walking in armor, but even in such attire and with his visor down, she recognized him without difficulty.
"Young master Oberin, welcome back. I’m glad to see you."
"Hello, Martha," Rand replied somewhat familiarly to her greeting. Although this maid had cultivation at the Foundation Establishment stage, she was not part of the Fire Dragon Sect, so Rand was not obligated to address her respectfully or add "senior" before her name. Moreover, as Byron’s servant, her status was significantly lower than Rand’s, being her lord’s disciple.
"Lord Byron informed me of your visit today, but he is currently cultivating on one of the underground floors and, unfortunately, cannot meet you right now. As far as I know, he will finish his current cultivation session in about an hour. I can offer you to wait for him in your room, or if you prefer, you can go straight to the dining hall, and I will serve you lunch."
"I’ll wait for the master in the dining hall; I haven’t eaten much today," Rand promptly replied to her suggestion.
"As you wish, young master, follow me," Martha said, turning and heading towards the house. But halfway there, she paused for a moment as if listening to someone, then said to Rand, "Lady Moraine wishes to join you for lunch. I hope this won't inconvenience you."
"No, of course not. I’m always happy to dine with the master's lovely daughter," Rand replied, realizing that Martha and Moraine had just communicated, meaning the girl’s spiritual sense covered this area, and she could hear him perfectly.
"During our first meeting, I didn’t pay much attention to it, but now I realize that this Moraine is showing significantly more interest in me than normal. Perhaps I can use this to my advantage? Although old Byron is unlikely to harm me in the near future, the way he accepted me as a disciple and his attitude towards me gives me a bad feeling.
Byron's true plans for me are still unknown, and finding them out directly will be nearly impossible, as he is too old and experienced to accidentally reveal something he doesn’t want to talk about. But learning some information through his less experienced and young daughter, who might know at least part of her father’s plans... There’s a chance with such a plan, especially considering her overt desire to communicate with me. And even if she knows nothing, such a relationship with his daughter would give me some leverage over him. So, it’s decided, I need to try to get closer to her and behave in a way that makes her increasingly interested in me. Then, in the future, she might be willing to share her most intimate secrets with me or even go against her father... But I mustn't rush to ‘befriend’ her; it’s better to act gradually, as chasing quick results usually leads only to failure.
And the main advantage of such a plan is that even if I fail, it’s not a big deal; the only consequence is wasted time. I also need to stay vigilant and remember the possibility that getting closer to Moraine could be part of Byron’s unknown plan. I must watch her behavior, and if it becomes overly unnatural, then...”
As Rand pondered this, he followed Martha quickly to the dining hall. Upon arrival, the maid left him alone, mentioning that she would fetch lunch and return shortly. When Rand asked about Moraine's arrival time, she informed him that the young lady would join him in a few minutes.
As soon as Martha left, Rand lifted the visor of his helmet and sat at the table. Fully removing the helmet was somewhat problematic due to the armor’s design and the lack of a binding, and even if he did manage it, it would cause unnecessary delays in binding the artifact, as the armor was a single unit, and only when all parts were together could the binding occur. Once it was completed, any difficulties in removing and donning the armor would disappear.
About a minute later, Martha returned and set out the food and two sets of cutlery before leaving Rand again. After another five minutes, a beautiful young girl, Moraine, entered the dining hall. She was dressed in a fiery red outfit, a mix between the sect’s traditional robes and a dress.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, junior brother," Moraine said in an apologetic tone.
"It’s no problem, senior sister. The last few days have been quite tough, so I was actually glad to sit and rest for a bit."
"Yes, the past ten days must have been quite grueling for you. In the beginning, cultivation was very taxing and exhausting for me too, and only thanks to my father’s persistence did I continue cultivating through the pain... but over time, I got used to it and even started to enjoy it... Speaking of my father, he won’t be here for another forty minutes. We thought you’d spend a bit more time choosing a technique and artifact. And regarding the latter, your choice surprised me. A damaged imitation of imperial legion armor that used to be of spiritual rank, if I’m not mistaken. I also see you acquired a pendant that imitates spiritual sense, allowing you to bind this armor to yourself," the girl commented on Rand's acquisition.
"Yes, Master asked me to choose something related to protection. Since I already have a robe that uses my energy when activated, I thought it would be better to get something that doesn’t consume my Qi, as I still don’t have much of it."
"A wise decision. Besides, the armor looks good on you; it makes you appear more masculine,” Moraine said, casting a critical glance from head to toe before adding, "You even look better than usual in it."
After her words, an awkward silence hung between the two young people, which Rand broke:
"Moraine," he deliberately omitted the proper address of senior sister, "tell me more about yourself."
For the next forty minutes, the young man and the girl conversed on various topics, but although Moraine didn’t notice, she did most of the talking while Rand only asked leading questions. Moraine talked about her past: her mother, who left them when she was still an infant, growing up almost alone, the difficult first year on the cultivation path...
The conversation might have continued for much longer, but at that moment, Byron entered the hall, exuding a real tangible heat as if he had just emerged from a volcano. The room’s temperature rose sharply, but it remained bearable for the cultivators. Seeing the two young people talking carefree, Byron smiled broadly, but his eyes showed no joy.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Oberin. I expected you to come a bit later. Hmm, quite an odd look you have, my disciple. I see you followed my advice and chose a protective artifact. Well done, and your armor suits you quite well, it's just a pity that in it you do remind me of those inferior knights of the emperor."
"Master, why do you consider them inferior?" Rand asked, outwardly calm.
"That’s a rather complex question, disciple... In short, I consider them inferior not because of their excessive love for armor or something like that, but because of their attitude towards life and the path to immortality. You see, true cultivators like us have no absolute ruler, no monarch who decides how we live and die. We are our own masters and shape our destiny ourselves. Even our sect master does not have absolute power over us. The knights, however... they have handed over their will and future to someone else. Without their superior’s permission, they can’t even advance from one stage of cultivation to another. Such an attitude towards life and cultivation, I find shameful and deficient."
"You old bastard, putting yourself and your sect on a pedestal, but you’re not much different from the knights. Without the sect’s permission, you wouldn’t have received the resources to reach the Core Formation stage. And I’d like to see you tell sect master Elendil that he doesn’t have absolute authority over you… I wonder how long you’d live after that," Rand thought. The elder’s words both slightly angered and amused him, but his face remained impassive.
"Well, I could talk about this for a long time, as I’ve discussed this topic with other elders more than once. If you wish, we can talk more about it later. For now, I need to reward you for your excellent performance in the competition. According to the rules, as your master, I’m allowed to reward you for achieving first place. Here, take these two hundred spirit stones. It’s not much, but I think they will be useful to you," Byron said, pulling a small pouch filled with stones from his ring.
"Thank you, Master. I will find a worthy use for them, " Rand thanked him, placing the pouch into his spatial artifact.
"It’s nothing. Now, I need to tell you about an event and that’s the main reason I called you here today, and of which you will relatively soon be a part. I’ll tell you about many things now, some of which may seem unclear because you’ve only recently started cultivating and are still inexperienced. When I finish, feel free to ask any questions about what you didn’t understand. Alright?" Seeing Rand nod, the elder continued:
"Excellent. I also need to mention an important detail, as my story will be about something that used to be a closely guarded sect secret. Although after a recent information leak, this secret has become almost ‘open,’ it’s still better not to spread it unnecessarily." After getting Rand’s agreement to keep what he heard to himself, Byron finally began his tale:
"Perhaps it's worth starting with the fact that a few years ago when one of our disciples discovered an anomalous place with a stable spatial rift. I won’t go into details about what a ‘spatial rift’ is, as it’s too early for you to know that. I’ll just say that this disciple reported his finding to his superior, who then informed the sect master. Powerful experts from our sect were sent to study it. During their investigation, they determined that the spatial rift was once the entrance to a so-called ‘Minor World.’ I’ll explain what that is because it’s important.
To put it simply, a Minor World is like the space in your ring, only much, much larger and more complex. It has land ground under your feet, air, and Qi. It even has a semblance of day and night. Thanks to these conditions, true life can develop there. Essentially, a ‘Minor World’ isn’t much different from the world we live in, except for its significantly smaller size and a few minor details. That’s where its peculiar name comes from.
After discovering the abandoned entrance to the Minor World, our sect decided to restore it to gain access to this space and use it for the sect’s benefit. However, several serious problems arose during the attempt. In its heyday, even practitioners beyond the Nascent Soul stage could likely enter this Minor World, but now it can’t support anyone above the Foundation Establishment stage. If, for instance, I suddenly found myself there, my mere existence would harm that world, and it would either try to destroy me or expel me." Byron paused for a moment, and seeing Oberin’s astonished face, smiled and continued:
"Yes, Oberin, you heard correctly. When the Minor World was created, it was endowed with a soul and intelligence, probably to make it easier to manage such a vast space. Mighty cultivators are capable of such feats. But, according to our great elder's assessment, the intelligence of that world is almost dead and can only react to irritations, like intruding foreigners with too strong cultivation.
If that were the only problem, then this Minor World wouldn't concern you novices at all. We would send Foundation Establishment stage disciples instead. However, there's another complication regarding access to the Minor World. The entrance to this minor world was destroyed long ago. Our best formation masters tried to restore it, but due to the lack of precise coordinates of the Minor World 's true body, it's almost impossible to do so fully. As it stands, we have the 'door,' but the 'lock is broken,' preventing us from entering. Or rather, it used to prevent us.
After extensive research, our masters found a solution. They studied the changes in the spatial rift over time and discovered that it stabilizes periodically to a state where, with some luck, you can pass through it and not die. They then created a special formation that enhances this fleeting stable state, enabling us to pass through the broken entrance. Unfortunately, this formation can only be used by those with a sufficiently low cultivation level. While the state of the entrance-rift is relatively stable during these moments, the higher the cultivation of the person passing through, the less stable it becomes. After extensive testing, we determined that for guaranteed survival when passing through, a practitioner must be at a maximum of the fifth level of the Qi Condensation stage. If someone with a higher cultivation tries to pass, the chance of death increases exponentially with each level."
As Rand in his new attire made his way to the exit of the Outer Sect Repository building, he drew the gazes of those around him. It was rare to see someone in the sect walking around not in the usual robe but in heavy plate armor. Such attire was popular in the knightly orders of the empire and in some areas of the capital, where again it was predominantly worn by knights. However, in the rest of the empire, seeing someone in such armor outside of battle was quite unusual.
But the gawking stares, filled with emotions ranging from surprise to disdain, meant nothing to Rand. He had been accustomed to constant attention since childhood and had learned to completely ignore it. Instead, he pondered his new acquisition, weighing all its pros and cons.
"Perhaps the initial reason this artifact caught my attention among all the others was largely due to nostalgia. But even after completely setting that aside, this armor still remains a good choice that covers all my current protective needs.
Although it is not without serious flaws, such as the fact that only the outer shell, made of valuable metal, remains of the working artifact in the armor… And even that is not without imperfections, having suffered damage and undergone subpar repairs. The built-in armor techniques were completely destroyed due to excessive use and restoring them would be very difficult and so costly that repairs would be only slightly cheaper than buying a completely new set of similar armor. Moreover, even the ability to reinforce the armor's structure with Qi is damaged and limited, making it quite inefficient. Essentially, it's just a fairly durable piece of metal armor without any additional useful functions, likely inferior in many ways to a high-quality ordinary magical artifact.
Also one must not forget about the pendant artifact I have to wear along with the armor for the next few weeks. It constantly consumes a small amount of my Qi, creating an unpleasant sensation like an insect sucking your blood, and it cannot be removed. All this for the sake of imitating an almost useless spiritual sense that cannot extend more than a couple of meters from me. And this isn't the only problem with this counterfeit; it can't perform most functions of a true cultivator's spiritual sense. For instance, it won't let me sense if someone is observing me or talk to anyone with its help... This poor imitation only allows for attaching artifacts and gives a general sense of the area within three meters around me...
However, the armor does have a plus that outweighs all its minuses, making even the temporary wearing of the pendant not so unpleasant. Unlike most artifacts that provide impressive protection through techniques, this armor will offer nearly the same level of protection without requiring any energy from the practitioner, allowing more Qi to be used for attacks. Purely because of the valuable metal it is made from, the armor will protect its wearer. Moreover, I can wear Byron's gifted robe, which is a peak magical artifact, underneath it. Since the armor has almost no working formations, their protective functions will not conflict, and they can work effectively together."
Lost in these thoughts, Rand made the long journey through the sect to Byron's house, which jutted out from the cliff. As soon as Rand was within fifty meters of the building, the front door opened, and a young-looking woman, who served as elder Byron’s maid, stepped out. She cast a surprised glance at Rand, walking in armor, but even in such attire and with his visor down, she recognized him without difficulty.
"Young master Oberin, welcome back. I’m glad to see you."
"Hello, Martha," Rand replied somewhat familiarly to her greeting. Although this maid had cultivation at the Foundation Establishment stage, she was not part of the Fire Dragon Sect, so Rand was not obligated to address her respectfully or add "senior" before her name. Moreover, as Byron’s servant, her status was significantly lower than Rand’s, being her lord’s disciple.
"Lord Byron informed me of your visit today, but he is currently cultivating on one of the underground floors and, unfortunately, cannot meet you right now. As far as I know, he will finish his current cultivation session in about an hour. I can offer you to wait for him in your room, or if you prefer, you can go straight to the dining hall, and I will serve you lunch."
"I’ll wait for the master in the dining hall; I haven’t eaten much today," Rand promptly replied to her suggestion.
"As you wish, young master, follow me," Martha said, turning and heading towards the house. But halfway there, she paused for a moment as if listening to someone, then said to Rand, "Lady Moraine wishes to join you for lunch. I hope this won't inconvenience you."
"No, of course not. I’m always happy to dine with the master's lovely daughter," Rand replied, realizing that Martha and Moraine had just communicated, meaning the girl’s spiritual sense covered this area, and she could hear him perfectly.
"During our first meeting, I didn’t pay much attention to it, but now I realize that this Moraine is showing significantly more interest in me than normal. Perhaps I can use this to my advantage? Although old Byron is unlikely to harm me in the near future, the way he accepted me as a disciple and his attitude towards me gives me a bad feeling.
Byron's true plans for me are still unknown, and finding them out directly will be nearly impossible, as he is too old and experienced to accidentally reveal something he doesn’t want to talk about. But learning some information through his less experienced and young daughter, who might know at least part of her father’s plans... There’s a chance with such a plan, especially considering her overt desire to communicate with me. And even if she knows nothing, such a relationship with his daughter would give me some leverage over him. So, it’s decided, I need to try to get closer to her and behave in a way that makes her increasingly interested in me. Then, in the future, she might be willing to share her most intimate secrets with me or even go against her father... But I mustn't rush to ‘befriend’ her; it’s better to act gradually, as chasing quick results usually leads only to failure.
And the main advantage of such a plan is that even if I fail, it’s not a big deal; the only consequence is wasted time. I also need to stay vigilant and remember the possibility that getting closer to Moraine could be part of Byron’s unknown plan. I must watch her behavior, and if it becomes overly unnatural, then...”
As Rand pondered this, he followed Martha quickly to the dining hall. Upon arrival, the maid left him alone, mentioning that she would fetch lunch and return shortly. When Rand asked about Moraine's arrival time, she informed him that the young lady would join him in a few minutes.
As soon as Martha left, Rand lifted the visor of his helmet and sat at the table. Fully removing the helmet was somewhat problematic due to the armor’s design and the lack of a binding, and even if he did manage it, it would cause unnecessary delays in binding the artifact, as the armor was a single unit, and only when all parts were together could the binding occur. Once it was completed, any difficulties in removing and donning the armor would disappear.
About a minute later, Martha returned and set out the food and two sets of cutlery before leaving Rand again. After another five minutes, a beautiful young girl, Moraine, entered the dining hall. She was dressed in a fiery red outfit, a mix between the sect’s traditional robes and a dress.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, junior brother," Moraine said in an apologetic tone.
"It’s no problem, senior sister. The last few days have been quite tough, so I was actually glad to sit and rest for a bit."
"Yes, the past ten days must have been quite grueling for you. In the beginning, cultivation was very taxing and exhausting for me too, and only thanks to my father’s persistence did I continue cultivating through the pain... but over time, I got used to it and even started to enjoy it... Speaking of my father, he won’t be here for another forty minutes. We thought you’d spend a bit more time choosing a technique and artifact. And regarding the latter, your choice surprised me. A damaged imitation of imperial legion armor that used to be of spiritual rank, if I’m not mistaken. I also see you acquired a pendant that imitates spiritual sense, allowing you to bind this armor to yourself," the girl commented on Rand's acquisition.
"Yes, Master asked me to choose something related to protection. Since I already have a robe that uses my energy when activated, I thought it would be better to get something that doesn’t consume my Qi, as I still don’t have much of it."
"A wise decision. Besides, the armor looks good on you; it makes you appear more masculine,” Moraine said, casting a critical glance from head to toe before adding, "You even look better than usual in it."
After her words, an awkward silence hung between the two young people, which Rand broke:
"Moraine," he deliberately omitted the proper address of senior sister, "tell me more about yourself."
For the next forty minutes, the young man and the girl conversed on various topics, but although Moraine didn’t notice, she did most of the talking while Rand only asked leading questions. Moraine talked about her past: her mother, who left them when she was still an infant, growing up almost alone, the difficult first year on the cultivation path...
The conversation might have continued for much longer, but at that moment, Byron entered the hall, exuding a real tangible heat as if he had just emerged from a volcano. The room’s temperature rose sharply, but it remained bearable for the cultivators. Seeing the two young people talking carefree, Byron smiled broadly, but his eyes showed no joy.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Oberin. I expected you to come a bit later. Hmm, quite an odd look you have, my disciple. I see you followed my advice and chose a protective artifact. Well done, and your armor suits you quite well, it's just a pity that in it you do remind me of those inferior knights of the emperor."
"Master, why do you consider them inferior?" Rand asked, outwardly calm.
"That’s a rather complex question, disciple... In short, I consider them inferior not because of their excessive love for armor or something like that, but because of their attitude towards life and the path to immortality. You see, true cultivators like us have no absolute ruler, no monarch who decides how we live and die. We are our own masters and shape our destiny ourselves. Even our sect master does not have absolute power over us. The knights, however... they have handed over their will and future to someone else. Without their superior’s permission, they can’t even advance from one stage of cultivation to another. Such an attitude towards life and cultivation, I find shameful and deficient."
"You old bastard, putting yourself and your sect on a pedestal, but you’re not much different from the knights. Without the sect’s permission, you wouldn’t have received the resources to reach the Core Formation stage. And I’d like to see you tell sect master Elendil that he doesn’t have absolute authority over you… I wonder how long you’d live after that," Rand thought. The elder’s words both slightly angered and amused him, but his face remained impassive.
"Well, I could talk about this for a long time, as I’ve discussed this topic with other elders more than once. If you wish, we can talk more about it later. For now, I need to reward you for your excellent performance in the competition. According to the rules, as your master, I’m allowed to reward you for achieving first place. Here, take these two hundred spirit stones. It’s not much, but I think they will be useful to you," Byron said, pulling a small pouch filled with stones from his ring.
"Thank you, Master. I will find a worthy use for them, " Rand thanked him, placing the pouch into his spatial artifact.
"It’s nothing. Now, I need to tell you about an event and that’s the main reason I called you here today, and of which you will relatively soon be a part. I’ll tell you about many things now, some of which may seem unclear because you’ve only recently started cultivating and are still inexperienced. When I finish, feel free to ask any questions about what you didn’t understand. Alright?" Seeing Rand nod, the elder continued:
"Excellent. I also need to mention an important detail, as my story will be about something that used to be a closely guarded sect secret. Although after a recent information leak, this secret has become almost ‘open,’ it’s still better not to spread it unnecessarily." After getting Rand’s agreement to keep what he heard to himself, Byron finally began his tale:
"Perhaps it's worth starting with the fact that a few years ago when one of our disciples discovered an anomalous place with a stable spatial rift. I won’t go into details about what a ‘spatial rift’ is, as it’s too early for you to know that. I’ll just say that this disciple reported his finding to his superior, who then informed the sect master. Powerful experts from our sect were sent to study it. During their investigation, they determined that the spatial rift was once the entrance to a so-called ‘Minor World.’ I’ll explain what that is because it’s important.
To put it simply, a Minor World is like the space in your ring, only much, much larger and more complex. It has land ground under your feet, air, and Qi. It even has a semblance of day and night. Thanks to these conditions, true life can develop there. Essentially, a ‘Minor World’ isn’t much different from the world we live in, except for its significantly smaller size and a few minor details. That’s where its peculiar name comes from.
After discovering the abandoned entrance to the Minor World, our sect decided to restore it to gain access to this space and use it for the sect’s benefit. However, several serious problems arose during the attempt. In its heyday, even practitioners beyond the Nascent Soul stage could likely enter this Minor World, but now it can’t support anyone above the Foundation Establishment stage. If, for instance, I suddenly found myself there, my mere existence would harm that world, and it would either try to destroy me or expel me." Byron paused for a moment, and seeing Oberin’s astonished face, smiled and continued:
"Yes, Oberin, you heard correctly. When the Minor World was created, it was endowed with a soul and intelligence, probably to make it easier to manage such a vast space. Mighty cultivators are capable of such feats. But, according to our great elder's assessment, the intelligence of that world is almost dead and can only react to irritations, like intruding foreigners with too strong cultivation.
If that were the only problem, then this Minor World wouldn't concern you novices at all. We would send Foundation Establishment stage disciples instead. However, there's another complication regarding access to the Minor World. The entrance to this minor world was destroyed long ago. Our best formation masters tried to restore it, but due to the lack of precise coordinates of the Minor World 's true body, it's almost impossible to do so fully. As it stands, we have the 'door,' but the 'lock is broken,' preventing us from entering. Or rather, it used to prevent us.
After extensive research, our masters found a solution. They studied the changes in the spatial rift over time and discovered that it stabilizes periodically to a state where, with some luck, you can pass through it and not die. They then created a special formation that enhances this fleeting stable state, enabling us to pass through the broken entrance. Unfortunately, this formation can only be used by those with a sufficiently low cultivation level. While the state of the entrance-rift is relatively stable during these moments, the higher the cultivation of the person passing through, the less stable it becomes. After extensive testing, we determined that for guaranteed survival when passing through, a practitioner must be at a maximum of the fifth level of the Qi Condensation stage. If someone with a higher cultivation tries to pass, the chance of death increases exponentially with each level."
