It took twenty minutes' worth of walking. Tesla offered me some lunch. I disagreed.
I want to see a third-grade spirit vein more.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. It is currently 12:28 PM. I opened the messaging app and found Kiana's message.
[When will you come back?]
[Let's have lunch there. 1:20 PM.]
I received a reply quickly.
[OK.]
It wasn't just a text. There is also a HOMU sticker with an exaggerated thumbs up.
I am reminded of my previous world's texting habits. Things aren't abbreviated to the heavens now. I won't have to wonder what "ts pmo" meant.
Kiana with emojis low-diff.
Really.
Beep-!
We entered another gated building. The interior is similar to the building we went to first. When we headed to the elevator, Tesla held her thumb print on the 'call' button. It took three seconds.
To my surprise, a holographic projection appeared below the B8 button. She pressed on it before the elevator went downwards.
Ding-!
The elevator doors opened. The interior is made up of sleek dark blue paint. It gives off a vibe similar to Gundam's Space Stations. That's the first thing that popped to my mind.
We passed by people here and then. They wore varying outfits, though I felt they might be researchers. My gaze stopped at a certain room. Despite being separated by walls, I can feel the thick concentration of spiritual qi.
I wanted to use my spiritual consciousness to probe but chose to resist the urge. Kiana can vaguely feel a consciousness sweep. Welt, a Herrscher, might be able to feel it directly.
His physical body died, yet he "lived" inside a fragmented Herrscher Core. Such feats can only be done by Golden Core strongmen.
Then again, Herrschers could not exhibit the combat prowess of the Golden Core cultivators I know of. That's what makes honkai strange.
As expected, we stopped in front of the room. It is protected by a keypad. Its door is made of metallic substances.
There are two people inside.
Contrary to my expectations, the room looks more of a medical bay than the laboratory I envisioned.
"I brought him in."
"Oh. Greetings."
Einstein greeted me first.
"Hello."
My gaze moved towards the familiar man. Brown hair, typical features, and a pair of glasses. He is laying down a white medical bed.
The current Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, Welt Yang.
When our gazes met, he let out a helpless sigh.
"I am afraid you already recognized me. I am very sorry." He actively bowed his head in front of me. "I am the sovereign of Anti-Entropy, Welt Yang."
I let him be after his introduction. It is improper to stalk someone, more so in our meeting's context. It shows his lack of trust to me—to my imaginary background.
While I can understand him, it still feels quite bad.
Welt did not say anything else. Both Tesla and Einstein kept quiet. The room's atmosphere turned awkward.
My eyes scanned the room. I did not see any items that stood out.
Then, the source of this third grade spirit vein…
Wait.
I let out my spiritual consciousness. It split into hundreds of smaller branches.
A tiny sphere of spiritual qi gathered atop my palm. Aside from its concentration being higher than anything I ever saw, there is also a dao rhyme.
The classifications of spirit veins and spirit stones correspond with spiritual plants, from first to ninth grade. Spiritual qi has the brief classification. It also has this specific grading.
Low grade spiritual qi is at the first to second grade;
Middle grade spiritual qi is at third to fifth grade;
High grade spiritual qi is at sixth to seventh grade;
Ultimate grade spiritual qi is at eight to ninth grade.
The tenth grade...
These are the infinitely-expanding Immortal Treasures. It is far beyond me for now.
Anyways, low grade is used by Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators. It is merely an aggregate of energy.
Things change from the middle grade. Spiritual qi will contain a hint of dao rhyme. It is used to further the cultivation of Purple Mansion, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul cultivators. It is energy plus information in a nutshell—Seele has it.
There are also grades of dao rhymes.
This spiritual qi…
I have a feeling it is above the Purple Mansion.
"You are the origin of this spiritual qi?"
Welt nodded. It looks like he is waiting for my reaction.
"This is a third grade... scratch that. It looks like a fourth grade spirit vein. It is used by higher-level cultivators. Those who haven't started yet won't benefit much except the enhancement of the physical body."
To put it bluntly, health recovery is a small passive effect.
"It won't mean much… but it is probably helpful for your injuries."
"...Your eyes are very sharp." He commented.
"I was told that several times."
At this moment, the somewhat frozen atmosphere thawed out. Tesla gestured to me to sit down beside her. When I did, I saw she felt relieved.
"Before we talk about it, how did Sir Sovereign produce it?" I asked.
Welt thought for quite some time. Only the air conditioning unit made a noise.
"Are you aware of the Herrschers?"
I answered with my pre-made response.
"I was told that. They are the main reason behind strong honkai eruptions. The biggest dangers to humankind. Most importantly, they possess authorities that can alter the world."
He nodded upon hearing my response.
"I am a Herrscher. I rebelled against the honkai… and supported humanity in defeating it."
Welt placed a weird emphasis on I. Is he thinking about his predecessor?
"Herrschers can actively call forth honkai energy. We are granted control over it." He proceeded to explain further. "The [Two Phase Art] does not work on the honkai energy we control. However, it changed when I removed my control over it."
"It worked?"
"Yes. It turned into these kinds of energies with complicated information."
Sea of Quanta?
Seele has it due to her natural stigma. She has close ties with the Sea of Quanta, too.
Welt, on the other hand, is a true Herrscher with close ties to the Imaginary Tree.
It does not help that the Sea of Quanta and the Imaginary Tree are in a competitive relationship. They are conflicting in nature.
Why would they share a commonality?
It might be related to the high-dimension shenanigans they have. Their respective energies house information, and as such, was converted into middle grade spiritual qi at minimum.
I heaved a sigh.
"Neither you nor I can maximize its effects. The best we can do is to absorb them as they are."
I raised the small orb of spiritual qi in my hands. It is like a misty blue ball, except that flashes of white light appear every now and then. It freely streaked across the misty blue ball.
"To do that, you need to know about cultivation techniques."
Upon hearing this, Welt took the initiative to bring something up.
"Do you have any requests?"
I won't make it hard for them. Tesla took enough time to guide me through the Salt Lake base for two entire hours. I can see she isn't bad either; and so are Einstein and Welt.
Still, there are due payments.
"There are two things…"