Sirius slowly opened his eyes, grunting as he clutched his head.
'What… happened?' he thought with a frown as he scanned his surroundings.
He was on his bed, with Nyx sleeping peacefully beside him. Reverberating purring sounds could be heard.
Carefully, Sirius sat upright, frowning as he felt aches throughout his body. He shook his head and continued scanning his surroundings.
His room showed no signs of any conflict or struggle. It remained exactly the same, nothing out of place.
For sure, he knew something happened. But what exactly? Sirius didn't know. There were mysterious gaps in his memories he couldn't access.
Crossing his arms with eyes closed, Sirius rummaged through his sea of memories.
However, as time passed, his frown deepened.
Sirius couldn't remember anything…
'That's… weird. Did they beat me up so badly that I lost consciousness and forgot everything?'
Frustrated and bewildered, he habitually rubbed the back of his neck, only for his eyes to widen.
The necklace was gone.
"No–"
Suddenly, an incorporeal goddess materialized on his bed, floating before him.
At the same time, a flood of memories surged through his mind, accompanied by a severe headache.
Sirius gritted his teeth in pain. His eyes locked with hers. The memories unfolded one by one.
At that time, because his vision was blurry and her figure was indistinct, he couldn't see her features clearly.
'The Immortal Spirit…'
Now, everything made sense. Sirius found himself in great disbelief.
He thought he was dreaming at that time, and, feeling desperate as he was reminded of his failures, he agreed instantly.
Now…
To claim that the Immortal Spirit resembled a goddess was a grave understatement. Even if she was slightly indistinct now, the word 'goddess' barely encapsulated her grace. It was as though she existed beyond this world, untouched by mortal dust.
She possessed the temperament of a mystical fairy, with pale skin, glowing red eyes, and long, braided silver hair crowned by a golden circlet. Clad in ornate red-and-silver armor inlaid with green gems, much of her curvaceous body was exposed.
Without a doubt, the Immortal Spirit was a goddess. A real one.
Sirius forced himself to snap out of his reverie, his eyes turning serious.
"You said you'd give power… what's the price?"
Sirius wasted no time. He believed no such thing was free in this world. And even though it sounded far-fetched, Sirius was too desperate and had no choice.
Not only that, Sirius didn't bother to be cautious. If his guess was correct, then this so-called Immortal Spirit was a Fifth Realm cultivator, given her ability to project her complete spirit outside her body.
With a quick glimpse at Nyx, who was still sound asleep, Sirius confirmed his conjecture that she was able to remain undetected, even against a magical beast with keen senses.
Against such an existence, everything was futile.
"I would not give you power directly. Rather, it is the primordial artifact you once held that would give you opportunities. In the end, it is up to you, the inheritor, to risk yourself and grasp the opportunities presented to you."
Sirius was stunned. Then he frowned. 'Primordial artifact? Inheritor?'
He shook his head. Such thoughts were useless at this moment.
"But… I'm unable to cultivate." His expression turned extremely dark.
The Immortal Spirit stared at him for a moment, then replied:
"Inheritor, truth be told, it is not that you are unable to cultivate. It is just that everything you have absorbed gets transferred into the artifact. For it to remain active and protect you when needed, it naturally blocks off spiritual sense to avoid scrutiny, and absorbs spiritual energy to slowly repair itself."
His lips twitched. For a long moment, he didn't know whether to feel infuriated or overjoyed.
When he was a kid, his parents had given him this artifact as a memento. They told Sirius to keep it at all times to ward off bad spirits, though he didn't believe that. However, ever since his parents passed away, he had kept it all the time, only removing it to hide it away from those pests.
Sirius had even thought of allowing them to look at it to finally remove all suspicion. But he feared that they would still be persistent in thinking it was an anomaly, snatching it away for an even deeper investigation.
He stared at his hands for a while, feeling the once familiar sense of powerlessness slowly turning foreign. In the end, he took a defeated sigh and met her eyes again.
"My necklace—the artifact… what is it?"
"It allows you to detect bearers of connate providence, eliminate them without karmic backlash, absorb a portion of their cultivation, and seize one of their talents."
Again, Sirius was astounded beyond belief. As far as he knew, no such artifact existed in this world.
'Bearers of connate providence… aren't they the same thing as the protagonists found in fictional works? But… why?'
Shaking his head, Sirius asked another question:
"How about you… what are you? What's your purpose?"
If the artifact existed to help him grow, then what was the Immortal Spirit for?
"To guide your cultivation and help you achieve a perfect foundation."
Surprised, Sirius nodded, clenching his fist. He looked at her with a serious expression:
"How do I start? I want to start now."
The Immortal Spirit was momentarily taken aback.
"Are you sure?"
He nodded.
With that, something appeared before Sirius that made him gape in wonder.
It was a hologram, reminiscent of those video game panels he had seen countless times.
[Sage Emperor: The Esteemed One, one of the so-called creators of cultivation on Earth, is the sect master of the revered Heaven Seeking Sect found on the Northern Continent. He is a reincarnation of a mortal from the Upper Realm, who died due to collateral damage during a fight amongst divine cultivators. Having been reincarnated on Earth before the cataclysm began with his memories intact, he had decided to use this opportunity to elevate his providence to greater heights. He possesses a High, First Grade constitution.]
Sirius couldn't help but open his mouth. He knew the figure very well, having been revered as a spiritual god in the Northern Continent. But to eliminate such a being? And he was just a mortal who reincarnated from the Upper Realm?
The Immortal Spirit looked at him and said,
"For this, we have to travel back in time. Before the cataclysm began in your world."
"What!?"