Ball of Nothing

by Stayrr

I started off as nothing, just a mass of consciousness that slowly evolved. Just your average overpowered existence hungry for a multiverse adventure. Demons? They are my friends. Monsters? They are delicacies. Heroes? Not even equal to the dirt on my boots. Royalty? Money Machi- Ahem, a pleasure doing business. Immortals and Gods? Share with me the latest gossips! With power comes

7. 231 - 256

Chapter 231: Bonus Sureshot Mastery

Ball of Nothing

How long has it been since the start of this training? Truen had lost track of time with the constant visits between the time-space dimension and Merlin's library. Sometimes, it felt as if the elf had gone through five years of studying but other times, it only felt like two days worth of magic sparring. Zero's mana regeneration pills were put to good use and the bodyguard smiled. Without them, he would have lost track of the days that went by in the real world.

Zero made a pill for each day left before they would complete their individual training. Truen was given a hundred and eighty pills to last approximately six months. Today, he consumed the seventy-eighth pill and smiled. He was ahead of schedule and there was only one last task to accomplish before he could formally graduate the training. Freya and Merlin were impressed with his progress. Although the wood elf was still not very good with weapons and combat, he was confident in his ability as a mage and an archer. he might not have accuracy but he had the speed for taking out armies within minutes. Freya's blessing on Sureshot was very handy and the cheating cranes he readied was going to complete the finishing touches this bow required.

Freya and Merlin were waiting for their student when Truen materialised in the time-space dimension, carrying the parchment containing his proposed modifications to the special bow.

"Did you rest well?" The Great Goddess asked with a fond smile. They'd spent a long time together and she was very proud of the wood elf for making so much progress. Sure, he might still have some of that self-sacrificing tendency still left in him but Merlin did a great job of beating most of that out. It was now replaced by a slightly more twisted sense of gratitude that they couldn't help but approve of.

Truen gave the Goddess of Beauty and War and dazzling smile. "Yes. I've also completed the blueprints for the converting of Sureshot as just a magic weapon to a magic medium-weapon. With this, I can cast spells while fighting at the same time. Please have a look at the rune designs and magic circles I intend to incorporate."

The Wizard God glanced at Truen's final product. While the wood elf didn't write a grimoire, he had several signature moves that the magician approved of. Freya looked at each page in detail and felt prouder with each spell proposed. As his second magic teacher and combat trainer, Freya was satisfied that Truen found a way to strike a balance between the two.

Merlin was impressed. The elf must have given it a lot of thought. It was definitely not something drawn overnight. Truen must have completed studying every book in his library before he started to choose his runes and magic circles. The limitations of not using a grimoire as a medium were the variety of spells one could use at disposal. Talismans can only hold one spell at a time and unlike a grimoire, the Sureshot bow didn't have a lot of places that talismans can be imbued into.

"Are these all the things you want to imbue?" Freya asked with a small frown. "Sureshot can hold up to twelve slots, you only have eight."

Truen nodded. He thought about it carefully and decided that with these eight, it was enough for him to guard Zero discreetly. Merlin and Freya didn't know if it would be alright. However, they couldn't see any flaws either.

[Signature Spell 1 - Elemental Golem]

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This spell creates golem puppets that can assume any physical form and identity that is controlled by a Parallel Mind.

Freya looked at the first spell fondly. She had spent a good amount of time perfecting the formula for this with her student and Merlin helped with the aesthetic portion. Both teachers had smiles on their faces as they approved of it.

[Signature Spell 2 - Time Distortion]

This spell borrows the power of the Dream Dimension in the Training App to allow the caster to use less time to achieve desired effects for a span of three seconds in the physical dimension.

Freya nodded at this spell. She remembered her discussion with Isis, Merlin and Steve Jobs when Truen brought up his concerns to her. the rune was tricky to create because even for the Great Gods, nobody had created a bridge between magic and technology until recently. Steve Jobs and Merlin spent nights trying to put everything down into a tiny rune. Thankfully, nanochips existed and they were able to write codes into the rune to process mana the way it should while linking it to the app. The only thing Freya had to compromise with was the authenticity of Sureshot after the rune was imbued. Steve would be able to access Sureshot's data thanks to the nano chip in the rune. Freya would no longer be the only administrator. In normal circumstances, Freya would not have permitted it but for Truen's sake, she allowed it.

[Signature Spell 3 - Area Detection]

Fires a mana net covering a radius of a hundred miles to give information to the castor's Parallel Mind about the live signatures in the area, terrain and threats detected.

Merlin had no problems with this either. He remembered telling Truen about how some powerful magicians created towers that acted as a lighthouse. These Wizards were almost undefeatable because of how fast they were able to make preparations when the enemy appeared. Kingdoms usually did everything they could to employ these magicians. They were known as Court Magicians who was like the Kingdom's first line of defence during a demon raid back on the old Earth. His student found a way to replicate something like a Wizard's Tower and as his teacher, Merlin was proud.

[Signature Spell 4 - Homing Tracker]

Places a curse on the target that consumes the target's mana to sustain itself. The curse constantly gives the caster information about their whereabouts.

At this point, Freya raised a brow. She wasn't seeing many offensive or defensive spells. It was mostly spells used for reconnaissance, spying or information gathering. Merlin noticed it too and was curious.

"Why have you not included and defensive or offensive spells?" the Goddess of War asked.

Truen smiled. "It won't be needed. Zero doesn't like to see violence and would rather subdue his enemies with kindness. Besides, there is no real need for defensive spells with all the blessings and enchants on the clothes Zero is wearing. I doubt Zero will wear anything else willingly and if all fails, I will always ensure that Zero wears the underwear that had been enchanted."

Hearing Truen's explanation, Freya rolled her eyes. This was Truen's mother hen nature that they still couldn't erase despite the harsh training. Still, it was why they were so assured that things will be alright with Truen beside Zero. The wood elf had a good point, Zero was well protected even without the elf. The wood elf's main duty was to be Zero's moral compass and less of his physical bodyguard.

[Signature Spell 5 - Perfect World]

A powerful illusion spell to fool the target's mind and senses to give the caster an opening to take over the control of their body.

Merlin couldn't help but be reminded of Truen's experiments to leave his physical vessel and possess a golem. The first few times he tried that, it was disastrous. The Great Gods had bound Truen's soul to his vessel so tightly that when Truen possessed the golem, the golem and vessel ended up fusing together somehow. That was a mess that Merlin didn't wish to clean up after again. Thankfully, the following trial runs were less catastrophic and proved to be a huge success.

Freya studied the rune design and pointed out that there was a small flaw in the calculations that Merlin overlooked.

"The time frame is too long. Also, Parallel Minds cannot be separated from the spirit. There has to be some other way."

The Wizard God looked over the part that Freya pointed out and felt another headache coming along. All the eight runes created, this was the most difficult one to perfect. Thankfully, they had one more meeting before imbuing anything.

"Let me work on it, let's see the next rune..." Merlin sighed and made a copy of the problematic rune's design.

Likewise, Freya was also troubled by the concept of this rune. It was tricky and splitting the spirit from the vessel can be dangerous. the force between spirit and vessel becomes weaker each time the spirit leaves it. If possible, she didn't want Truen using the spell at all.

"How about using mana strings to control the target after he is shot? Inject your mana into the target to act as a parasite," Isis suggested. She was merely dropping by when she heard that they were finalising the runes. The Goddess of Time wanted to see how Steve Jobs and Merlin managed to create a rune to bridge the Dream Dimension using the app for Truen's spell.

"Oh! That's actually a good idea," Freya praised Isis and turned to Merlin. "We might have to try that out."

The Wizard God liked the counter-proposal better and told his student that they'll have to go back to the drawing board for this one.

"What's next?" the Egyptian Goddess asked and Truen continued his presentation.

[Signature Spell 6 - Seraph's Command]

Place a curse on the target shot that does not allow them to lie or remain silent when asked a question.

Truen blushed at the knowing looks he received. The wood elf definitely took inspiration from the angels to name this spell. His initial name for it just didn't compare to the grandiose of using the Seraph's name.

[Signature Spell 7 - Pagoda Prison]

A powerful spell to imprison and bind the target that uses all six elements and scriptures from Buddha's Heart mantra. Uses the target's mana to hold the prison and slowly drains the target to death.

Isis couldn't help but be impressed. The kid actually got Buddha to lend him a hand with this spell. Scriptures were on a completely different plane as magic but the wood elf outdone himself by showing them his versatility. Truen was also rather proud of this idea. Of all the spells he created, this binding spell was his favourite. To thank Buddha for teaching the Heart Sutra to help him cope with the demonic stress from the expectations placed on him, the wood elf dedicated the spell to the God of Enlightenment.

[Signature Spell 8 - Soul Count]

Mark a person as an enemy for Onion Union to take care of outside Zero's field of vision and knowledge.

Everyone paused when they read the description. So far, the spells have been nothing but peaceful pacification if not slightly sadistic with the mana drain torture. this last spell was just downright shady even if it wasn't as impressive as the first seven spells. It screamed 'badass mafia' and all three Gods couldn't help but applaud Truen for staying true to his yandere nature.

"We better keep this out of Zero's inspection," Isis commented and Merlin quickly edited the rune so that there would be a shield and a false description. Hopefully, it was enough to fool the Mind's Eye system created by the Great One.

The meeting soon concluded with Merlin taking back homework to revise the rune of possession and illusion with his apprentice. Isis and Freya chose to stay back in the Dream dimension for a while more and waited for the duo to leave.

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"What do you think?" Freya asked the Goddess of Time.

Isis smiled. "He's probably the most perfect choice for a bodyguard. Still, I wonder if it is my imagination that Truen's nature was closer to a Demon lord than a wood elf."

Freya raised a brow and entertained the thought.

"Probably not," she shrugged and both Goddesses laughed.

To think that humans of the old world could prove to be this fearsome. No wonder Gods were falling left and right during the war. If Truen hadn't been on their side, the Great Gods and King Yama would have been the first to snub out the growing threat. Thankfully for them, Truen's soul was still their hostage.

Ball of Nothing

Zero might have left Half Moon Village for Endow Hill but the villagers did not let the young doctor take the party away from them with his absence. If anything, they were more fired up.

"The new village head sure knows how to work us hard," Vrald mock-complaint and Gerald rolled his eyes at his friend's remark. There was no real bite behind his words.

"As the stand-in leader of the Technology Research Department, I would like to take the lead in preparing the best gift for Village Head Zero," Raj announced.

Tambolt gave his old friend a scandalised look. "Who made you the stand-in leader? Wiser trusts me more, you're just an assistant!"

Seeing the internal squabbles, Lovina grinned and declared that the Magic Research Department would be the first to finalise their gifts.

"Oh no," Zenobia disagreed with the sneaky witch. "I believe the Business Team will succeed in that. None of you has any connections that we do."

Qin Yun smiled silently at the side and Roovan raised a brow. Connections? Did the Chieftess really want to compare her connections with the Hannya House?

Not one to back down from a challenge, Clowis promptly declared that it's now a competition. "The Defence and Security Team will be making a move first. You can continue fighting over who's going to be the first to give Zero his congratulatory gifts but we already know what we're doing."

The cockatrice descendant then turned to his crew and pumped his spear high into the air. "Let's catch the elusive Celophanaur and present it to Zero!"

The Hunters cheered and quickly took their leave. Thankfully, Mitchnew was not present as she had been summoned by the divine doctor for special lessons. If the dark elf was present, she would have rolled her eyes and walked away. how was that any different from a regular feast preparation?

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Cleo looked at her Agricultural team and smiled. She had no idea what kind of gift they should prepare for Zero to congratulate him but they all agreed that if Zero could get his hands on medicinal plants for his pill-making experiment, it would make him very happy.

"I guess we should start building the new garden," the dryad mused.

Chowkah agreed with a low groan and set off to work. The Agricultural team took their leave and the other groups followed their example, emptying the village square one at a time.

This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading this on Webnovel then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on Webnovel and check out their other works.

Back in the lab, Raj, Tambolt and Hyelin panted heavily, worn out from their battles of shouts and brawling. Wiser wasn't around for their meeting but he did tell them to create a weapon suitable for Zero on his travels. The poor inventor was busy attending something called 'school' at the moment.

All three lab members had several drawings of their proposed weapon idea. In fact, Wiser would be proud of how reasonable some of these ideas sounded when compared to the Pigeon Cannon. However, he would also yell at them for not considering Zero's desired occupation. Why would a doctor have any need for retractable claws fashioned after Werewolf paws?

"The Sushi Roller is the perfect weapon for Zero!" Raj huffed. "Fashioned from magic carpet, it serves a double purpose to sit and fly during travels or wrap around enemies, suffocating them to death. My weapon is perfect and bloodless! Not to mention, it comes with waterproof features. With this, there is no need to worry about pitching tents."

Tambolt huffed at the genie. "Magic carpet my ass! Zero doesn't even need a tent! My mithril pipe is the best. Acts as a telescope as well as a melee weapon. One good swing and even an ogre can be taken out after Lovina enchants it."

Hyelin the pixie raised a brow at the pipe. It was just an ordinary pipe and an ordinary sushi mat built with ridiculous size and materials. The men in the lab lacked serious creativity. Thankfully for her pixie bloodline, Hyelin was able to think out of the box.

"The both of you are too old fashioned!" she complained.

"Why would Zero want to carry such unsightly things on his travels? I propose something more inconspicuous. Besides, a weapon is only good for getting out of a sticky situation. Zero won't be needing such crude objects like that."

Hearing their youngest member point out their flaws, the two older lab members stared at their blueprints. There was truth in what Hyelin said.

"Therefore, I propose this. Behold! Shuriken needles!"

There was a pregnant silence and not even the birds outside made a single noise. The pixie-sylph blinked and decided that maybe it was a bad idea.

"A shuriken needle?" a familiar voice asked, startling all three lab members.

Hyelin was the first to turn around and recognised the old man at once.

"Doctor!"

Hua Tuo smiled. "Hello there, you were having a lively discussion so I decided to listen in on it. Those are some rather interesting weapons. To think that Wiser has already told you about the mission, you're all too overly enthusiastic."

"What brings you here? How is Zero?" Raj asked.

The physician smiled. "Zero's currently training in combat with Mitchnew and Ruth at the moment. I came here to ask a favour of the lab to make Zero's weapon that Ruth and I had finalised after considering Zero's fighting style."

With that, the fight over the best weapon for Zero was concluded. Still, the lab members couldn't help but feel slightly curious about the design. Would it be more magical and practical like Raj's design, more simplistic and sturdy like Tambolt's design or more unique and sneaky like Hyelin's design?

When the design was revealed, all three lab members were stumped. It looked simple and sturdy but was practical and magical. Hyelin was slightly depressed that her unique design of stealth was not included.

"This is a retractable tonfa that will become a walking staff when there is no mana being pushed into it. We require it to also act as a magic staff. There is a ring that is a divine level artefact. King Yama's Ring aids in magic channelling and we wanted Zero to have a weapon for both magic and melee. Please research on how you can fuse a magic artefact into a crafted weapon. At the rate of zero's learning progress, I would give him about three more months before he has completed his training completely. Can you get a prototype up by then?"

The three lab members studied the detailed blueprint and discussed more details with Hua Tuo for the rest of the afternoon.

Back in the abyss, Wiser was brain-drained after taking so many classes at the Academy. He returned to his dormitory and flopped onto the bed when his intergalactic communicator beeped. It was a text message from Tambolt about Zero's newly commissioned weapon from Hua Tuo.

Just as the inventor was about to rest, he jolted wide awake. How does Tambolt have an intergalactic communicator?

The communicator rang and Wiser answered cautiously. "Hello?"

"Wiser, it's us!" Tambolt's loud voice came clearly from over the speakers. The strategist winced at the volume.

"Wait, how did you get a communicator?"

The blacksmith laughed. "We didn't get one, we made one. Lovina helped, We're testing out the uses for magic stones and communicators right now after modelling the magic circle in Hua Tuo's phone. Hey, listen. There is a finalised weapon design that was given to us by the doctor and the vampire. However, we need your opinion. Unlike normal magical devices like the communicators, what do you think about the possibility of fusing a magic artefact into a weapon?"

Wiser raised a brow. "Whose crazy idea is this?"

This time, none of the lab members answered, too afraid as they looked at Hua Tuo who was still present in the room.

"It was mine. Can it or can it not be done?" the doctor asked and Wiser froze.

Carefully thinking of a way to phrase his words, Wiser explained. "Theoretically, it could be done with many difficulties. However, nobody has succeeded before. The reason why magic artefacts are not fused into weapons is that they possess intelligence. It's not something we could simply smelt down and forge together hoping that it would work. Magic weapons often evolve into artefacts on their own after being nurtured by strong users. However, combining an already awakened magic artefact with a brand new weapon is going to be very tricky."

Hua Tuo nodded. He thought so too. However, it has to be done. Zero cannot wear a ring that can be easily be recognised by others. Using the ring as a power source was also out of the question because it could only be powered by King Yama. Zero would only use it as a medium for mana channelling and having to focus pouring mana into the ring while fighting with combat is going to be impossible. It's like asking Zero to sew six different stitch patterns at the same- oh wait. Hua Tuo felt conflicted. If there was anyone who would be able to easily defy common standards, that would be Zero. Who knew if Zero would be able to fight using combat and magic at the same time with different mediums?

Hua Tuo shook his head at the thought. No, he shouldn't be thinking like this. Even though his student was very capable, it is his duty as a teacher to provide the best for his apprentice so that he may succeed and surpass him.

Wiser groaned. "The Academy might have a few ways to help me with this. However, I don't think you should get your hopes up. Creating a fusion is hard and near impossible even if we had a divine weapon. The stronger the tier of magic and wills, the more stubborn the personality. I could find a way to help the artefact and weapon coexist using some form of contract but that's about it for now."

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The physician heard it and nodded. A contract would work too as long as the ring is hidden. Zero should not be seen wearing a ring as powerful as that. Although that was true, the main reason was that Zero was far too young to be committed. A ring would deter any girls from approaching Zero and Hua Tuo wanted his apprentice to also experience romance during his travels. It didn't matter if it was puppy love or something small, life was all about going through the ups and downs. Little did he know that Zero wasn't interested in any sole individual as much as the existence of life itself.

"Please update me on what you manage to find," the physician told Wiser before letting the lab members take over with the conversation.

As Wiser listened to the crazy rambles of his lab mates, he began to question how any of them were able to make ingenious inventions. However, for some reason, Wiser was beginning to feel like a huge weight had come off his shoulders. Listening to his friends argue about the law of gunpowder usage helped relax him despite the ruckus.

Wiser was living in the old dormitory room that Beelzebub and Zero once shared for a brief period. Nobody else was sharing it with him this time because Lord Baal had specifically requested that Wiser had VIP treatment and was allowed to have active magic barriers activated while he was in the Academy. Lucifer allowed it because Wiser was a human and while many demons were curious and supportive of coexistence with humans, there were still some who harboured hatred for them.

Slowly but sure, as the arguments escalated, Wiser found his eyes getting heavier. It didn't take very long before the tired student fell asleep with the sound of explosions in the background coming from his communicator. It was also the first time in weeks that Wiser finally relaxed enough to fall into a deep sleep.

Ball of Nothing

Zero mastered the art of stitching quickly after he designed a method to cheat. Unknown to him, Merlin who peeked in on Zero's progress was stunned. Parallel Minds were not easily developed and rigorous training in Mathematics was a requirement to unlocking more Parallel Minds. Truen and Merlin had both trained hard in this area to the point of near madness and yet, Zero had easily overcome his inability to do Math and created his first Parallel Mind, all through a sewing exercise.

Merlin felt tired. Was his research a joke? If it could be done so easily without subjecting his brain to mental torture, Merlin would have exchanged his entire library collection for it. Zero broke through the boundaries of splitting his mind so easily by finding inspiration in laziness. Where had the Wizard God gone wrong? Wait no, maybe it was Baal? He knew that the Demon Lord of Laziness was a divine fragment. Could it be that after receiving parts of the Divine Entities' memories, Zero gained new knowledge that surpasses even Merlin's own?

Yes, that was likely to be the case. The Wizard God certainly couldn't believe that the creator who'd lost all his memories would be capable of inventing new magic discoveries that took thousands of years to understand. It simply wasn't right... Merlin was a waste of a God and a huge laughing stock if it were true.

Back in the backyard of Endow Hill's homey hut, Mitchnew and Ruth were taking turns to occupy Zero with basic combat training while designing a new style of combat through observation of the brunet's natural talent.

Zero was not naturally well in sync with his five senses but he has a very wide range of awareness thanks to his cheating abilities. Ruth and Mitchnew also soon realised something strange. Zero never fell for feint moves that were direct. The vampire switched up techniques and realised that there was a flaw with that 'instinct' Zero had. While he was able to easily dodge moves with the intent to hurt him, Zero was often unable to react in time with things that come as a side effect of the ambush attacks.

For instance, while mana bombs were easy for Zero to dodge and throw up magic shields against, Zero wouldn't be able to guard against fake mana bombs that acted as a flash grenade instead. As usual, the young doctor threw up his barrier but quickly yelped in pain when bright lights attacked his eyes. Mitchnew also discovered that Zero was slow to respond to changes in the battle flow.

Ruth had snuck up on Zero again by using a doppelganger and Zero wasn't ready for the pebble that flew his way as he blocked the clone's stab to his torso by catching the clone's hand.

The pebble skittered through the air and struck Zero's elbow painfully, causing Zero to lose his grip on that arm. Mitchnew saw that slip-up and decided to add fuel to the fire by dropping low and sweeping Zero off his feet by kicking his ankles.

With such a powerful one-two combo, Zero didn't have time to retaliate and he found himself lying on the grass all over again. The healing magic worked quickly and Ruth dismissed his clone, jumping off the huge rock he was sitting on. Mitchnew calmly walked away and gave the vampire a hi-five to swap out. It was now Ruth's turn to do a review with Zero and spar while Mitchnew recovered her stamina and observe for Zero's habits.

The dark-elf couldn't help but be merciless during her combat training with Zero. It was like teaching Sekkin all over again and the seamstress had to admit, she was frustrated with Zero's inability to understand simple concepts. Things like constantly keeping an eye out for the surroundings while in a battle was lost on Zero as the boy would panic each time something gets too close to his personal zone. It didn't really help that Zero's first instinct when he panics is to grab ahold of something nearby or run.

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If Zero loses his balance and falls, his first reaction would be to pull the clone holding a knife down with him. Mitchnew was thankful that the knife was merely a blunt practice blade crudely crafted by Ruth and not the real deal made by Tambolt. Somebody could have been seriously injured and from the training over the past few days, Zero would have died at least twenty times.

Ruth didn't look pleased and Zero didn't dare meet his teacher's eyes. He knew what he did wrong this time. It wasn't his first offence either and the young doctor grew more miserable with that judging stare. Although Mitchnew and Ruth didn't say it out loud. Zero knew that he was disappointing them both terribly.

Normally, Zero would be able to understand his mistakes and correct them. Whenever Hua Tuo told him to correct his posture or method of flicking needles during acupuncture practice, Zero would get it corrected immediately and it wouldn't happen a second time. The only time he ever made the same mistake more than once was during the time Zero tried to perfect revival magic. Even so, Zero was able to feel like he made progress with revival magic each time he failed. He knew what to pay attention to and the margin of error reduced each time he tried.

Seeing that the apprentice was close to tears, Ruth sighed. Combat really wasn't Zero's calling. If Hua Tuo wasn't as insistent about having Zero master basic reflexes to react in emergency situations, they would not have forced this upon the poor teenager. While Ruth and Mitchnew felt their hearts aching for Zero, neither of them turned soft on him. If anything, they were the epitome of tough love. Both experts dished out training more merciless than the previous one in hopes that Zero would overcome the insurmountable obstacle that is himself.

"That's the twenty-sixth time you've died," the vampire commented and said nothing more as Zero bit his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

Instead of continuing the training, Ruth communicated with Mitchnew using eye contact to ask if he could allow Zero some self-reflection time. It didn't take long for both combat teachers to figure out that Zero was the type to brood over his failures alone under the cover of night.

Mitchnew nodded slightly and Ruth glanced at Zero.

"We're stopping for today. You've not learnt a single thing ever since we started. Lunch will be ready in an hour, don't be late."

Zero listened to Ruth walking away and didn't move from his spot on the ground. He stared at the innocent ants crawling on the grass blades. The words cut his heart deeply like a knife and Zero screwed his eyes shut tightly in frustration, feeling the burn of tears building up in his nasal passage. Ruth wasn't wrong with what he said and Zero knew why they were disappointed with him. Mitchnew explained over dinner last night that he had to change his instinctive reflexes to something less dangerous.

Mitchnew didn't truly leave, she was still watching Zero from the hut as she prepared the ingredients for lunch. Ruth excused himself to hunt but after spending enough time with him over the last week, Mitchnew knew that it was an excuse. Ruth was going to do some self-reflection as well while he hunted. It was funny how not even Hua Tuo discovered this adorable side of the vampire. If Mitchnew was able to hunt something within twenty minutes, it wouldn't take the vampire who was more agile than her to get something in that time frame as well. However, Ruth was usually gone for a good hour or more on some days.

While the boys sorted their thoughts and feelings out, Hua Tuo made his way back feeling somewhat accomplished. Now that Zero's weapon was in commissioning, there was one less thing to worry about. Unlike combat training, Zero's medical training was moving along smoothly. With a strong basic understanding of meridians, Zero was able to accurately locate the points in a human body to administer acupuncture. Sometimes the teenager would misjudge the depth and use too little force in fear of hurting his patients.

Other than that, Hua Tuo thought that Zero was doing well. Still, Zero looked like he was spiralling into something akin to depression with his continuous lack of improvement for combat training. The teenager wasn't able to reprogram his natural instinct to grab onto people and things. Zero was the kind of person who held onto anything close by like a drowning person. Hua Tuo thought that it might be more of a psychological thing than a physical reaction.

Hua Tuo may not specialise in psychology but he knew the basics as someone who learned philosophy. The human mind was not as simple as the mind of beasts and monsters who were true to their instincts. Humans constantly fought an inner war with the minds, hearts and instinct. It was a rather complicated blend of things but it was what made them so individually unique and powerful. Zero's current body was fashioned after humans even though it doesn't have instilled instincts.

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As an all-powerful creator, Zero doesn't follow the natural instinct of self-preservation. However, from the stories told by the Great Gods, Zero spent a long time alone in the void. If anything, the fear that Zero had wasn't about dying like all mortals and living creatures with souls. He didn't fear the void because that was his origin. It was something fundamentally important to remember and the physician followed this trail of thoughts to further identify the logic behind Zero's reactions.

The clinging onto people and things was something done by people who were afraid of loneliness. Zero often surrounded himself with people regardless of gender, species and personalities. His all-encompassing heart was because of the huge emptiness in it. It was almost accurate to assume that Zero would rather be with the company of hateful people than go back into the silent nothingness in the void again.

Mitchnew and Ruth often feedback to Hua Tuo's about Zero's tendencies to be too trusting of his cheating abilities like the visions he would see from Amaraline's borrowed gift. He didn't doubt them and would trust them completely, making it easy for enemies to mask their intentions with a layered trap. Zero's personality was too straightforward and battles were usually equal parts of skill and wits. Zero might be powerful but with his inexperience and naivety, his combat teachers were worried about his safety.

The hut was now in sight and Hua Tuo saw how Zero was sitting in the backyard like a statue. For the hyperactive teenager to be reduced to such a state, something terrible must have happened. Deciding to put his hypothesis aside, the physician summoned his cloud summon and hurried back home. His disciple's mana and qi were encompassing everything in the area like a heavy fog. They didn't feel good and Hua Tuo had many questions for Mitchnew.

Exactly what happened in the short time that he was away?

Ball of Nothing

Lunch was a silent affair and highly uncomfortable for everyone. Ruth returned in time to help Mitchnew cook but Hua Tuo couldn't get his apprentice to cheer up. Zero seemed to have retreated into a shell and Mitchnew was worried.

Ruth didn't feel comfortable looking at Zero's meek behaviour. He felt as if he'd done something horrible and couldn't help but blame himself for it. He did a lot of reflecting inside the forest while he roamed around with no destination in mind. The words he coldly threw at the teen before he left bothered him a lot. Seeing how much it actually affected Zero made the vampire lose interest in food. He ate mechanically, not able to enjoy the taste of Mitchnew's special spice mix.

The meal was completed in silence and Ruth tried to escape the gloomy atmosphere by volunteering for dishes duty. Mitchnew was smart enough to leave as well. Hua Tuo looked like he wanted to talk to Zero alone and the ex-assassin decided that it might be a good idea for someone else to try the soft approach.

Zero wasn't very responsive when the dishes were cleared. He continued to stare at the polished wooden table in silence and Hua Tuo decided that enough was enough.

Without another word, Hua Tuo told Zero to follow him. The teenager did so without protest but his eyes still looked dead as his feet shuffled along. Hua Tuo didn't comment on it and brought them to the most secluded place on Endow Hill that he knew.

Zero didn't really take notice of where he was going until he heard the rush of water. When he looked up, they were at a very beautiful lake with a huge waterfall at least twenty metres tall. Zero looked at his mini-map and blinked. There wasn't any forest in the vicinity apart from the one they were in. Something felt off about this place and he quickly snapped out of his brooding mood.

Hua Tuo waited for the realisation to settle down and was amused that it took Zero a good three minutes to realise they were no longer in the same dimension. He led Zero right through Sleepy Cave and to a different dimension that Hua Tuo discovered. This could be said to be Sleepy Cave's greatest mystery because it didn't matter what other paths Hua Tuo took. If he followed this path, he would never fail to arrive at this lake and waterfall.

Zero blinked at the lake where the waterfall was connected to. It was strange.

"Shifu... why does the lake not move?"

Hua Tuo wasn't disappointed at the keen observation. Indeed, it was no ordinary lake and waterfall. He brought his apprentice here for one purpose. While Zero was strong and powerful, it didn't mean that there were no weaknesses. Hua Tuo discovered this place on accident and luckily, he had Buddha's talisman to protect him the first time he was lured into the water.

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Zero inspected the lake and blinked. "Lake of Reflection?"

Nothing more was said and Zero wondered if there was something wrong with Mind's Eye because usually, he would be seeing a short description of the place. Right now, Zero was having difficulty working out the translated script that was disfigured by Mind's Eye system. There was something preventing him from knowing the mysteries of this place and that made Zero more curious.

"The lake surface is not disturbed even though the waterfall is very violent... shifu, I think there's something wrong with this place. It's not on Endow Hill either. Where are we? What are we doing here?"

The physician expected just as much. Zero as a teen was still as inquisitive as his younger self. It was nice to know that something won't change easily. The physician didn't say much and walked calmly to right behind his apprentice.

With a mighty shove, he spent the unsuspecting Zero down into the lake and watched as his student panicked. Zero hasn't really learnt how to swim and struggled vigorously to stay afloat. Although he wouldn't drown and die, Zero felt that he was in danger if he didn't get out of the water. The lake was strange and screamed suspicious even before Zero fell into it. Now that he was in it, Mii and the system kept prompting him to activate emergency measures because they detected threats to Zero's mind.

For some unknown reason, Zero couldn't take his eyes away from his teacher who looked very calm on the dry land, watching him struggle. Zero trusted Hua Tuo but right now, he couldn't understand why the physician would do this to him. There were no traces of amusement or malice. Hua Tuo was calm, like the surface of the lake and there was a serious look in his eyes.

Hua Tuo needed Zero to sink to the bottom of this lake so he silently cast calming magic on the brunet who didn't suspect a thing. He also added a sleeping spell gently to let Zero stop struggling. Slowly but surely, he watched as his disciple started to sink a little before floating on the surface of the lake like a balloon.

Mii stopped panicking and monitored the status effects closely. She also took the chance to materialise and glared at the Sage God.

"What have you done?!" the strawcherry fairy screamed.

Hua Tuo's gaze was cold as he contemplated turning that annoying fairy into strawcherry milkshake. Was she trying to dispel his hard work? The trial had only just started.

"If you're not going to be quiet I'm going to call the Great Gods to seal you up for a while. Zero's going through a trial right now. His combat training is not progressing lately and if Truen wants to push his plans ahead, we need Zero to catch up."

Mii didn't comment. It was true that everyone was worried if Zero could complete his medical training with Hua Tuo on time and earlier because Truen was almost done with his magic training. In all honesty, Truen didn't really need to study under Hua Tuo because his job was to become a bodyguard and Zero's guardian on their travels. However, Zero doesn't know that. While Zero trains with Merlin, Truen would be making preparations by setting up his business and expanding his connections. They were running out of time if they wanted Zero to complete his training phase here on Earth quickly.

Satisfied that the strawcherry fairy wasn't yelling at him any longer, Hua Tuo sat down cross-legged and meditated. The Lake of Reflection was a very good place to analyse oneself and see the inner world as it is. Even though he attained Godhood, Hua Tuo was still unable to master his cultivation as skillfully as Buddha. The first time he chanced upon the Lake of Reflection as Zero dubbed it, the physician almost lost his sanity.

The Lake was a cesspool of thoughts from the souls amassed over the years. If there was one accurate way to describe this inner dimension, it would be like the mind of Sleepy Cave.

From what Hua Tuo understood, the waterfall was the continuous flow of mana used in the cave. The waterfall's flow and personality depended heavily on the will of this Lake of Reflection. On some days, the thoughts are peaceful but on other days, it is tumultuous. These thoughts often led curious adventurers astray and lured them to take a bath in the lake. Many adventurers would join Sleepy Cave's messed up life form at the bottom of this lake and become part of it. The Lake of Reflection read into the deepest fears and desires of a person's soul before trying to brainwash them into giving up on life to join them in this eternal form of 'immortality'.

Humans were afraid of dying and as an ex-human, Hua Tuo could understand. Still, dying was not the only fear humans had. Hua Tuo learnt that the hard way. He was afraid of failure and the guilt of not being able to stop the war plagued him even after becoming a God. he imagined that it would be much worse for Zero whose greatest fear should be being abandoned and not being good enough after seeing what his past self had accomplished.

Mii could only watch helplessly and hope that Zero would not lose to his fears after hearing Hua Tuo's monotonous explanation of this place. The physician only reassured her that if he sees the Cave trying to devour Zero, he will get them out of there immediately.

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Zero heard voices and felt weightless. Where was he again?

He opened his eyes and was greeted by darkness. Why did this feel so familiar?

Without his sense of sight, the young doctor felt everything becoming clearer. There was no sense of touch or smell either, the only thing Zero could focus on was the constant buzzing of noise in his ears but that didn't feel right either. These voices didn't travel through his ears, they went directly into his mind. It didn't matter what language they spoke, Zero could understand them perfectly. Also, it didn't matter if there were ten people or a hundred people talking at the same time, Zero could understand each and every one of them perfectly. His brain was starting to hurt from the overload of information.

It didn't take long for Zero to be horrified by his lack of physical form. This felt very similar to being in the void when he meditated. Worse still, Zero couldn't feel himself moving from where he was. It was like the beginning all over again but worse. The voices won't leave him alone and only became rowdier, demanding his attention but Zero couldn't reply to any of them. He wasn't able to.

"It hurts!"

"Mommy, I'm scared..."

"I want to go home, please let me go home..."

"Where am I? Who am I?"

"I don't want to be alone, come back!"

"Don't leave me here! You promised we'll always be together... where are you?"

Disturbing voices and thoughts kept attacking Zero and he felt the fear that every individual felt strongly if not more. Zero felt like he was going to go insane and felt sick. Yet there was nothing he could do, he was stuck.

"Join me? I'm scared."

"I'm lonely, would you like to be my friend?"

The two new voices that joined scared Zero greatly. Why did they sound so familiar? Whose voice was that? Why did he feel like he knew them?

Sight... Zero finally saw who these voices belonged to and in a tiny space, there were at least a few thousand people whom Zero didn't know. It terrified him that all those people were walking around aimlessly, talking to nobody in particular. Some walked right through Zero and Zero was slightly reassured after he saw that he still had a physical body in this weird dream.

"Will you be my friend?"

"Thank you for saving us, won't you join us?"

Zero turned around and saw the two familiar faces he only saw once. They were the Moontaur sisters he tried to save before. What were they doing here?

Zero smiled and ran over to meet them. Unlike the other people in the room, they seemed to be aware of Zero's existence and the doctor was happy that he could finally talk to people he knew even if they were strangers.

"What are both of you doing here? Have you been well?"

The older Moontaur sister clung onto Zero's arm and the younger sister clung onto Zero's other arm. They smiled and led Zero away.

"Join us," Kayla the silver-haired older Moontair smiled.

"We can have so much fun here together! Isn't that right, big sis?" Layla the blonde Moontaur smiled.

Zero looked at both sisters who were smiling and chatting happily, talking about all the things they could do here today, tomorrow, the day after and next month. He tried to entertain them for a while but his mind wasn't here.

"Sorry, I have to go back..." he apologised and the moment Zero said that he felt something was wrong. The people who weren't bothering him earlier all turned their glares towards the young doctor and Zero was startled by how the Moontaur sisters were also glaring at him like he'd destroyed something sacred.

"Are you leaving us?" Kayla asked.

Zero gulped and didn't know what he should be answering. He wanted to leave and find Hua Tuo but the sisters clung onto his arms tighter.

"You can't leave, your teacher has abandoned you. You weren't good enough at your training remember? Why should you go back when they're only disappointed with you? They would never love you back because you're not good at combat. But over here we love you and want you to stay. Why must you leave us for them?"

Zero froze. He felt conflicted. Compared to Mitchnew and Ruth's disapproval, Hua Tuo's uncharacteristic coldness before he tried to drown Zero, the people here were nicer and wanted him around. Zero finally felt like he had somewhere to belong and to rest. He wasn't alone, he had many new friends even if they weren't as good as Baal or Truen.

Still, something didn't feel right. Zero didn't like the idea of replacing Baal and Truen. True, if possible, Zero would never want to be alone. Travelling and going on an adventure alone in this big world when he knew nobody and nothing about how things worked was scary. He also could not help but feel sad at not being able to create such beautiful places. His past self was brilliant in every sense of the way the Great Gods worshipped him. Zero could never dream of being even half as good as Solo.

"That's right," Layla smiled gently, all the previous hostility wiped away from her eyes. "Why should you go out there and be miserable all over again? Over here, you can have anything you want and always be happy. You don't need to struggle or worry about a single thing that you don't want to. There is enough for everybody."

Zero wanted to agree but he looked at the people and found that it was strange. Like the Lake of Reflection, they all wore that same calm expression like some bad joke of cloning. Was that what Zero wanted to become too?

Suddenly, he understood what the Lake of Reflection meant. It didn't matter who these people were, they were telling Zero things that he secretly wanted but could never have. Zero was afraid of being alone and didn't want to be lonely so the Lake gave him friends. Zero wanted to be normal above all else so they gave him people who acted all the same so Zero wouldn't be left out. Last but not least, Zero hated being inferior so the Lake removed expectations from the ideal world.

All these were nothing but illusions born from Zero's insecurity and he shuddered. What would happen if he truly believed in happiness here in this fake world? Would he never be able to return to the people who were waiting for him back at Endow Hill?

"No, I must decline. It is a very nice offer but I cannot stay. I have people waiting for me back home, I must go."

The apprentice wasn't quite expecting for the meek crowd to suddenly growl and try to tear him apart. Zero instinctively tried to escape and when they gained on him, the young doctor was forced to assume an offensive stance, ready to fight back and kill if he must.

At this point, there was a crack in the space and Zero almost cried in relief at seeing Bob.

"Hurry up, young master! I can't hold this for long, let's get out of there!"

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Zero jumped into the portal and vanished from the weird dimension, happy that he didn't fall for their honeyed words.

So what if Zero wasn't perfect? He would rather be imperfect and himself than perfect and just another boring existence who didn't know why they existed. As they travelled back to Endow Hill, Zero made up his mind. He had been too cautious during his training about not hurting anyone especially Ruth and Mitchnew. He wasn't doing them a favour by being mindful, he was showing them disrespect by not giving it his all.

In order to improve, he would have to face them head-on like real enemies trying to harm him and his friends. Just like how Zero faced himself and his insecurities back in the Lake of Reflection's strange dimension, Zero would face his teachers with the same courage. No more running.

This time, Zero would throw in everything he had to learn earnestly. He couldn't be like Solo with the talent to create but Zero would harness his power to destroy and use it wisely.

He was going to tell Solo all about the things he did instead of the things he saw Solo made. He was going to take ownership like Solo told him to and make this world entirely his.

Ball of Nothing

"Welcome back," Mitchnew greeted and Zero groaned. The sun was simply too bright.

Wait, sun?

Zero bolted up quickly and took a quick glance at his surrounding. he was tucked into his straw mattress with a moth-eaten blanket draped over him. It didn't take long for the apprentice know where he was.

"Wait, what? How?" Zero blurted out, confused as a fish.

The dark elf smiled. Hua Tuo did say that desperate times called for desperate measures and while she was happy that the village head wasn't holding a grudge against his teacher, she didn't feel happy about the methods Hua Tuo employed.

"It's alright, Zero. You're safe now."

The young doctor blinked. Safe? He didn't exactly feel like he was in any danger even though Hua Tuo did shove him into the lake. Still, the apprentice felt as if he'd slept for a very long time. The dream was so vivid that Zero had difficulty telling when it all started. Strangely, after the dream, Zero's heart felt lighter. It was as if the dream was pointing him towards a clearer direction in life. Perhaps this was what the blessing in disguise was. Hua Tuo might be secretly trying to help him grow just like how lions push their cubs off the cliff*.

Mitchnew raised a brow when Zero made a thoughtful expression. She wasn't sure what Zero was thinking about but she was still angry at Hua Tuo's decision. The doctor shouldn't butt into the combat lessons without asking them for their opinions. Who knows what sort of impact the doctor's interference would have on Zero's progress now?

Ruth was on the roof of the hut, listening in to Zero's side of the conversation. He was relieved when the brunet seemed normal. Hua Tuo's 'experiment' didn't seem to have any lasting side effects apart from that horrible episode of Zero's constant crying and screaming from his nightmares that nobody could wake him from.

The vampire wasn't too pleased to know that Hua Tuo took Zero to Sleepy Cave to 'breakthrough his barriers' without consulting Mitchnew or himself beforehand. If something had gone wrong in that breakthrough, Ruth had no doubts that Zero would be mentally scarred forever in a bad way. Forget about combat, he might even stray from the medical path. Where Hua Tuo gained the confidence that Zero would win against the odds, the vampire didn't know. However, as Zero's combat teacher, he was terrified for the kind-hearted teenager.

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Zero's stomach protested loudly and Mitchnew rushed to prepare something for him quickly. Ruth wasn't very surprised that Zero's stomach was the first thing to make itself known. The teenager had been sleeping for two full days. Hua Tuo didn't worry too much and told them that Zero would return to them soon as he overcame himself. The vampire just couldn't believe that the weak-willed brat would be able to conquer his inner demons. Neither Ruth or Mitchnew had the confidence to look into the mirror of their inner minds and fight them head-on. In fact, few could overcome the trials set by Gods to walk the righteous path. Often, only heroes did that to prove themselves worthy of God's blessings.

Zero could still feel the humming of excitement for change in his blood even after the dream had ended. Although his body was slightly weakened from hunger, the teenager couldn't wait to test out his new knowledge. He knew some basic moves that Ruth and Mitchnew had pounded into his brain. For close-ranged combat, there were techniques to restraining a person that often became too complicated for Zero. However, if there was one thing Zero was a master at, it was the ability to flow with the movements.

The teenager knew he had been scolded countless of times for ignoring the threats lingering behind an attack and was always down with his guard. However, Zero countered this logic by thinking of a way to quickly put distance between him and the attacker when he sensed something amiss. For a close-range combatant to design a trap, the trap had to be either close-ranged or mid-ranged where the attacker could still control the situation. However, that gave Zero who had the advantage of instant distance travelling to run away outside of the radius of control.

Zero didn't know Hua Tuo's philosophy of being like water. Tai Ji was a fighting style that proved to be very flexible in movements as it was able to overcome just about any situation that would normally prove disadvantageous to even veteran fighters. However, they were often complicated and Zero didn't know how to apply those moves fast enough in a given scenario.

Mitchnew has a personal fighting style that involves a hit and run technique. Often she would hit the target with a good accurate shot that culled their numbers or weaken them before she went into hiding again. The element of surprise played a big part in Mitchnew's strategy. Zero just never did have patience or judgement as good as Mitchnew's to put her fighting style to good use. The dark elf had years of experience on the battlefield that Zero lacked and the teenager decided that he would use the hit and run technique on his enemies as a preemptive strike, not for an actual confrontation.

Zero also became familiar with Ruth's personal combat style. While the vampire did his best to use Tai Ji when he fought, Zero could still see a pattern. The Roth vampire has a relentless attack pattern which was true to the art of using offence as a defence. Zero never had time to think or catch his breath went Ruth closed in on him. His moves were sharp and precise, always aiming to incapacitate and following up with another move to maim something. There was never a wasted move and each strike had a follow-up move that backed it up in a never-ending loop combination.

Zero had the most trouble with Ruth's style of fighting as the vampire slowly worn out Zero's stamina, motivation and focus. The Tai Ji philosophy of being flexible like water really was suited for the vampire. Zero thought that instead of learning it, he should let Ruth learn it instead.

Still, Zero knew that he couldn't back down from the challenges after making a promise to himself to stay true to who he was. Identity wasn't easily forged and to lose something so precious would be a shame. So what if Zero wasn't good at combat, reactions and Math? being bad at them simply made up part of who Zero was. In fact, when the young doctor weighed his strength and weaknesses, he realised that there were many things he was good at that could help to cover his weaknesses.

While Zero was bad at Math, he had a good judge of character and could use the Intuition gift to predict a result. Zero knew that his reactions towards unfamiliar situations can often land him into greater trouble. However, the teenager believed that so far, all his meetings had been nothing but blessings in disguise. Zero made many friends and thought that it was a talent in itself. He had naturally powerful charisma even if half of that came from the passive Blessing from Freya. As for Zero's lack of innate talent for combat, the brunet knew that he was a very resourceful individual brimming with creativity. As long as there was a will, there would be a path.

Mitchnew came back with fifteen sandwiches that made Zero drool. It didn't take the growing teen long to wolf down all fifteen sandwiches and Zero let out a loud burp at the end of it, blushing when he caught Mitchnew staring at him. The young doctor apologised and asked if the dark elf knew where Ruth was.

"I would like to arrange a sparring session to try again. This time, I will not hold back and will use all the tricks in my bag to win. I might not be able to correct all the mistakes that you mentioned but I will try not to get myself into any potentially dangerous situation."

His combat instructors were surprised by Zero's declaration but they were happy. It looks like all their worries were unfounded. Zero still had the fire left in him, he wasn't broken. Hua Tuo who overheard it smiled to himself. Perhaps it was time to consider expanding his medical knowledge into the psychology field too. mental health was still health-related after all.

Ruth offered to be Zero's sparring partner first. The vampire studied Zero and was satisfied that there was nothing wrong with Zero. He didn't want to push Zero too hard this time although he wanted to know what kind of tricks Zero had up his sleeves that he has yet to see.

"Remember, this is a pure combat fight. No funny magic tricks and spells. Only buffs, defensive barriers and heals allowed."

Zero nodded and focused. He wasn't going to cheat and use spells. He would only use defensive barriers, heals and buffs. However, he wasn't going to do as he was taught. Strength and speed buffs were useful but they were limited. Zero needed better buffs if he wanted to overcome this obstacle. The marsupial demons had tails and powerful hind legs to help them with their stunts. Zero might not be a marsupial demon with those traits. However, he could make up for some of the differences with different buffs.

"Start!" Mitchnew called out and the vampire dashed in, closing the distance between him and Zero almost immediately.

Zero wasn't fazed by the speed of Ruth's charge. After being knocked down a few hundred times by the same starting, Zero learnt his lesson. Whenever he dodged it, Ruth would follow up with a swift twist and kick to his back. When Zero caught Ruth in a stalemate of power, the vampire would find ways to twist out of it to launch a close-range counter-attack. If Zero met him head-on with speed-enhanced charge, he would only be tripped or flipped over as Ruth used the gravity against him. This time, Zero was going to do something out of everyone's expectations.

If Mitchnew had been in the battle, she wouldn't have seen where Zero went. he moved so quickly that he might have been teleporting but the dark elf didn't call out foul because she knew what Zero had done while Ruth was still trying to get over his initial shock.

Fifty metres above the vampire, Zero timed his dive and accelerated the gravity. Ruth was caught unprepared for an attack from above even though he put up a last-minute defensive barrier against Zero's mighty axe heel from fifty metres above.

Unable to withstand the pressure of that kick, the barrier shattered and pummeled Ruth into the dirt. the vampire coughed out blood and promptly passed out from the impact. Mitchnew rushed in to stop Zero from attacking further. Ruth had been knocked out cold and probably severely injured. She was not worried about the vampire dying just yet because vampires had high-speed regeneration. He would be up again in a few minutes but if Zero did another one of those fifty-metre axe heel dropkicks, the ex-assassin wasn't so sure that Ruth would survive.

Zero blinked as Mitchnew pulled him away. A knock-out just after one attack? The young doctor could hardly believe it. Perhaps... perhaps this was his true strength after all. he might not be untalented in combat, he was simply doing it the wrong way the whole time.

Hope was an infectious thing because once it started, Zero couldn't get it to stop. he wanted to try more of the new ideas that kept popping up in his head. If gravity manipulation buffs were this powerful, imagine what the other buffs would do. Friction, sticking to surfaces, courage enhancement, sense heightening, night vision etc... the possibilities were going to be endless!

Ruth groaned as his body stitched itself back together. Mitchnew looked at him with concern and the vampire was still disoriented.

"What just happened?" he croaked and Zero smiled.

"I used a gravity buff back then. Just as you were closing in I reduced the gravity and jumped then timed it to when you were within range to accelerate the gravity pull and land a basic axe heel dropkick as you taught me."

Ruth paled. That was a dropkick? That axe heel dropkick almost killed him!

"I don't think that's how normal dropkicks are applied," Mitchnew gently told Zero on seeing the horror on Ruth's face.

"Really?"

Mitchnew shook her head. "Dropkicks don't come down from fifty metres with accelerated gravity magic. With that kind of axe heel dropkick, even dragons won't escape unscathed."

Zero clapped, feeling amazed that he managed to create a high-level secret art from just his first experiment. "Can I write this down? I need to include this in my secret martial manual. I'm going to call this 'Dragon Slaying Dropkick from the Heavens'. Does it sound cool?"

Mitchnew nodded to amuse the boy who dashed off to bother Hua Tuo for an extra notebook and paintbrush set. Ruth looked horribly pale and Mitchnew was glad that she wasn't the first one going up against new and improved Zero. Unlike the vampire, she didn't have high-speed regenerative abilities.

"Don't mind if I stand as a referee and observer for the rest of Zero's combat training," she told the Roth survivor who felt as if he'd barely survived anything at all.

"Yes, it might be better for you to sit out. I only hope that Zero can exercise moderation from now on. I was not prepared for that..."

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Mitchnew helped Ruth get on his feet and agreed. "Neither was I, neither was I..."

Hua Tuo's gamble paid off and now there was a whole new deck of trouble waiting for the combat teachers. When Zero was inspired, he was often followed by a trainwreck of troubles. Teaching this teenager wasn't going to be easy for anyone. Who knows what other ridiculous basic moves Zero would modify to become god-killing signature moves? Ruth had a feeling that the Dragon Slaying Dropkick from the Heavens wouldn't be the last of it.

On the bright side, if there was one, Ruth was happy that Zero managed to find a way to overcome the barrier between theory and develop his personal style built upon his natural talent. Still, was it too much to hope that Zero understood what moderation was? The Roth vampire was beginning to wonder why nobody in his clan taught him what holding back and going easy on his enemies meant. If he learnt what mercy was when he was younger and instilled it in Zero, would he have to suffer this much now?

Mitchnew could only comfort the vampire by placing an arm around him as they returned to the hut. At least she could let her mind rest at ease knowing that Zero was such a versatile fighter. It didn't matter what kind of situation he encountered in the future, his creativity would save him from any tight spot. Zero was resourceful and unlike Ruth, she never once doubted Zero's ability to create miracles when the situation called for it.

*Author's Note: I did some research and found out that this saying isn't literal. Lions do not push their cubs off the cliff because they're protective of their young although they will push them off slopes and hills to make them climb back again and again. also, interestingly enough, birds are not pushed off high places to learn how to fly. They jump voluntarily. Yes, I'm as mind blown as you are because I'm so uneducated. My school taught me the wrong things, my life is a lie.

Ball of Nothing

Hua Tuo looked at Zero's secret martial manual and raised a brow. Zero had decided to demonstrate to his shifu the 'overpowered signature moves' that he invented over the last week with his combat teacher. Hua Tuo flipped through the pages and tried not to laugh at that horrible middle-school syndrome leaking through the naming sense. For all the stages of growth that Hua Tuo didn't mind Zero missing out on like the taking apart his waterwheel and catching of garden pixies in action, he didn't want to miss out on this one.

The delusional middle school syndrome was starting to manifest itself in the teenager's personality. The physician didn't know if this was due to a realisation back in the Lake of Reflection or if being in a teenage body affected Zero's mentality. He would have to check that with Gaia but for now, the doctor was more than glad to film all of it down.

"Move Number Six, Hyper Drunken Fist!"

The physician nearly spat out his tea at the name. While it was true that he told Zero about the legendary Drunken Fist Martial Art, he didn't really know if anyone actually practised it. After all, as a doctor, he condoned the excessive use of alcohol. Most people in their intoxicated state would have reduced reaction time, much less be able to fight. Zero's imitation of that Drunken Fist was amusing but also traumatising. Hua Tuo had never seen anyone enter an intoxicated state by increasing their adrenaline.

A high on adrenaline Zero was a hyperactive Zero with no self-control. It was almost as bad as berserker warriors who felt no fear or pain and would charge straight towards their enemies, mowing them down, or towards their untimely deaths.

Ruth and Mitchnew evacuated the area as Zero screamed in a high pitched voice with exhilaration at the mini-tornado formed by his fancy drunken footwork twisted over each other at extreme speeds. His arms waved in wild circles everywhere and Hua Tuo feared for the survival of his flimsy hut. Was it too much to ask that his humble abode survive a year with Zero? How did taking on a medical apprentice become such a chore? Back in his days, apprentices would serve their teachers like Kings...

The adrenaline wore out soon enough and Zero grinned.

"How was it? I can blow enemies away easily like this without hurting anybody in the process."

Hua Tuo deadpanned. His teacup was now empty, all the tea was blown away by the ridiculous attack earlier. Zero took one look at his teacher's expression and gulped. Nope, number six was off the list too. Why was it so difficult to create an attack that was acceptable? Zero didn't really want to kill anyone, just punish them if they were nasty. In fact, he was more than willing to spend a little healing magic to fix up anything he'd break if he went overboard. Hua Tuo was simply too difficult to please!

"I'm taking it as a no...?" Zero grimaced but quickly recovered and introduced his next attack.

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"Number 7! I call it the Invisible Iron Fist of Love!"

Ruth cringed at Zero's naming sense. Not only were the attack names getting weirder, but common sense was also now a thing of the past. After the third attack, the vampire now understood what was so different about this teenager ever since the first time he saw him. Zero was simply brilliant in a batshit crazy manner. When the world was in despair, he would save it using methods nobody could think of like flooding open an artificial dimension and forcing people to eat miasma. However, when the world was boring and at peace, Zero would liven it up just like the construction going on in Half Moon Village and the poor landscape around Hua Tuo's humble hut.

Mitchnew was interested to know how that brilliant mind worked. She'd never seen anything so absurd work so beautifully in mass destruction. True, whatever magic Zero was used were buff magic types. However, the results were off the charts and if she were to rank them, four out of six had already made it into her list of "Top Ten Overpowering Moves" the ex-assassin had ever seen. The young doctor was simply on a different level as an individual. While no normal mage could push buff magic to such extents, no sane magician would even think to try it.

Everyone paid attention as Zero took the basic horse stance that Hua Tuo taught him and added a strange buff that covered his entire arm. Nobody knew what to expect as Zero stared at the boulder before him. With an intense concentration, Zero started converting mana and qi into that arm. The fusion of qi and mana almost made Hua Tuo's eyes pop out of their sockets. How was that even possible?!

Stranger yet, the Invisible Iron Fist of Love didn't turn invisible like what Hua Tuo expected. Instead, it was a flurry of fast strikes towards that boulder at a speed that nobody could see. Was this why it was called invisible? What about the Iron Fist of Love?

That question was soon answered. Hua Tuo saw how Zero made many small holes with something akin to a heart shape from the dents made by Zero's fingers. The boulder didn't seem to have taken much damage at first but even Mitchnew couldn't keep her cool when it completely disintegrated after two seconds. All that was left was a pile of dust by Zero's feet and the young doctor turned towards his teacher with sparkling eyes.

"How was that? Technically the heart-shaped marks were made by the indent of my knuckles but I punched it like a full fist."

Once again, the Sage God was stumped speechless. He didn't know if he should applaud Zero's ability to think out of the box or twist his student's ear off for coming up with such a horrible way to use buff magic and basic combat. While he wasn't denying to the prowess of the move, Hua Tuo simply wanted to erase the existence of every move he'd seen Zero invent so far, including this. There was simply no way the humans would use this as an inspiration to create more trouble after they'd seen it.

"How did you do that?" Hua Tuo asked, indicating at the fusion between magic and qi. For many years, the Sage Gods tried to find a way to let mana and qi coexist but it just simply wasn't possible. Those who cultivated in the ways of mana found that their meridian network became replaced by the chakra network gradually even though the meridian system still remained. It simply became dormant and no amount of cultivation could reawaken it for those who chose to pursue the path of magic. On the other hand, those who cultivated weren't born with chakra channels in them.

Zero tilted his head to a side to indicate his confusion. Hua Tuo walked over and examined Zero's arm with his Medicine Eye. There, he saw the most unusual sight and studied it with fascination. On top of the hill, Mitchnew and Ruth were confused. Why did Hua Tuo stop the demonstration? Zero had created fifteen moves and they'd only seen seven. Had the boy hurt himself with the last one?

"I'm going to check," Ruth told Mitchnew who nodded with no indication of leaving her spot.

The vampire transformed into a bat and flew down to where the teacher and student were. "What's wrong?"

Hua Tuo had tears in his eyes and Zero gave his combat teacher a helpless look. One moment, Hua Tuo was examining his arm and the next, he was bawling over something. Zero could only understand a little of the gibberish Hua Tuo was speaking. It was a language that he heard once or twice when Hua Tuo spoke with Qin Yun. It was the ancient language called Mandarin back on the old Earth but Zero couldn't really make out everything despite the wisdom blessing he possessed. All the apprentice knew was that his teacher might have lost it claiming that it was a miracle. Why would Hua Tuo be so dramatic over a rock breaking technique when he could shatter boulders with one strike of his palm back in Half Moon Village? Zero didn't understand.

"A breakthrough... this is a medical and magical breakthrough!" Hua Tuo sniffed and tried to calm himself.

At this point, Zero had taken it upon himself to call for Merlin and Buddha to explain the situation. Both Sage Gods decided to send their body doubles down to Endow Hill to understand the situation more, too busy to leave their post.

It didn't take long for Buddha and Merlin to arrive but neither Sage Gods were prepared to see Hua Tuo crying while clutching onto Zero's arm.

"Kid, what happened?" Merlin asked and Zero shrugged. Buddha came over quickly as well and studied Zero's arm. Nothing looked out of the ordinary but there was something different about the aura the teen was giving off.

"He was demonstrating his seventh combat-magic special move when Hua Tuo went crazy," Ruth explained to Merlin and Buddha who exchanged looks.

"Could you demonstrate what the seventh move is?" Merlin asked Zero while Buddha gently dragged Hua Tuo back to his hut, chanting the heart scripture to help the cultivator calm down.

Zero agreed and told Merlin that he needed another boulder to demonstrate it. The Wizard God simply asked where Zero wanted it to be then conjured one slightly bigger than the boulder Zero previously disintegrated.

Satisfied, the apprentice told everyone to observe from a distance before assuming his basic horse stance again.

This time, both Merlin and Buddha's eyes widened when they saw Zero 'charging up' to deliver the Invisible Fist of Love. Ruth couldn't understand their reactions but briefly made a mental note on Zero's weakness for this move now that he was watching it up close. His student still hasn't grasped the ability to make use of his wrist flexibly. He was going to put strain to his wrist by delivering swift and powerful blows like that which isn't going to be good in the long run.

After the rock disintegrated, both Sage Gods found tears forming in their eyes. They could now understand why Hua Tuo was bawling like a child. From the hill, Mitchnew was shocked to see three powerful Sage Gods crying like babies. Exactly what was going on? Ruth and Zero exchanged helpless looks and did what they could to console the Sage Gods. It took them hours before the Sage Gods started talking and explaining the situation.

"For centuries, nobody was able to solve the mystery between magic and cultivation. Zero, we cannot be more thankful for your guidance," Buddha humbly bowed.

Zero felt awkward. He didn't really do anything special. If they wanted to know how to merge both qi and mana, they could have simply asked him instead of cry over it for two hours. They've missed lunch because of it!

"It's nothing, really!" Zero tried to convince them but the three Sage Gods didn't allow Zero to deny his contributions towards a better future.

"From now on, we need to start discussing how cultivators and magicians can train together," Merlin declared. With the ability to master cultivation as well, mages no longer have to worry about taking on physical damage and the limits of mana. It was a powerful discovery that will change the ways of mages.

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For Hua Tuo, the discovery meant that cultivators were now able to borrow powers from the void even if they had no compatible magic affinity with any of the six elements. While there were many limitations to the kinds of magic they could use, chaos energy helped to boost the buffs they had cultivated their base in. For the doctor, this may be exactly what the world needed to bring the powerful pugilists of his old world back.

On the other hand, Buddha rejoiced at the breakthrough. He had become stuck with his path towards greater enlightenment because he was unable to withstand the potency of chaos energy in the void after a certain level. He knew that mana could negate the effects of chaos energy but not process it. Who knew that qi was the supporting factor required to convert chaos energy into something useable?

All three options existed for centuries but nobody had made the important connection until Zero did. The Sage Gods were slightly ashamed that they didn't discover it earlier due to their individual stubbornness to join hands. If they'd decided to work on the project collectively, they might have made a huge breakthrough a lot earlier.

Zero didn't really bother about what the Sage Gods were thinking or feeling. At the moment, he was starving. He took Ruth and Mitchnew with him to the portal and told the Sage Gods that he will bring food back for them in an hour. The Sage Gods couldn't stop Zero as he jumped into the portal to crash in on lunch at Half Moon Village.

However, it was a unanimous decision that Buddha and Merlin would stay to watch till the end of Zero's special move demonstration.

Zero looked at the stick in his hand and back at Ruth. The vampire wasn't joking and the brunet wondered how he was ever going to be able to accomplish his new mission. True, it took a lot of practice and patience to perform a surgery. However, in a combat situation, how could anyone retain finesse and grace while defending against an attack or plotting a counter move?

Ruth didn't look like he was fooling around and Zero gulped. It was just an ordinary dried up branch that had fallen to the ground in the forest. Other than firewood, this stick was completely useless for battle. Moreover, Zero wasn't allowed to use magic of any kind during the training with Mitchnew. The dark elf was still very strong and merciless when it came to hand-to-hand combat. The stick was useless in defending against the ex-assassin!

The dark elf couldn't help but snap a picture of the teenager's troubled face with Hua Tuo's communicator. It was fun seeing how Zero's mind worked without pause. He was probably still thinking about that insane sparring session with Ruth from before. Now that he finally found his style of fighting, the doctor was told that magic of any kind was banned. That made Zero rather worried.

"Don't worry," Mitchnew smiled. "It's not going to be anything too difficult or dangerous compared to the previous training. We're going to have you master the art of being in control. When you become the centre of your world, no external forces can harm you."

The teenager didn't quite understand what Mitchnew was getting at. In fact, he looked twice as lost.

Ruth nodded and Miutchnew blindfolded herself before getting into a stance.

"Watch closely," she told the brunet.

The physician stood nearby in case there was a casualty. Mitchnew might be a talented warrior but he didn't know who was stronger when he compared her to the vampire and his student. Ruth was skilful enough to control his attacks so that he didn't harm his sparring partner too much but Zero was a wild horse. Anything could happen in a moment of panic.

Ruth circled Mitchnew and Zero watched with bated breath. The vampire made no noise as he walked and Zero felt a slight worry for Mitchnew who was only relying on her sense of hearing to react.

The wind blew past them and Ruth was careful not to stand in the direction of it blowing towards Mitchnew. Even if he could fool her sense of sight and hearing, the half-elf still had a rather strong sense of smell.

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Zero covered his mouth with both hands when Ruth lunged forward with sharpened claws aiming to stab the seamstress. It wasn't easy suppressing the scream to alert Mitchnew but the young doctor did it anyway. Mitchnew didn't move away even when Ruth was about a foot away from reaching her.

Once it closed in about ten centimetres, Zero saw it. It was very subtle and quick but effective against Ruth who was no longer able to change his trajectory of attack. The seamstress shifted her weight to her other foot and lowered her centre of gravity to stabilise her grounding, giving her ample time to dodge the move while following up with a small deflection of the claws with a well-timed and precise block at Ruth's wrist.

He didn't know when Mitchnew moved her arm but the fact that she did impressed Zero. He probably wouldn't be able to match her speed. Perhaps that was what the stick was for. On the other hand, Zero was proud of his combat teacher for trying to follow up with Mitchnew's defence by changing that stab to a slash. At the same time, he didn't let the advantage of his lunge end. Another hand went to grab Mitchew's wrist while he used that force to swing a leg towards Mitchnew's middle that was unguarded.

Zero was tense. Mitchnew's stance made her deeply grounded and to dodge that kick to her midriff would mean that she had to abandon the fortress style of guarding. Ruth didn't give her any chance to move away with that grip on her wrist. His other hand was already gripping onto her shoulder while the vampire bent the other leg to prepare for landing after his kick.

To the physician and his apprentice's surprise, not only did Mitchnew manage to dodge it, she unleashed a counter attack of her own that Ruth wasn't fully able to block.

The seamstress bent backwards, pulling Ruth over with her and did a back spring before tucking her legs close to her chest in a curl. Zero thought that she looked beautiful at that moment with her snow-white hair flying in the air as she delivered a double dropkick to Ruth in the chest who was unable to run with Mitchnew twisting his wrist. The initial wrist grab from Ruth was now turned against him with Mitchnew locking his entire arm into a position that gave her the advantage.

The vampire grunted when the kick fractured some bones and felt his shoulder pop on the impact. He shouldn't have gone easy on the dark elf and now regretted being careless during the demonstration. Thankfully, Zero was a fast learner and didn't need a second demonstration. In terms of combat technique, Ruth was still unable to win Mitchnew.

The archer was a master in the art of assassination. Her combat style was very clean which consisted of no wasting movements and it was exactly what Zero needed to learn. In a situation that Zero was unable to use magic or qi, he would have to rely on this skill. Hua Tuo had concerns about Zero's special constitution and Ruth understood it. Zero was not able to produce mana naturally and depended heavily on his environment to 'harvest' his resources for a battle. Mitchnew's skill was going to be very important for Zero on his travels.

As Mitchnew undid the knots to her blindfold, Ruth was already sitting up and shrugging the dislocated joint back into the socket. Zero rushed over to check for injuries while Hua Tuo strolled. Mitchnew was definitely still the best assassin even though she was retired. After several nights of sparring and learning the martial manual with Ruth, she was able to grasp the profound basics. Tai Ji was all about balance and while Ruth had some difficulties applying that concept to his fighting style, Mitchnew took to it like a duck to water.

The physician looked at all three youngsters and nodded. He was glad that Zero had Ruth as his combat instructor for the basic training of magic and combat infusion as well as reaction time. There was literally nobody in Half Moon Village who was faster than Ruth and more battle-honed than the Roth survivor. On the other hand, what Ruth lacked in techniques to teach was made up for by Mitchnew. The dark elf had mastered the art of exploiting weaknesses over the years in her career. The control she had over her body allowed her to become god within the circle of a metre's radius around her. Zero had the best of both worlds between power and technique. Hua Tuo had already thought of the name for Zero's martial art creation - Equilibrium.

However, for Equilibrium to reach its maximum potential, Zero had to overcome his shortcomings. The first was patience and the second was discipline. The tonfa was a weapon meant to disarm and render the opponents immobile. It wasn't a weapon to kill and was relatively peaceful. The only downside Hua Tuo could think of was the strict use of the weapon. It wasn't very flexible and was only going to be a burden in the hands of an amateur in a real battle. Those who didn't know how to use it could find themselves getting hurt.

Zero applauded at the short demonstration and asked when he could begin his training. Mitchnew smiled at the eager apprentice and told him that he had some trials to overcome before they could start teaching him the basics of this martial art.

"What should I do first?" Zero asked.

This time, Hua Tuo stepped in instead of his combat teachers.

"You will be training with me for the first stage," the physician told him.

Zero visibly deflated and Mitchnew chuckled when he whined. Hua Tuo played the part of a strict grandfather by pinching his student by the cheek and chiding him. Zero became teary-eyed and quickly cradled his abused cheek when Hua Tuo finally let it go.

"Humph! Youngsters nowadays have no patience, no respect for the past and culture. how will you ever accomplish great things if you can't persevere a little hardship? Not even learning how to crawl and yet you want to fly. Ridiculous!"

Zero deadpanned. "I know how to crawl! I just need to learn how to shapeshift and practice controlling a shape-shifted form before flying."

Apparently, the physician in his 'shifu' mode didn't take kindly to refutes and Zero ended up cradling his other cheek.

"Aiya! Children nowadays don't know how to respect their elders. How will you learn anything if you keep yapping? I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice, the words of old men like me should be treated like gems! Don't question me and start moving! For every day that you do not succeed you will have to pull the noodles and make dinner for all your teachers here, do you understand?"

Not wanting to risk any more cheeks up for abuse, Zero scrambled to his feet and took off. Hua Tuo's trial was simple. Zero had to go to the waterfall and meditate under it. No, it wasn't the one in the Lake of Reflection. Zero had to go to the depths of Endow Hill's forest to find a unique spring that has three waterfalls pouring into it. The spring was where the rivers around Endow hill get their water and nobody really knows where the source of water comes from because all three waterfalls continue to roar regardless of the season.

Hua Tuo hardly visited it but the physician told Zero that it was known as the Trigression Falls.

"There are three waterfalls that you must conquer," Hua Tuo told Zero. "The first is the Aggression Falls where the water is always fierce and strong. If you do not conquer it, the water will drown you."

"The second it Progression Falls. The water there is very good for nurturing cultivators. However, as you improve, the temperature becomes hotter and more unbearable. It's a strange waterfall and many cultivators get scalded there even if the water temperature is icy cold when drinking. Be careful."

"The third waterfall is the strangest of all, it's called the Regression Falls and the water is icy cold and continues to get colder the longer you stay in it. Not only that, the Regression Falls flows differently from the other two waterfalls in that spring. It flows upwards while the weight of meditating in it pulls you downwards. This is the most dangerous waterfall and you can only attempt it after you've conquered both the Aggression and Progression Falls."

Zero soaked in his mentor's words and nodded, he was going to find the Trigression Falls to add it to his map before lunch. While the teenager wasn't allowed to use magic during his training, nobody said anything about using magic to improve the process of getting to his training.

The young doctor decided that once he found the falls, he was going to make a portal to teleport there at will. That would save him a lot of time travelling and give him more training time.

Mitchnew, Ruth and Hua Tuo watched as Zero left. as soon as he was out of sight, they pounced onto Hua Tuo's communicator. Thanks to the new app, they could trace where Zero went as long as he carried his communicator on him.

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"I'll hunt, you watch him."

Mitchnew nodded and the vampire left to find food. Hua Tuo decided to start with washing the rice and cutting the vegetables so the seamstress was left alone to monitor the reckless brunet who had already started to go off tangent from his objective.

Seriously! How hard was it to follow instructions? Find a river and follow it upwards to get to the Trigression Falls. Why was Zero walking away from the river and into the dense forest?

Mitchnew was torn. Hua Tuo told her to strictly observe and report back in half an hour if Zero still hasn't found the Falls. Usually, it would take about four hours for an average human to walk there but Hua Tuo only gave Zero an hour to get back for lunch. The seamstress couldn't quite understand what the Sage God was thinking but she followed the instructions dutifully, hoping that it wasn't a mistake.

As the dark elf watched Zero stray further and further from his target, she wondered if their training could be successfully completed in three months.

Oblivious to Mitchnew's worries, Zero was having the time of his life. He'd been to the forest many times and had a very good map of the place. However, there were still many unmapped areas and Zero wanted to tackle everything. He had an hour to be back for lunch and that was plenty of time for the teen to do what he wanted.

The first place Zero found himself going to was the swamp in the forest. The last time he came here, it wasn't fully explored. Zero got sidetracked by the fireflies. This time, he wanted to map the entire forest accurately.

Apart from marking the entire forest of Endow Hill past the limits of what Hua Tuo normally allowed for hunting, Zero wanted to try to find out the source of the water coming from the three waterfalls. Hua Tuo said that it was a mystery because nobody succeeded in tracking down the origin of the mysterious water and that only made Zero more determined. As an adventurous soul, how could he not try to solve a mystery when it presented itself?

Mitchnew didn't know what Zero was thinking as she watched the app stall for a bit before recalculating Zero's position. The sudden jump in position a few hundred metres at a time could only mean one thing. Zero was teleporting again.

The dark elf tried to analyse Zero's movement pattern to understand what the brunet was doing to no avail. Her knowledge of the terrain on Endow Hill was extremely limited. They didn't explore more than what was needed. Hua Tuo was the only person residing so deep in the dangerous mountain despite the threat of a dragon looming above his head.

Zero hooted in exhilaration as he zipped past another vine, free-falling as he teleported upwards and targeting a new area to teleport to. This would be the closest he got to flying.

"You're not being mana-efficient," Bob reminded the teenager who giggled.

"Yes, sorry about that. I got too excited. What am I missing now?"

Mii studied the map that was slowly updating as Zero covered ground. "The forest is mostly covered apart from the underground caverns but I doubt you can do all of those today. Why don't we start heading to the Trigression Falls now? It's about twenty kilometres east of your current position."

Zero nodded and cast buff magic on himself. The young doctor readied himself for the launch and knelt down. The multi-layered buff magic worked well and Zero sent himself flying high above the clouds with a good jump.

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Mii helped Zero quickly equip his squirrel onesie and the teenager glided over to the Falls gracefully, enjoying the wind in his face.

Even from the top, Zero still could not trace the source of water that was supplied to the Trigression Falls. Each waterfall also had its unique effects and Zero wondered if there was more than met the eye for things pertaining to Endow Hill. There weren't any streams or rapids leading to the waterfalls. If anything, Zero only saw barren cliffs above the deep spring where water was pouring into it. The spring had a unique shade of green, blue and white. There was also a permanent double rainbow above the spring making it look magical.

The young doctor didn't know if Hua Tuo was testing him when he told him to find the Trigression Falls. There was absolutely no road in and if Zero hadn't taken to the skies, he would never find it despite hearing the roaring of water.

"Where is the river? All I see is water pouring into the spring. Shouldn't it lead to some kind of river? Where does the water from the river behind shifu's house come from?"

Mii studied the Trigression Falls and also found that to be strange. It looked like an isolated valley in the middle of three huge cliffs with waterfalls pouring into it and unless someone climbs to the very top of the cliff to dive into it, nobody would find the secret spring.

"The water beneath that spring leads to another river and lake," Bob explained. "I've been here a few times in my past lives to recuperate from time to time. It's a hidden gem of Endow Hill, I'm surprised that your teacher even knows about it."

Zero hummed and prepared for his descend. This time, He changed into his swimming costume and felt very exposed.

"I think I should get a better swimming costume. It's freezing on the top and my butt is hanging out," the young doctor commented, making Bob laugh.

Zero was not ready for the bone-chilling coldness that almost made him incapable of moving when he plunged into the spring. The waterfalls were roaring so loudly that Zerto couldn't even hear himself think, much less concentrate on Mii and Bob's conversation.

Hua Tuo certainly wasn't joking when he told Zero not to start his training without supervision. It was dangerous and Zero almost forgot his purpose of coming over.

The teenager swam upwards and climbed up a slippery rock with the help of a friction buff. The rock had some algae and moss growing on it but it was surprisingly smooth. Now that Zero was out of the icy water, he was able to have a better look at the spring.

The spring wasn't very large. However, with three waterfalls, it had a lot going on at any one point of time.

Zero easily identified the Regression Falls because it was the only one with water clouds at the top and bubbles at the bottom. The edge of the spring was littered with some huge smooth-surfaced rocks like the one he was on. It didn't occur to Zero how strange it was as he hopped from one rock to another trying to find a good spot for his portal until the 'rock' he jumped on moved.

The boy slipped and slid to the side, digging his nails into the 'rock' but lost the battle and plunged into the icy water once more.

A shadow passed over Zero'shead and the teenager looked up. His eyes widened when something big was coming his way. With an emergency teleport, Zero put a good fifty metres of distance between him and the attacker. However, the sight from afar made Zero's jaw drop.

"Turtle?"

Bob laughed at Zero's confusion as he watched the animal swim away to rest beneath the Progression Falls.

"Yes, these turtles are the guardian of the Spring with unimaginable cultivation levels. They purify the water here in the Spring and maintain the harmony between the three waterfalls. Without them, the Spring would be destroyed with the strange nature of each individual water source."

Zero hummed. From beneath the water's surface, the roaring sounds of the waterfall was much less distracting. Zero was now able to see with his Dark Vision that turtles weren't the only living creatures in the water. There were tiny fishes, strange glowing bugs and even water sprites.

"Where is the underwater river that carries the water here down to the river by the water wheel?" Zero asked as he swam around after absorbing a random fish to gain its underwater breathing abilities.

"Nevermind, I know where it is now," Zero told Bob after the memories of the fish synced with his.

The brunet decided to head up to the surface and look for a good place to put his portal. He had a feeling that Hua Tuo sent him to scout for the location because he didn't want to spend four hours hiking to the location. The mystery of the underwater cavern and currents could wait for now. According to the fish's memory, there was also a bigger monster than the turtles on the surface lurking in the spring. Sadly, that didn't give the young doctor any hint about the Trigression Falls' origin. He would have to investigate that later.

Zero swam up to the surface and climbed on the turtle's back once more, cautious about their sudden movements this time. He adhered some sticky magic to the soles of his feet as he walked in search of a safe place to create a portal.

Zero inspected the perimeters and found a secret cave behind the Aggression Falls. It was small and damp but Zero had no problems with it. The brunet spent ten minutes making it homey with Mii's help.

The cave was washed with cleaning magic, lit with light magic lanterns and had its floors and walls altered to be smooth stone. Zero took it upon himself to add patterned engravings to the stone floor for 'anti-slip' effects. None of his friends questioned him and Zero looked satisfied with his work. He faced the wall furthest away from the falls and grabbed the flint he found earlier while cleaning the cave.

The portal circle was quickly drawn in five minutes and Zero decided to make some additions to the space surrounding the cave before he activated the portal magic. It wouldn't do good for the water outside to keep splashing into the cave and it could be annoying to have to hear the continuous sound of rushing water right from the beginning. Plus, it gets cold easily so Zero decided to make buff magic to resolve all that.

"Can I design the magic array to draw its powers from the water?" he asked Bob who nodded.

"You'd need to redesign this portion here and link it all the way out. Here, let me do this. You focus on lighting the place up a little more," the Eternal Dragon offered.

The trio worked quickly and efficiently, transforming the narrow cave into a welcoming one. If Freya was around to see it, she would think that they made home makeover artists. Proud of his work, Zero snapped a photo and sent it to his teacher. He also asked if there was anything Hua Tuo wanted to add to the cave and activated the portal.

Hua Tuo was still cooking and the text was seen by Mitchnew instead who raised a brow. The dark elf zoomed in to look at the interior designing. While it looked like a portal room, Mitchnew could tell that it wasn't so before. The interior looked unstable at best with soft earth making the parts of the ceiling.

(You might want to reinforce the ceiling and walls so it doesn't cave in when it rains. Soft earth does not make for good building materials.)

Zero looked at the text and blinked before checking the ceiling. True enough, there was soft earth and the young doctor texted back.

(Will reinforce them, thanks Mitchnew!)

When the ex-assassin saw the reply, she was mildly surprised. how did Zero know that it was her and not Hua Tuo who replied?

Puzzled but happy that Zero finally reached his destination, the dark elf continued to keep an eye. Ruth was still disassembling his catch and Hua Tuo was putting the final touches to his soup. Zero had better not be late because it was quite the feast both men were preparing. Even though the physician claimed to make Zero prepare lunch by himself if he failed, he didn't seem to have any intention to let Zero do any of the cooking. That was definitely an empty threat and Mitchnew couldn't help but feel amused.

She walked over to help set the table when Hua Tuo turned to her and asked about Zero's progress. Mitchnew told the physician that Zero had found the Trigression Falls and was setting base there.

"How did he know that it wasn't you texting?"

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The Sage God only laughed and shook his head. "After the countless times Zero has destroyed my hut, do you think I'll be bothered by some dirt caving in? No! Of course not. If anything, I'd be concerned about his overdoing it with the magic. Besides, if he has the time to be building portal rooms, he might as well prepare a bridge for training under the falls. The 'rocks' aren't stable and he should have found out by now."

Mitchnew was clueless about what the physician was talking about but nodded anyway. Who knew that Hua Tuo had such a unique perspective about things? Just when the dark elf thought she was able to be on the same wavelength in terms of thought process, both student and master continue to surprise her by throwing her common sense to the void.

Still, she glanced at the time. Zero had only three more minutes before lunch. Ruth had completely forgone the traditional roasting method and skewered the pheasant on a sharp stick and fired it using fire magic.

Zero popped back into existence with long-distance teleportation just in time to see the pheasant getting a nice crisp on the outside.

"Smells delicious!" he proclaimed and Hua Tuo took that as a cue to start serving the noodle soup.

Ball of Nothing

Zero let out a long burp. Lunch was delicious and now that he was full of energy, he turned his hopeful eyes towards Hua Tuo. The physician knew that look. Zero gave him this expectant eyes whenever he was promised lessons about something new.

With the brilliant boy's intelligence, it was sometimes difficult to keep up with his hunger for knowledge. Thankfully, this lesson was going to be a much simpler one for Hua Tuo to teach. It didn't consume his limited energy and stamina. Perhaps this would be the week Hua Tuo could finally enjoy meaningful peace and tranquillity with Zero's special trials.

They warped over to the new training ground and Hua Tuo was impressed with the amount of thought for luxury his student had catered for. The room was practically flawless with the sound barrier, smooth walls and water-free stone floor. His student had clearly taken Mitchnew's suggestion about reinforcing the ceiling and loose parts of the wall too. It was a very homey cave that Hua Tuo wouldn't mind visiting from time to time even after the training had ended. Perhaps he could practice his own cultivation here while Zero undergoes the trials.

Zero was quick to change into his swimming costume and shivered a little. The teenager's body was still rather skinny despite how much he ate and Hua Tuo didn't realise how underdeveloped Zero's body was. The teenager was still very much androgynous and if Hua Tuo looked closer, he could now understand why Zero never needed a bathroom break.

Zero didn't possess any genitals.

Still, Hua Tuo found it odd. His student was capable of performing feats that big muscled warriors sometimes found difficult. Removing the magic buff effects and qi enhanced strikes, Zero was also several hundred times stronger than the average human. Hua Tuo was a Sage God but not even he had Zero's crazy resilience towards falling boulders from cliffs without aid. The strangest part about this was how Zero didn't have any toned muscles despite the harsh combat training. Zero didn't complain about muscle aches and the Sage God was suddenly curious about Zero's physical composition. No wonder some things didn't add up when he was teaching the boy about basic anatomy. Zero couldn't relate to the things he was talking about simply because it didn't apply to him.

Didn't that mean Zero was actually a gifted magician and doctor if he wasn't able to relate to what the experience was like but still accomplish the same things others did?

The physician was mind blown. Zero might be the Great One's incarnation of sorts but this wasn't simply about power. Zero didn't have his memories and this spoke of pure talent to be able to learn things so easily without relying on past achievements.

"I'm ready!" Zero called out.

Hua Tuo snapped out of his thoughts and looked over to the three waterfalls. There were no bridges and the physician sighed.

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"Let's build you some bridges here before we start training," he told his apprentice who eagerly nodded.

With Hua Tuo's guidance, the master and student duo worked quickly to grow some branches from the cliff face to act as temporary walkways without disturbing the marine life in the water.

"Shifu, will these branches hold steady? The waterfalls are very strong..."

The Sage God looked over to the branches and studied it. While the waterfalls are vicious, the plants will hold steady after a while. These waterfalls aren't ordinary after all. They held the important catalyst for speedy cultivation. Anything that possesses life will benefit from being exposed to the water here for long enough. Hua Tuo didn't know where the water came from but he understood that some of the good things in life shouldn't be questioned. Ignorance was bliss and often the peace and prosperity received by others had been built upon the blood and lives of others.

"Don't worry," he told his apprentice. "They will grow stronger in a bit. Right now, I need you to get accustomed to the water. Go for a swim."

Zero stared at his teacher wide-eyed. Swim? In this water? It's mind-numbing cold! The look in Hua Tuo's eyes told Zero that there was no room for negotiation. The teen hesitated for a while before taking the plunge again.

Hua Tuo wasn't very surprised when Zero started doing laps in the freezing water without surfacing at all. In fact, the physician had lost sight of his student about two minutes ago when Zero decided to start exploring the bottom of the spring. He kept an eye on the communicator to track Zero's location while he readied the meditation spots for Zero's training. His student was going to wake the monster in the spring at this rate but Hua Tuo wasn't too worried. Bob and Mii were there to pull Zero out of trouble if necessary and his apprentice was strong enough to take care of an oversized goldfish.

Zero was having fun. After the first minute, he had grown used to the numbing cold. Maybe it was slightly cheating to transform his body a little. While he wasn't very good at controlling his transformations, Zero was confident growing a few new scales in exchange for some mana wouldn't hurt. What's the worst that could happen? The scales would fall off and Zero would be cold all over again.

Silver scales started to cover Zero's body and his eyes transformed to accustom itself to dark vision while gills grew out at the side of Zero's neck. The teen also took a page out of Douglas' book and tried to replicate the webbed fingers and feet to help him swim faster. He was looking more like an awkward land merman than a fish in the spring but Zero didn't mind. He was actually rather proud of his first transformation and was pleased to find out how little mana the transformation consumed.

"That's because you're simply adding things to your existing physical form. If you needed to alter the size of it, you'd be using a lot more mana. For instance, shrinking into a bat will consume at least five times more mana than what you're using now," Bob explained.

Zero hummed and continued swimming downwards. By now, the sound of roaring water could not be heard. The darkness made it hard for Zero to tell what colours he saw. However, there was some strange current beginning to pull Zero away from his intended destination. The teen looked up and could only see a dim glow of something from above. He was so deep down that light no longer passed through easily and wondered how deep the spring truly was. According to the fish's memory, there was a monster lurking somewhere underneath so Zero decided to dive deeper. He wanted to catch a glimpse of that monster for himself.

On the surface, Hua Tuo was ready with the preparations. All he needed was for Zero to resurface before he introduced him to the strange formation. The order of training would be Aggression Falls, Progress Falls then Regressions Falls. The physician would bet his right arm that Zero would spend the longest time mastering the Aggression Falls simply because of Zero's impatient nature. While the water tries to drown the person in contact with it, the true challenge lies in the ability to let go of control and allow the water to assault the victim. Plants often pass the challenge of this first waterfall easily simply because they were helpless and cannot move. Animals, on the other hand, will shun the waterfall and often conquer the Progression Falls first.

Aggression Falls was good for enlightenment and helps basic cultivators to open up their meridian channels forcefully with the help of this water. While it wasn't beneficial for Zero to train under this waterfall because of his well-developed channels, Hua Tuo thought that Zero could learn how to properly enter a zen mode in meditation instead of drifting towards the void and making strange friends during his sessions. It was important for Zero to know his inner world that didn't consist of his mindscape friends in times of self-doubt.

The teacher looked around and raised a brow. The app said that Zero has been in the same area for about twenty minutes now. Was his idiot student really going to try hunt that giant goldfish?

Several hundred feet down in the water, Zero felt a movement behind him and paused. He spun around only to see nothing behind him. Then again, the movement was now behind him and the brunet called out his map.

Mii detected many presences in the vicinity but there was one that spoke of potential danger. It was huge!

"Zero, there's some kind of monster near you now, be ready for combat and escape if necessary. It could potentially swallow you whole..." the strawcherry fairy warned.

Zero grinned. It sounded like a perfect hunt for lunch and Zero wondered what kind of monster it was. According to the fish's memory, the monster had very big eyes and an ugly mouth with sharp teeth that caved inwards.

For the next ten minutes, Zero played hide-and-seek with the spring monster but didn't manage to catch sight of it. He tried to lure it out into the open but the monster preferred to hide behind the huge rock formations in the dark. The teen caught sight of its tail once or twice but wasn't too sure if that was the tail. It looked far too thin to be a tail and Zero raised a brow. What exactly did this monster eat? Perhaps Zero could lure it out to catch a glimpse of it if he knew what it ate.

Although it was dark, Zero's intuition prickled. Something was sneaking up on him from behind with the intention to kill him. This time, the brunet didn't turn. He waited for the attacker to come close and make its move before pulling a last-minute escape by swimming upwards.

The spring monster gnashed its teeth and let out a furious roar at losing its prey when Zero zipped past its ugly jaw. Zero was excited and turned around to look at his potential murderer with a huge grin. What he previously thought was its tail turned out to be a whisker. The spring monster was a huge koi fish who looked extremely mad as it chased Zero.

The boy took this opportunity to lure the fish upwards and swam in a zig-zag fashion to avoid other marine creatures who were darting out of the monster's path. The monster koi was adamant and didn't give up its pursuit of Zero who had lost some of his scales in the race. He shivered as the cold permeated his bones once more but ignored it with adrenaline numbing the discomfort. He had only one thing on his mind and that was to fish up this huge monster.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a snack after training?

"It's COMING!" Mii shrieked as the koi monster opened its huge mouth and gained in on Zero.

The young doctor was ready for it. he deliberately slowed down as he neared the surface and allowed the huge carp to gain on him. Hua Tuo was nearby and Zero wanted to show his teacher how brilliant this monster was. If they could fillet it, he probably wouldn't need to fish for about two months.

"Shifu! Look at what I caught!" Zero screamed as he shot out of the water with the huge carp right behind him.

Hua Tuo wasn't prepared for the guardian of the spring to surface with his student squealing in tow as it snapped its jaws in the air. Zero did a twist and avoided becoming the carp monster's food for now.

The Sage God felt his jaw fall. While he knew that Zero was going to hunt the monster guardian, he didn't think the teenager would lead it out of its hiding to the surface.

"Zero!"

The boy somersaulted in the air and yelped as gravity took its toll and sent him plunging into the cold water again.

In the water, the boy skillfully evaded the carp's attacks and swam in circles. Hua Tuo didn't know what to do and watched as his student tried to teach the big fish some tricks. Wasn't the cold water enough to calm his student down enough for the first training? With so much adrenaline, the boy was just going to go berserk when he trains under the Aggression falls.

Having enough of the big fish's attempt to bite his legs off, Zero aimed a kick to the fish's tender underside and sent it shooting upwards into the air almost as high as the cliff. The boy then propelled himself upwards and booted the big fish with his butt to a clifftop and landed with a huge splash in the middle of the spring.

Hua Tuo was thoroughly soaked from that amazing cannonball dive and cursed. He should have known that this would happen but the physician was too complacent and neglected to bring a set of dry clothes. He squinted at the sky where the giant spring guardian was flopping on the edge of the cliff and felt a headache forming.

Zero swam to the surface and shivered at the cold. By now, all his scales had fallen off from the water chase. He made his way over to his teacher who looked like he'd gone swimming in his robes. Zero ignored it completely and asked if they could fillet the monster fish before they begin their training.

Hua Tuo felt his eyes bulged when he heard about what Zero wanted to do with the monster koi.

"You will do no such thing! This is a huge disrespect to the guardian of this spring. You will return it to the spring immediately and apologise to it!"

Zero was stunned. After so much effort trying to catch the monster, he was told to release it. Why would anyone go fishing only to release the fish caught? It was such a waste of time and effort. however, Hua Tuo's words were final and Zero begrudgingly let the carp back into the water.

As a proud carp monster, it had never been beaten before. Being defeated by what it thought would be a good meal made the spring monster realise how much trouble it was in. The moment Zero pushed it off the cliff and into the water, the carp swam away into the depths of the spring, never to return again. Zero watched sadly as the big fish ran away and sighed. He felt his stomach growl a little and the young doctor patted it as if t0o comfort the disappointed organ.

Hua Tuo waited for his apprentice to come down from the cliff in yet another magnificent splash. He was not amused when water rained down upon him again. His apprentice had once more established how far from normal he was. Cliff diving was a sport that only daredevils dared attempt. On the other hand, his student was treating it like a children springboard to an inflated pool. Still, the physician kept the thoughts to himself. It was none of his business what Zero thought of as normal, he would soon find out when he travelled that being normal is boring.

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"I'm ready now, shifu. What are we going to do?"

Hua Tuo pointed to the nest formed by tree branches right beneath the Aggression Falls.

"You will meditate there until dinner. Remember that this waterfall will try to drown you. It will also bring up a lot of illusions to try and shake your emotional foundation. You must not be swayed by them and always hold on to your centre as you meditate. Ignore the feelings, ignore the sounds, ignore the sensations you will feel and focus on nothingness."

Zero nodded and climbed over to the meditation spot with the help of some vines. The water made it slippery to cross safely and Zero was glad that he learnt how to use friction buffs. They were simply too handy to not know.

As Zero sat down in his crossed-legged position and shivered underneath the steady flow of water, Hua Tuo decided to keep an eye out on his student. The first hour was crucial. If Zero was unable to build a resistance to the illusions and negative feelings that the waterfall induces, they would have to skip it in favour of another waterfall for now.

Ball of Nothing

Zero didn't know how to describe the feeling of sitting under the Aggression Falls. While it was true that the water tried to drown him, Zero felt that it was more irritating than dangerous. The pins and needles feeling wherever the water made contact with his skin was annoying. Zero couldn't really move to scratch it or shrug it off during a meditation session.

Hua Tuo watched as his student fidgeted constantly underneath the waterfall. He thought that Zero looked slightly constipated with his strange scrunched up expression. He'd never seen Zero make such a face and wondered what was wrong. While the Aggression Falls was the most physically distracting waterfall, he didn't think that it would affect Zero this badly.

Zero was growing increasingly irritated. Now he could understand how Baal felt when he accidentally destroyed towns. Having to sit still and not get rid of irritants is a horrible thing! Mii and Bob fretted silently in Zero's mindscape. It hasn't even been five minutes but Zero's murderous intent had increased to twice since the time he learnt about Count Carrabas' existence. If sneezing could make Baal feel better even at the expense of human lives, it was probably worth it.

Zero felt a different kind of chill seep into his heart when the weight of that thought hit him hard. No! What was he becoming? The prickles of the water were insignificant compared to the horrific thought that his brain supplied him. What was he thinking? Human lives in exchange for a brief reprieve of discomfort? He was a doctor for crying out loud!

Hua Tuo saw the change in aura after ten minutes and smiled. Finally some progress! Zero might be a little bit of a slow bloomer but he certainly was a good student. Once he understood a concept, it wouldn't take him long to understand the entire process. The physician relaxed a little and decided to sit under the Progression Falls to start on his own training.

Mii and Bob relaxed a little when Zero finally understood the meaning behind Hua Tuo's words. Aggression Falls was actually rather similar to the Lake of Reflection. It forces Zero to look into his personal weaknesses one after another. If Zero showed any signs of weakness, the water will try to use that against him and drown him. It certainly wasn't easy to deal with such a trial and the young doctor tried his best to focus on the reason behind his training.

Sadly, knowing something and applying that knowledge were two very different skills. Zero might be able to understand the intentions but coping with it and reacting accordingly was hard. The boy often found himself falling into the illusion's trap and giving in to the irritating stimulations by reacting. He didn't know how long he spent meditating underneath the waterfall but the roaring of water was still deafening to him. It was going to be a long road before Zero mastered the art of ignoring and tuning out to external influences like Hua Tuo wanted him to do.

This training simply went against everything in Zero's existence. the boy craved adventure, sensations, thoughts and stimulants but Hua Tuo wanted him to empty out everything and become nothing. The teenager wondered if he was destined to fail this training. After all, it often puts him into a state of panic whenever he thinks about returning to that void without anyone to hear him or know about his existence. Zero's inability to move and powerlessness scared him so bad that the young physician has made a subconscious promise to never end up in that state again.

Zero filled his meaningless existence with colours by going out to seek new things, people and explore all sorts of ideas. The one thing that Zero knew he was probably not able to overcome would be his very existence and nature. He was the embodiment of the void but even he was afraid of what he represented.

Anything that went to the void never returned. That saying was only too true for Zero as he shuddered under the frigid water. This time, the Aggression Falls played on Zero's hatred for cold and the young doctor screwed both eyes shut tightly, trying hard to suppress the tremors wracking his body.

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The cold was good, Zero told himself. If he could feel it, he was still alright. He couldn't deal with nothingness and embraced the numbing cold that borderline pain. The teenager would take everything that Aggression Falls could give to him.

As if sensing his thoughts, the Aggression Falls changed its strategy and supplied Zero with a sense of numbness throughout his body. Yes, Zero was still able to hear the sound of water and the sensation of it hitting his skin. However, after a while, they became so repetitive that Zero's mind found it hard to focus on them. It automatically filtered them out and the teenager panicked.

Hua Tuo sensed a spike in qi and mana fluctuation around Zero and opened his eyes. The resting turtles had long evacuated the Aggression Falls when Zero first showed signs of internal struggles. His powerful aura leaked out from time to time, causing the weaker animals to experience a fit.

Hua Tuo paused his cultivation and frowned. Zero didn't seem to be winning this particular battle with his chaotic energy leaking to the surroundings. Plants were turning brown and Hua Tuo decided that it was enough.

He picked up a pebble from nearby and flicked it towards his student's forehead with deadly accuracy. After skipping eighteen times across the water surface, the pebble connected with Zero's forehead with a thwack sound, causing the brunet to lose balance and fall into the icy water below.

Zero swam to the surface and spluttered. His eyes were wide open with shock as he hyperventilated. It took him a while to register that Hua Tuo was watching him.

"You're not tackling the problem at its root. Running from it while only cause you to train the wrong way. Do you want to be like Mei Chaofeng?"

Zero shook his head and became serious this time. Hua Tuo certainly wasn't fooling around when he warned him about the dangers. The Aggression Falls was probably the most dangerous of all three waterfalls as it messes with the mind. Zero was ashamed and felt frustrated. He was able to understand the concept but why was it so hard to put it into practice?

Hua Tuo knew that look. He'd experienced the same frustration many years ago. Even as a medical genius, there were things that he wasn't able to do even though he saw it clearly in his mind. However, there was no shortcut for this path. Zero had to overcome them with his own strength. This was why it was called a trial. While Zero was already strong, the physician knew that it was only the tip of the iceberg for Zero's true potential. He'd talked about it with Buddha and they agreed that Zero was going to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. With his current abilities, Zero would only fumble and succumb to the same darkness that plagued the Great One. if they wanted the story to have a different ending, something had to change.

Unlike the Great Gods, Sage Gods were once humans and they understood what was limiting the Gods. Humans of the past were able to slay Gods simply because they found a way to exploit the weakness of all Gods. Zero was no exception to the weakness. In fact, Zero was more vulnerable to it than the Great Gods simply because of his lack of experience and naivety.

That one weakness was not power or knowledge but fear. Great Gods and Gods were born with powers so great that there was essentially nothing that could take them down apart from each other. They simply used their overwhelming might and knowledge to rule and take down their enemies. Zero was the same. Anything that he did was over the top and caused huge waves of change for everyone. However, while making all these impressive changes, both Zero and the Gods often overlook a simple fact that they were not infallible.

Unlike humans we were constantly cross-examining themselves to improve, Zero and the Great Gods were happy to expand on their capabilities instead of filling the holes that made them imperfect. It was also the case with Zero who kept on using magic to make his life easier. The boy used magic to clean, sew and travel. In the process, he was missing out on things like knowing how to start a campfire using flint, seeing the different scenes along the way while he travelled or even the feeling of accomplishment at completing an embroidery stitch by stitch.

The Aggression Falls was one thing that could make even the mightiest Gods fumble. It could be avoided but not many could conquer it successfully. It was worse than dark magic that was manipulatable. The water is a reflection of one's greatest weakness and nails them completely. For powerful beings who were not used to being at anyone's mercy, it was a terrifying experience to let the water take control. The mind was also at the mercy of the illusions that were impossible to dispel because no magic was involved.

Zero climbed back up onto the platform and slapped himself a few times before inhaling deeply and closing his eyes. Hua Tuo watched his disciple struggle with the water for three full minutes before his eyes shot wide open. The look of unadulterated fear in the hazel eyes confirmed Hua Tuo's suspicions.

All the other fears and annoyances were easily dealt with because of Zero's all-encompassing nature like Gaia's. However, the one thing the Sage God thought Zero might struggle with was himself. Zero was terribly afraid of loneliness and while Hua Tuo understood it, nobody suffered from it more than Zero did.

Zero shared a look with his teacher and Hua Tuo didn't say anything. Zero understood too well what must be done. the Aggression Falls was the perfect start for Zero's trials. If he couldn't accept himself for what he was, there would be no way Zero could surpass his present self.

As the brunet watched his master go back to cultivating under the Progression Falls, he started to contemplate. Perhaps he really wasn't ready to conquer this trial just yet.

"What are you going to do?" Bob asked.

Zero didn't have an answer. He knew that if he walked away now, he would still not have an answer as to how he could overcome this fear. However, he certainly wasn't ready to face the paralysing illusion that reflected his inner world.

"I don't know... I'm not ready for this but I don't think I ever will be..."

Mii stopped her work and blinked. "What about a break? I say you've made good enough progress. You've mastered basic magic, some combat and medicine. learning combat wasn't part of the initial agreement, was it?"

Zero frowned. Now that he thought about it, the deal was for Hua Tuo to impart his medical knowledge and some basic magic while Merlin taught Zero more about magic. Nobody said anything about him having to learn how to fight. That happened along the way when he picked Ruth up at the Auction House in the abyss.

"No, you're right. However, I still want to do this. Just not today... I don't think I can..."

His assistants were understanding and gave Zero some time to himself. Hua Tuo wasn't too surprised when Zero decided to step out of the Aggression Falls. He came over and bowed, apologising to Hua Tuo for his failure.

"I-I don't think I'm ready for this..." he admitted with frustration in his eyes and Hua Tuo nodded without judging him for it. Still, Zero started to beat himself up for his incapability mentally as he rested in the cave.

Hua Tuo didn't worry too much as he felt the boy staring holes into his back while he meditated under the Progression Falls. Now that Zero wasn't in any real danger, he could focus on his cultivation. Who knows, Zero might learn a thing or two after watching him and take inspiration for future sessions.

Zero was impressed by how stable Hua Tuo was able to maintain the energy circulation in the Progressive Falls while looking like it didn't affect him. He knew that the water was scalding hot as the practitioner progressed but Hua Tuo made it look effortless as he continued to sit for hours underneath the waterfall. Zero decided to meditate as well but not underneath a waterfall. Instead, he chose to take a dive into the frigid water and activated his underwater-breathing skills.

Yes, the weightless feel resembled the void but without the roaring sounds of water and the fear gripping onto him like a second skin, Zero felt a lot more confident.

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Fishes swam past Zero but the boy was focussed on becoming one with the spring. He stopped breathing normally and let the gills do its job while Zero tried to keep to the centre of his mindscape without Mii or Bob. This was his personal space that nobody should know about. It was connected to the void and Zero wondered if this space was real or simply a product of his imagination.

Unlike the earlier, the same space was more welcoming. It was exactly how Zero found it to be most comforting with the darkness shrouding him in their embrace. The space was empty but full of intangible things that only Zero could feel. Why couldn't the void be something like this?

Hua Tuo didn't really concern himself when Zero took a dive. In fact, he encouraged it after that traumatising experience under the Aggressive Falls. Contrary to the waterfall, Zero would be experiencing a very fulfilling meditation session brimming with positivity in the spring water despite the iciness.

When all three waterfalls combine, they become the source of energy that Endow Hill feeds from. It was brimming with life and good things that nurtured even the weakest beasts into the most terrifying monsters.

A tree cannot grow stronger simply by cutting it down. It has to be cut and nurtured to full health before repeating the process for it to grow bigger and stronger. Hua Tuo cracked an eye open to check on Zero who seemed content in the water. For the first session, Zero did well in figuring out his intentions. However, the true uphill battle begins from here. He was curious to see how his disciple will conquer what was known to have broken thousands of brave warriors.

Ball of Nothing

Mitchnew and Ruth weren't too surprised to find that both master and student returned soaked to the bone. The dark elf prepared dry clothes while Ruth prepared dinner.

Hua Tuo made a mental note that for quicker progress, he should set up camp in that cave that Zero made. Submerging oneself into the training experience is always a good thing. Many masters achieved breakthroughs quicker when they go into seclusion to train. He took a look at the vampire and dark elf and made up his mind.

At dinner, Zero was pleasantly surprised when Hua Tuo told the dark elf and vampire to return to Half Moon Village for a month.

"Zero and I will be training in seclusion. If he doesn't succeed trials within a month, we are calling it off. I still have yet to teach him about surgery."

Pressurised by the sudden deadline, Zero quickly polished away the food and declared that he was going to pack even though there really wasn't anything much he should bring. Everything he needed was in his inventory.

Ruth and Mitchnew were surprised but didn't question it. After all, the Sage God will be there with Zero. A month would fly by very quickly and they wished Zero all the best before cleaning up for the night. They would depart the next morning.

Zero was uncharacteristically quiet that evening as he reflected in the contrasting types of voids he'd experienced earlier. One was warm and full of things that Zero always wanted while the other was like a horrible nightmare come true. How could the same space be so vastly different at the same time? The brunet couldn't understand it. In fact, his memory about the time spent in that void was becoming hazy. The illusions and sensations he experienced were messing around with his mind so badly that the doctor-in-training wondered if there was a right answer to the question.

Hua Tuo packed some bedsheets to lay on the stone floor for them to sleep on and a set of dry clothing. he wasn't repeating that mistake again. Zero didn't really have anything to bring apart from some mana recovery pills that he made a few months back. It was for faster recovery and special training that Hua Tuo briefed him about in the second stage. Still, the teen wondered when he would be able to overcome the first stage.

Hua Tuo turned in early and let Zero decide if he wanted to do some night training. The brunet contemplated going back to the Aggression Falls after his earlier failures to conquer it but decided against it. Hua Tuo let Zero teleport away into the lamp to sleep for the night. Knowing Zero, he would be in it tossing and turning for a few hours with thoughts crowding in his head before he fell asleep.

Sadly, he was wrong. Zero didn't really sleep in the lamp. He was doing intensive research on the reading device.

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"Zero, your training begins early tomorrow," Bob tried to encourage his master to get some rest but the teenager was stubborn.

"I'll take some pills to recover tomorrow and throw on some buff magic if I'm tired. This is important."

The Eternal Dragon groaned. Zero was definitely not going to let this end until he found something. Mii was busy with her work because Coux contacted her earlier so Bob decided to take on the role of a guardian in her stead.

"What are you researching?"

Zero sighed. "I need to find out about the origin of all three waterfalls. Where did they come from? Why is this spring isolated from the rest of the water sources and why is Endow Hill so special even on Earth? Sleepy Cave's existence should be no coincidence either.

Bob blinked. He actually knew the answers to some of Zero's questions because he was the guardian of Sleepy Cave and in extension, Endow Hill. However, he didn't know if it was a good idea to let his nosy master know too much.

"What are you going to do after you find out?"

Zero smiled. "Device a new method for training. I only have a month to conquer all three waterfalls and that isn't enough time at all. Truen once said that preparation is often more important than the execution. I'm cheating a little now by using the time difference in the lamp to do my research before morning comes. Time really isn't enough no matter what I do... wonder if that's the reason why so many people yearn for immortality."

The dragon grinned wryly. He highly doubted people wanted to become immortal because of the long to-do list. Maybe in Merlin's case and Buddha's case or Steve Job's case because they were the academic type. On the other hand, Hua Tuo probably wished to return to the cycle of life and forget about his painful history. Most people who weren't' immortals wanted immortality simply because they feared death. It wasn't anything noble like what Zero thought it would be but he wouldn't correct the young doctor.

"The cliffs were formed around the same time Sleepy Cave was born if not earlier."

Zero looked up from his reading device. "Really? how do you know?"

Bob rolled his eyes. "I was Sleepy Cave's guardian. Surely I would know a few secrets."

Zero tossed the reading device aside and turned his expectant eyes towards the dragon. Bob swallowed and wondered if he should have kept his mouth shut.

"On second thoughts... it's probably not accurate information since it's now outdated for several centuries..." Bob tried to squirm away but Zero was faster and caught onto one of Bob's hind claws before the mini dragon could fly away.

"Tell me! It's fine if it isn't updated. At least that would be me a general direction of where to search. You have no idea how messy the information I got from the library was!"

Bob mentally cried and wanted to sew his mouth shut the next time. He had a feeling that his young master was going to sniff out new trouble again.

"Only if you promise me that you will not investigate the source of the water and focus on your training," the dragon put on his sternest face and Zero nodded like a pecking hen.

with Zero's promise, the dragon was careful not to disclose too much information and only enough to sate the boy's curiosity.

"They say that the water from these three waterfalls came from a different dimension or plane. It's also part of Sleepy Cave's mystery. The cave has a Lake of Reflection at the heart of it as you might have known by now. While the water isn't supplied from Sleepy Cave, the water from this spring flows to one of Sleepy Cave's passages in a small stream that goes into the Lake of Reflection. I guess you can say that the true source of power for everything living on Endow Hill is this actually the Trigression Falls."

Zero listened with interest and didn't voice out any of his questions, waiting for Bob to complete his story.

"The Trigression Falls was formed when there was a huge earthquake after the war between Dragons and Hunters. Back then, we were hunted for our hearts that could retain mana. Dragons were magical creatures and every part of our body was a treasure for many other races. Dwarves and elves have found ways to use our hearts as magical cores to sustain some of their most powerful magical formations or fuel mass weapons of destruction. Dragon blood rained on this very forest and attracted the attention of many mana hungry souls."

Zero could almost imagine the horrific scene where dragons were shot down from the skies with their blood falling like rain onto the forest soil, leaving everything bathed in crimson as they became smaller in numbers.

Bob had a faraway look in his eyes when he told Zero all about the deal he made with Gaia and how he became the guardian of Sleepy Cave.

Zero listened without speaking and understood a little better why Bob was so happy to meet another dragon in the abyss. Olaf might be weird at times but for Bob who no longer had family, Olaf was like a precious brother he never thought he'd see again.

"Many races came to the battlefield after the dragons had been massacred to harvest the dragon corpses and mana. The land wasn't able to repair itself after the bloody war and the forest grew angry. They borrowed Gaia's power to repel the looters and three cliffs were formed. The spring was meant to nurture the dying land and Gaia borrowed life sources from other dimensions. Sleepy Cave's existence was an accident. Initially, I was the guardian of Endow Hill and spent most of my time splashing around in the Trigression Falls. However, that didn't deter all the looters and adventurers who still tried to look for remains of that battle. They lost their lives and their resentment for the forest gave birth to Sleepy Cave that had been nurtured with life energy by the creek with Trigression Fall's water."

Zero didn't know how to react. While the source of the water still remained unknown, it was no longer important. The huge reveal about Bob's origin and the Sleepy Cave's existence made Zero feel angry at the Hunters. How could they hunt dragons like livestock?

Then again, the young doctor knew that he wasn't any different with the fish that he caught to eat and train revival magic on. It was a cruel world where the fittest survived. Zero wondered why life was such a cruel thing. It wasn't easy to create life but it there was simply too many ways to take it away. The cycle was important to the Gods to maintain the balance of the world but Zero wondered why it existed in the first place.

He looked long and hard at Bob who had reincarnated to his duty so many times he'd lost count of it. "Don't you feel tired having to come back repeatedly in this never-ending cycle of life?"

Bob smiled. "A little. However, it's probably better than returning to the void. At least I still have another chance at being happy and doing what I want. Hope is a thing that's hard to kill. Imagine if I'd given up on living a few years back. I wouldn't have met you and we certainly wouldn't be able to travel together."

Zero nodded. What Bob said made sense. However, he still couldn't understand Solo's intention when he created the cycle of rebirth. Wasn't it better to just create life and not death? The number of souls still wouldn't change and everyone can be immortals. the world could have been a happier place that never changed.

No, that was bad. If the world never changed, Zero would never have been able to get out of that void.

Aggression Falls was something like that newbie God that woke him up. It pushed him out of his comfort zone and made him aware of what he wasn't capable of doing. However, it was also a good thing because Zero desperately needed this push in order to overcome his limitations. Solo didn't have limitations back then and everything he created was following the same thought pattern. It wasn't clear earlier but Zero now understood why he thought that the world was so flawed.

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Unlike Zero, Solo only saw the world as a huge puzzle with pieces connecting one of two things at a time. However, the young doctor didn't just see a pretty picture. He saw an intricate system that never ended.

It was strange how the world Zero was in resembled the void he was trapped in. Although Solo broke free from that empty space and filled it with a lot of things that he thought would be interesting, his past self was never truly satisfied. His creations often felt empty and Solo hated everything that he made. he wanted no part of the horrid nightmare that he couldn't undo so he created the Great Gods to oversee his project and ran away from responsibilities, pushing it to Zero to take over.

Now he understood a little more about the differences between the two void as he meditated earlier.

Bob watched as his young master yawned and tried his best not to fall asleep on the comfortable bed. It didn't take long after Zero had a breakthrough in understanding to fall asleep. With his curiosity sated and troubled thoughts answered, there was nothing much fuelling the brunet on.

the dragon flew over the drape the blanket over the teenager's sleeping form and whispered goodnight before leaving the lamp for Zero's mindscape where he joined an overworked strawcherry fairy with paperwork.

Ball of Nothing

Hua Tuo woke up to the smell of breakfast in the form of roasted fish. Zero was already sitting cross-legged under the Aggression Fall meditating with a frown on his face. The physician smiled at his student's enthusiasm. Last night must have been something if Zero was so ready to dive into facing his fears head-on so early in the morning.

The Sage God ate his roasted fish and steamed rice before doing his morning ritual to warm his old bag of bones. The qi gathered at Trigression Falls was a lot denser than at Endow Hill and Hua Tuo could feel the immediate difference as the qi circulated in his body, opening up the twelve meridians in his body.

Feeling that it might be good to bring his qi gong to the next level, Hua Tuo focussed on his breath and meditated while going through the familiar moves to stimulate the eight spiritual axes. Zero felt a strange pressure gathering in the air around the cave and decided that it might be a good time to take a break of his own since he hasn't made much progress.

When he opened his eyes and hopped off the platform, the teenager couldn't believe his eyes and rubbed them a bit to see if he was dreaming.

Hua Tuo moved with the grace of water and Zero recognised the moves. It was a sick combination between Tai Ji and Qi Gong with simultaneous meditation if the dense gathering of qi around his teacher was any indication. Zero could see the traces of where the energy was being gathered in the focal point called dantian somewhere below his teacher's navel. It was the core of every cultivator's power according to Hua Tuo and Zero observed closely how the gathered qi spun like a ball of yarn in the small space before redistributing it to the rest of the body through the meridian network.

This was something Hua Tuo had yet to teach Zero but the brunet wasn't too worried. His teacher would probably teach it to him once he reached the Progression Falls stage. Now that he knew what lay ahead of him, the young doctor was even more determined to conquer the Aggression Falls.

Zero decided that maybe changing his meditation position might help. Hua Tuo was meditating perfectly well while engaging movement and Zero tried to imitate it with the basic qi gong movements he was taught.

An hour later, Hua Tuo ended his morning exercise and decided to check on his disciple. He didn't hear or sense anything funny while he was warming up so the brat must be doing well enough to cope.

The moment he stepped out of the sanctuary, the physician was greeted by a water dragon of some sort controlled by qi. The Sage God ducked just in time to avoid getting hit by it. Zero's roar could be heard above the sound of water and Hua Tuo snapped his neck towards his student with wide eyes.

The brunet was there with eyes ablaze and pulling the elements together combining it with his morning qi gong routine. Beside the water dragon was an earth dragon made from the soil, an air dragon, a fire dragon from the campfire last night, a light dragon and a shadow dragon made from Zero's magic. The physician heard the childish roar again and side-stepped the earth dragon passing by.

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Why did his student decide to take inspiration and practice qi gong under the Aggression Falls of all the waterfalls he could choose? It was the worst possible waterfall Zero could choose to cultivate in. Given the nature of the Aggression Falls, it was not surprising that the kid would go out of control. The water there was feeding the negative feelings into Zero's heart and fuelling his inner fears to channel them into destructive powers. At this rate, Zero might really fall into cultivating the unorthodox methods.

Hua Tuo didn't fling a pebble this time. He took out a mini golden pagoda loaned by Buddha and used it to seal Zero in it. The teenager tried to attack the pagoda with his elemental dragons in his berserk state but Hua Tuo was quicker and chanted the heart mantra, shackling the frenzy in Zero's eyes. It was a good thing Zero was incapable of being corrupted with his naturally chaotic existence as the void. Once the boy was out of the water, the effects would gradually wear off on its own and Zero would revert back to normal.

Still, that didn't mean Zero was off the hook. Hua Tuo was definitely going to give the boy a piece of his mind.

Once Zero was sealed inside of the mini golden pagoda, Hua Tuo summoned it back into his sleeve and waited for the powered-up dragons to die off on their own. Without a steady supply of mana or qi, these dragons didn't last long and returned to their origin. Hua Tuo glared at Zero who was trapped in the pagoda.

"What do you think you were doing?" the Sage God growled and Zero laughed sheepishly.

"I thought I would focus better if I imitated what you did... it is still very difficult for me to grasp the technique behind conquering the Aggression Falls and I don't have much time."

Hua Tuo sighed and let Zero out. Once the boy was out, the physician flicked him on the forehead mercilessly, leaving a bruise that rapidly healed. That didn't mean Zero didn't feel the pain and he collapsed onto the floor clutching his forehead with tears at the corners of his eyes. The apprentice groaned and accepted the punishment without question. He probably deserved that.

"Do you know why it is called the Aggression Falls and not the Peaceful Falls? I think the clue is in the name and as the smart child you are, you should be able to put two and two together without needing my input."

The sarcasm was thick and Zero knew Hua Tuo was mad. It wasn't often that he saw Hua Tuo genuinely angry but normally, the physician got angry when safety was compromised. He must have really messed up this time.

"Sorry," Zero apologised meekly and dared not meet his teacher's eyes.

Seeing Zero transform into a scared kitten, the physician sighed. It was partially his fault for not keeping an eye on his student better. He should have known better than to train in the comforts of that cave. It blocked out sounds after all.

"No, the fault is partially mine this time. I didn't explain it well. Listen closely because I will not repeat it again. The only way to conquer the Aggression Falls is to completely surrender to it. Any form of resistance will be detected by the waterfall and then it will attempt to drown you. You cannot conquer it by logic, unlike other obstacles that you face. It cannot be solved by force either as you've seen. Let go of everything and the answer will come to you."

Zero blinked and Hua Tuo shrugged the top of his robe off to prepare for his personal cultivation session under the Progression Falls. His words left a huge impact on Zero who sat on the cave floor, pondering over them.

What did it mean to let go? Zero couldn't understand it. The meaning was simple but the apprentice didn't know what consisted of letting go. How could he open up his vulnerabilities for the fearsome waterfall to attack him? Why must he suffer damage from the waterfall in order to win? Was such a victory worth it?

Mii and Bob left Zero to his overwhelming thoughts and decided that this time, they wouldn't help. From the third person's point of view, the answer was clear as day. Sometimes the best way to win a battle was to do nothing at all. Let nature take its course and let fate decide the outcome. That was a natural concept to understand as part of the living who weren't almighty existences.

Strange enough, this was probably the hardest lesson for powerful beings like Gods, Angels and Demons to learn. Zero who belonged in a class of his own as the creator and destroyer of the world had an even harder time understanding it.

For four solid hours, Zero tried to understand the riddle in Hua Tuo's answer. He researched and read up everything he could in his library and even tried to work out a mathematical formula to derive an answer. Sadly, none of those did anything and Zero felt depressed at the sight of an insurmountable wall in front of him. This wasn't a problem that could be overcome by hard work or creativity. Zero finally realised that there were problems in this world that were greater than his existence. There simply was no way around this.

Was defeat the only option in his way? Zero spiralled downwards into his depression by the time lunch came by. He didn't know who he was or what he wanted any more with the Aggression Falls taunting him the whole time outside of the cave.

Hua Tuo saw the hopeless expression on Zero's face and was secretly pleased. After the soil settles, the water becomes clear. Right now, Zero was finally in the right direction and the physician was thrilled. All that was left was for Zero to take the final gamble with his potential to discover the answer.

One could train endurance and the ability to take everything that life threw in their way. However, it was not the same thing for faith and patience. These were virtues to be cultivated and taken to one's grave. Zero was a very hardworking student who overcame all obstacles in his path by training his fist to be harder to break down tougher walls posed to him. However, this method doesn't always work.

Before Zero could learn the art of Tai Ji, he had to understand the concept of fluidity where the user doesn't do anything and allow nature to take its course. Tai Ji was a fighting style that allowed the user to win the battle without exerting any force of their own. It consisted of a lot of waiting for the right moment to strike with a quick mind to make sound judgements. While it was merciful by nature and does not aim to kill, merely defend against. Zero's method of breaking down walls had to change if he wanted to save lives. An axe heel dropkick from the sky with gravity enhanced magic was aimed to destroy and kill, a style that Hua Tuo didn't want to see Zero use unless the situation called for it.

As his student struggled with himself, the teacher got up and washed the dishes. They had a long week ahead of them and judging from Zero's varying levels of frustration, the physician would give it another three hours or less before Zero tries something more desperate. For now, it was time for a good nap to recharge for the battle later.

Zero didn't notice how Hua Tuo had gone silent and was taking a short nap. He'd already gone insane enough to be talking to himself, listing out the pros and cons about taking the advice literally. Mii and Bob tried their best not to judge Zero for who he was with the new ridiculous ideas that Zero's brain supplied him. However, it was a very difficult feat to accomplish when Zero decided that he should take precautions by transforming into a lungfish so that the water couldn't drown him literally.

"But shifu didn't want us doing anything fancy," the good and rational side of Zero protested.

The desperate and rebellious side of Zero scoffed. "I'm protecting our interest. Who'd be so dumb as to believe that letting the water drown us will let us achieve enlightenment? Unless they achieved it while dying and somehow attained immortality after, which we already have, it's going to be impossible!"

The rational side of Zero got angry and countered that advice was always given for a reason.

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The rebellious side of the doctor rolled their eyes and brushed it off. A piece of advice was an opinion formed by experience and logical conclusions of the individual giving it. Zero had a fairly special constitution that might not allow for such things to apply. It would be foolish to follow the recipe of a blind cook when there was a far more effective way of doing things with the same result.

"This way, we could prevent any unnecessary loss and still be able to overcome the trial. Who is to say that there aren't any lungfishes who'd attained enlightenment after cultivating in all three waterfalls? The turtles here are cultivated, the plants here are also cultivated."

The saner side of Zero thought about it and slowly came to an agreement while they hashed out details. Bob and Mii refrained from commenting. Zero might have thought of a good solution but they highly doubted it would do anything. Zero was probably going to fail again. Even if he conquered his irrational fear of drowning in the waterfall, it did nothing to help with the more important underlying issue of embracing himself.

The assistants exchanged a look and Mii prepared to wake Hua Tuo up in case something in Zero's experiments went wrong this time. They were not taking any chances and leaving Zero to his own devices would be a bad idea. Nobody wanted a repeat of the earlier accident and Bob promised to keep an eye on the teenager while Mii busied away.

It was going to be along month and it was only the second day. Bob felt older by a few centuries already even if he was still a hatchling. Could this be the effect Zero had on people?

Ball of Nothing

Hua Tuo didn't stop his disciple from trying new ways to find an answer after his hint. In fact, his job as a mentor was done. The rest was up to Zero to find his answer and learn by trial and error.

Bob and Mii didn't interfere with how Zero's wanted to test out but they did inform Hua Tuo when the teenager had gone too far. The lungfish experiment robbed Zero of his hope when he found out that paying with insurance didn't work with the Aggression Falls. It was as if the waterfall didn't give a handicap to even marine life. Even as a fish with the ability to breathe in both air and water, Zero stood no chance. He still felt as if the water was trying to drown him in an awful manner that made his brain confused. The teenager spent the next hour recuperating and learning how to breathe correctly before he challenged the waterfall again.

In the end, Zero would often give up on his zany ideas and go back to the usual meditative stance until his brilliant mind supplied him with yet another alternative.

Hua Tuo only sighed when Zero looked like he'd gotten inspiration then run off to prepare something and repeat the process all over again. While he didn't discourage learning and trying new methods, Zero didn't seem to want to accept the idea of simply surrendering control and letting the water take him where it wanted. It was rather sad watching his student struggle in quagmire thinking that it was the right way to get out of it when in reality, he was only sinking deeper into it.

Bob and Mii had given up, they were too tired of worrying for Zero and had gotten used to the routine of calling Hua Tuo in when Zero lost control of himself during an experiment.

The young doctor was also feeling a dreadful sense of hopelessness creeping up on him with every failed experiment with no sign of success in sight. It felt like every step he moved forward was sending him ten steps backwards but Zero still couldn't comprehend why.

Why was it so difficult to win against water? It's not as if that thing was alive. It had literally no power over Zero and the young doctor was contemplating about walking away from the stupid trial. he didn't need to show the water who was boss. Zero was way better than the water who could only frighten the people it came into contact with. Why was Zero struggling so much with an opponent that wasn't even alive?

He simply couldn't see what he was doing wrong. Why was it so important to Hua Tuo that Zero conquered the Aggression Falls? It would be a lot easier to move to the Progression Falls because Zero already had a cultivation base. He brought it up to his teacher once but Hua Tuo denied his request and told Zero that if he didn't conquer the Aggression Falls, he wasn't going to teach the brunet anything more. Zero got angry and stormed away that night, taking to the skies and away from Trigression Falls to reflect. Hua Tuo didn't stop his student who was showing signs of teenage rebellion thanks to the constant influence of the waterfall. Perhaps it was a good ting Zero stayed away from the spring for a while to get it all out of his system and look at the problem with a blank slate of mind.

Zero walked around aimlessly in the forest and even tried to explore some caves to kill time while his mind worked overtime trying to understand the reason for his unhappiness. He was an individual who always stepped up when there was a challenge. Why was it so different this time? Zero didn't like the idea of running away from a problem. However, no matter what he did, the problem couldn't be overcome.

Utterly exhausted emotionally, Zero sat down in the darkness of one of the caves and dialled his best friend.

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Truen who was calculating a complicated formula paused and picked up the call when he saw that it was Zero who was interrupting his studies instead of Merlin. The brunet rarely texted him anymore due to his busy training schedule but for him to find time to call the wood elf must mean that Zero was troubled.

"Hello, Zero."

Zero sobbed when he heard his guardian's voice and spilt his story without pause. Truen could only pick out keywords from the babbling. Zero clearly hadn't changed much even after becoming a teenager. he was still very much the inexperienced child and kind soul that the wood elf met at the Mega Gourmet competition.

From what the wood elf could understand, Zero was feeling extremely conflicted at the moment and frustrated with his failures. While Truen didn't know how to help Zero overcome the trial, he was sure that what Zero lacked now was the confidence in himself and the courage to move forward with the risk of losing everything. Zero had gained a lot since his travels to the abyss and held all the precious things tightly to his heart. Truen knew that in order for Zero to surpass himself, he would have to let go of all these precious things and transcend what he was even though he'd come so far. That thought simply frightened the young doctor and Truen had to think of the best way to explain it to his friend.

"Think of it this way," he told Zero in a calming voice. "This is the chance for you to prove to yourself that all the struggles you've gone through are good enough for you to pull through the test. Let the fruits of your past labour carry you through this round, it is not your battle."

Truen's words only made Zero more confused. "Not my battle? But this trial is for me..."

The wood elf chuckled at the adorable tone. A confused Zero was still an adorable one.

"Yes, it is. However, some trials are not a test of personal abilities but for the strength of relationships that the individual has built. Do you know that in some battles, the leaders do not fight? They leave it all to their underlings to win the battle for them even if they are the strongest warrior of their tribe."

Zero was shocked. "Don't fight? I know Zenobia isn't the strongest warrior but even she joins in the battle. Wouldn't the army lose if the leader who is the strongest warrior doesn't join the battle?"

Truen laughed at that. Zero was still rather naive to think that a leader should always lead by example. In the military, having a figurehead to serve as the army's morale was more important than having that talented warrior put to action.

"Have you ever seen Baal go down to belles and begonia to serve the customers?" the wood elf asked. he wasn't very well acquainted with the demon lord but he knew a thing or two from Coux's report. they worked closely after all.

Zero thought about it. It would be weird if Baal actually worked in the cafe. Sure, Baal was a very powerful demon lord but that didn't mean it was a good decision to make him work in the shop even if he wasn't feeling lazy. The customers would be scared of him.

Truen raised a brow at Zero's analysis. Maybe using Baal as an example was a bad move. He tried to think of another example and decided to use a story instead.

"Back in my old world, we had a very powerful general who was leading one of the largest armies. In a one-on-one fight, that general had never lost to anyone. He was also hailed the strongest man in the empire. However, this general was seldom seen participating in the actual wars himself."

Zero listened with interest as Truen told him how this general never once lost a battle even though he was put in extremely bad situations. His army might suffer heavy casualties but they would still emerge victorious.

"One day, the king had an order. He wanted the general to personally lead a high-risk operation consisting of only thirty elite soldiers for an assassination mission. At that point in time, the empire was the biggest and strongest in the whole of China. It was impossible for them to lose any battles given their resources and strength. Since it was the imperial edict, the general couldn't refuse."

Truen left out details about the operation and skipped to the part where the general took a poisoned arrow to the shoulder trying to protect one of his henchmen when the operation was compromised. They managed to take the life of the enemy's prince who was leading the army but didn't manage to escape unscathed.

"The general didn't make it and died on the way back to the capital. The emperor who heard the news was extremely shaken but he didn't let the news spread any further. Within a night, the emperor had someone act as the general who had passed away and the general led the army to many more victories even though he'd already passed away."

Zero was confused. Why wouldn't they announce the death of the general? His question was finally answered when Truen admitted that the fake general was found out. The country grieved the loss of their general and the army's morale plummeted. This change gave the enemies opportunities to attack and reclaim land from the empire.

"Without that general, the empire suffered heavy losses after heavy losses. They were never able to regain their former glory and eventually became wiped out."

Zero and Truen were silent for a while. "It doesn't make sense... why was that general so important? The empire had an army that was strong enough right? Surely they had other capable people who could step up as the next general..."

Truen hummed. "Some people are irreplaceable, Zero. For example, if I were to die one day would you find another wood elf to take my place? I'm sure Gaia could transfer another similar soul into this vessel."

"No!" Zero shouted, utterly horrified at that idea. Nobody could replace Truen for who he was. There was only one Truen Zheng in the entire world and the bodyguard held a special place in Zero's world. His existence was special like no other, there was simply no replacement.

That strong denial was all it took for Truen to know that Zero would be alright. The teenager was smart. If he could understand the significance of the general, he would understand the sacrifice and how somethings cannot be taken away no matter how hard the world tries to change it.

"Remember Zero, not everything is black and white in this world. There will always be a third option regardless of method or result. You might not be able to choose how you do things but you can decide how you want the result to be."

The young doctor listened to his best friend's words and thought hard about it. The Aggression Falls was a trial he must overcome. He had a lot of fear but Truen said to trust in the relationships he had for this trial. If he had to let the water drown him and take away everything he had, then so be it. If he forgot everything he worked so hard for and became lost in the void, then so be it.

"Truen, you'll come and find me if I get lost, right?"

Zero's small voice made the wood elf melt. "Yes, Zero. I will come and find you. It doesn't matter where you are or how long it takes for me to get there, I will find you."

"Even in the void?"

The wood elf didn't hesitate to answer this one. "Even in the void, especially in the void. You're not alone and I won't be the only one searching for you. The Great Gods, Baal, your teacher and even the villagers in Half Moon Village will come searching for you."

Zero laughed a little and teared up. He'd been so afraid of letting go control because the water felt like it was going to strip him of everything.

That was right. Hua Tuo was there for a reason. If anything went wrong, he would be the first to reach out to Zero. Everything would be alright.

"Truen, thank you."

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The wood elf smiled. "Anytime for you. Let me know the good news alright?"

Zero giggled and ended the call feeling a thousand times better now that his worries were laid to rest. If being erased was all it took to overcome the trial then Zero would gladly do it. He trusted his teacher and Hua Tuo wouldn't allow anything to happen to him.

Suddenly the brunet felt rather silly for fretting so much. The solution had been right in front of him the whole time and Zero had been going in circles over unfound concerns.

With a new mindset, the brunet walked out of the cave and squinted when the bright sunlight attacked him. The world was much brighter than what he remembered it to be and Zero thought that it might be because he'd been in the dark for too long alone. While the light stabbed his retinas, Zero didn't dislike the feeling. Even if he couldn't see, he could still feel the warmth of the sun.

It would be alright, Zero trusted his friends. Even if he couldn't overcome the trial himself, he could always count on them to give him strength.

Ball of Nothing

Hua Tuo wasn't expecting Zero to return so soon. With how furious Zero had been, he thought that it might take the boy at least one night to cool down and try again.

The brunet came back with a new look of wisdom in his eyes. Hua Tuo kept an eye as Zero approached him under the Progression Falls.

The Sage God wasn't prepared for Zero to kneel before him and bowed his head till it touched the floor. While he mentioned about the traditional kowtow that disciples did to their masters, Hua Tuo never emphasized it for Zero given how he knew about Zero's status as the almighty creator. When his student prostrated before his teacher, the physician was alarmed at once.

"Shifu," Zero's voice rang out clearly despite the loud background sounds. "Your student understands now. Please watch over me, I am going to conquer the Aggression Falls. Should I fall into the void, please catch me."

Hua Tuo froze. He didn't know if he should accept Zero's bow but he knew for sure that he wouldn't allow Zero to fall into the void again. He composed himself and assumed the role of Zero's master for his brilliant apprentice's final test. If Zero could overcome his fear and limitations, the world will be in good hands. Zero was going to become a doctor that doesn't just save mortals but perhaps Gods too.

Hua Tuo doesn't have to reply because Zero stood up quickly and gave his teacher a meaningful look with a mix of fear and determination. Hua Tuo was reminded about the look he'd seen one too many times when young soldiers were sent out to war with the possibility of never coming back again. They would gladly lay their lives on the bloody battlefields in exchange for promised glory for the next three generations. The doctor felt helpless when Zero turned his back towards him and walked straight to the Aggression Falls, not even bothering to change into his swimming costume.

Every step that Zero took towards the hateful waterfall felt heavier than the last. His body and instincts screamed at him to turn around and walk the opposite direction but Zero remained faithfully stubborn. Even if it was certain doom, he would still do it even if he was afraid. Truen was right, Zero could only overcome this by placing his trust in the people around him. Humans were full of betrayal and this wouldn't be the only time Zero would get hurt. It was only the first step to becoming Solo's equal so if he fails here, the young doctor didn't think he was worthy of confronting his past self with conviction about their perspectives.

Zero didn't think that he was weak but his muscles seemed to malfunction and shook as he stood tens steps away from that familiar meditation spot. ten steps away from his goal and Zero suddenly recalled the first time he met Sedna. He was all alone back then and didn't think that anyone would be around to help him when she appeared. Although slightly apprehensive, the remembered following her.

At eight steps away, Zero felt the burn of tears building up. He thought of how afraid Truen must have been all alone in the void when he accidentally tried to help him remove the harmful effect. He felt horrible for doing so and was thankful that there was a way to save the hungry ghost. It turned out to be one of the best decisions in his short existence. Truen was his first friend and the one person Zero wouldn't hesitate to give him the reality check when he required it. Baal was also a good friend but Zero knew how the Demon Lord was sometimes happier to keep things from the brunet.

Five steps away now and Zero had to suppress the urge to hyperventilate. What if he fails and disappears forever in a place that nobody could find or reach him? He felt the doubts in his mind spiralling out of control and stopped there for a while. No, even if he did disappear, there will be plenty of people who were powerful enough to locate him and save him. Zero tried to count the number of people who he knew would stop at nothing to help him. The Demon Lords, the Great Gods, Enma, his teachers, Truen and even the villagers in Half Moon Village like Mitchnew, Coux and Amaraline even if they weren't as powerful. Even Wiser would do everything in his abilities to help despite his frail constitution. Yes, they would find him.

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Zero was three steps away now and if he reached his arm out, he could touch the water of the Aggression Falls. By now, the boy felt nothing. It was as if all the earlier emotions were fading away one by one. Was this how people felt like before they died? For some reason, it was quiet and peaceful. He didn't feel the coldness of the water as he walked towards the waterfall. Zero didn't hear the roaring either and it merged into some kind of white noise in the background of his mindscape. Mii and Bob were nowhere to be found and Zero wondered if they were hiding or simply shut out.

Finally, the young doctor reached his goal. He stood underneath the strong water and allowed his body to get reaccustomed to the strong water pressure. He felt the pull of the Aggression Falls trying to drag him into the invisible undercurrent but Zero resisted. It wasn't time yet.

The young doctor still had so many things to think about, people to give thanks to and closures to make with his feelings before he took the plunge.

Hua Tuo no longer focussed on his cultivation as he watched his student with his heart in his mouth. The physician was nervous. It was like watching a hero walking towards his execution ground knowing that he had to die for a greater cause. The scene wasn't an unfamiliar one and Hua Tuo who was usually impartial to such things felt himself getting affected. While he knew that there were some risks involved in this training, death wasn't one of it. The Aggression Falls didn't usually drown the cultivator. However, the cultivator was at risk of losing their minds and becoming retarded for life. There are stories of eccentric geniuses born from cultivating accidents but those were rather bittersweet tragic stories that were rare in its own league.

Zero ticked off his long list of names as he cast his silent prayer into the void. His thanks, his apologies and his promises were sent in advance to the void where he would most likely end up should he fail. Zero also left a message there for his future self should he reawaken someday after losing all his memories. It was some kind of insurance like how Solo left the Mind's Eye system for him and the Great Gods after the Divine Entities scattered off.

It didn't take long but Hua Tuo was even more nervous than Zero. Can Zero really let go of everything and understand the concept of flowing with the force? The Aggression Falls was merciless and could toss the cultivators mind around like a rag doll, poking into every chip in their armour, digging out weaknesses not even known to them. It was a whole new level of torture and brutality that Hua Tuo took centuries to build resistance to.

The physician had faith. Zero's wisdom wasn't a fluke. he'd seen the boy understand extraordinary things that haven't even been discovered by the Sage Gods who were considered experts in their field of research. His apprentice was more curious and hardworking than anyone else. His hunger for adventure, improvement and knowledge supersedes even Merlin's. If all else failed, Zero's instincts will kick in to save him. The Great Gods have given Zero some blessings and that wasn't the end of the young doctor's ace in a hole. As long as they knew where Zero's 'soul' was located, they would eventually figure out a way to get there.

Zero sat down cross-legged under the waterfall and closed his eyes before exhaling completely. From that point onwards, he didn't breathe and Hua Tuo wondered if the boy had given up. He knew his apprentice didn't require oxygen due to the unique vessel but he still made it a habit to do so because it helped him build up qi and mana in his reserves.

The physician slowly got out of the Progression Falls and walked over to the bridge connecting the Progression Falls and the Aggression Falls. He sat down about two meters away from his student and waited.

Zero's energy changed into one full of yin and Hua Tuo shivered. The water beneath Zero started to boil and Hua Tuo noticed how the balance of yin and yang was beginning to take shape. When Zero first started, the boy couldn't even pull out five percent of this power from the Aggression Falls despite his fully developed meridian and chakra network. Hua Tuo smiled. If Zero was able to get this far, he had no doubt that his student could succeed now. It was always the starting that was difficult.

Zero didn't know what he was feeling any longer. His mind and body were being pulled to two separate ends of the spectrum. He felt hot and cold at the same time and the doctor had opted to just accept everything that came his way instead of trying to analyse it. Initially, the feeling was unbearable. The boy felt as if he was choking up and the craving for release made him want to cry. He needed air so badly but his lungs didn't function. Zero deliberately ceased his breathing functions to suppress the urge and it was tougher than when he was a lungfish.

It was bright and dark at the same time at some point of his meditation and Zero embraced the duality. Then, he was assaulted by an array of colours that he didn't know the names to. The Aggression Falls also tried to confuse Zero with pressure and gravity. One moment he felt like his head was going to explode from the pressure while his feet felt like it wasn't touching anything and another time his insides were being sucked outwards with nothing holding them in place except for his bones. Zero endured it all and allowed the sensations to pass.

The Aggression Falls wasn't done, it was only beginning. Zero had to persevere through the manipulation of time when Zero was put through gruelling heat and dehydration where his body craved water despite being under a waterfall. Then, when it did not work, it pumped Zero full of good energy that made the brunet feel queasy.

Hua Tuo felt pride swell in his chest when his student kept the calm appearance that could put even Buddha to shame even after the two-hour mark. He stayed with his disciple and kept watch over him, rooting for him in his heart. The yin and yang formation was now clearly visible even if it was incomplete. Zero was still trying to comprehend the meaning of flowing with the force. He still didn't know how to counter the imbalance at this stage and was merely accepting everything without rejection. It was like collecting an assortment of playing cards and not knowing how to use them to form combinations.

Zero didn't know how much time had passed but that was the last thing on his mind. The Aggression Falls was becoming slightly repetitive and Zero found himself zoning out in the sub-zero illusion. for some reason, the cold wasn't affecting him as much as it did the first time. Was it because of how he had been subjected to volcano baths previously? The young doctor allowed his mind to wander a little to draw on the strengths of his previous experiences. For now, he didn't think that the waterfall was trying to erase him just yet. It was full of sensations, unlike the previous time when it tried to remove everything from Zero.

Why wasn't it trying to devour Zero's mind yet? The apprentice couldn't help but worry if he was doing it correctly. However, he wasn't allowed a lot of time to think when the illusion changed to a cloying sweet flower field that stung Zero's sense of smell. The brunet didn't think that it was too bad when he used the memory of that rotting carcass cesspit to counter the smell.

Hua Tuo was impressed. The sun had already gone down and he left for a brief moment to get some fruits to munch on. The energy has stabilised a lot by now although his student hasn't shown much improvement since the last hour. Zero looked like a statue underneath the waterfall and Hua Tuo wondered how long it would take Zero to figure out the secret to Aggression Falls.

Zero was finally getting the hang of things in his little pocket dimension. The Aggression Falls no longer surprised him. In fact, the doctor was growing bored with it. The extremities that the waterfall threw at him could be neutralised easily with something that Zero had previously experienced. If Zero had to give this a name, he would call it Polarity with how opposites cancel each other out. It still took Zero some time to get used to the different sensations to react accordingly. If done right, the experience would return to a blank slate and Zero was left waiting until the waterfall decided to attack him again. His guard was constantly up but he also realised that the repetition was leading him nowhere. Something was wrong.

Hua Tuo had returned to the Progression Falls by now. It had been twelve hours since Zero stagnated with his progress. He didn't seem like he was going to lose control any time soon so the Sage God decided to resume his training while keeping an eye out for changes every few hours. Zero understood the meaning of duality now and the concept of yin and yang. However, the physician knew that his student was far from understanding the concept of dao and equilibrium.

Zero practically ignored everything that the Aggression Falls threw him by now. This didn't seem right. he wasn't making much progress apart from getting familiar with the counter combinations. It was like improving the pitching time and waiting to snipe the enemy when they appeared but Zero knew he was stuck in his progress. While he no longer feared getting lost in the void, he was beginning to feel apprehension over the success of this trial. Overcoming his initial fear was only the first step. Who knew that the next stage was even more difficult than the first?

Another wave of inverted gravity came and this time, Zero didn't bother countering it. His mind was too focussed on trying to understand how he could accept everything together for all the mess it made. If hot cancelled cold and slow cancelled fast, what was the centre point of everything that Zero would get after he fused the experiences together?

The waterfall spun Zero around in several directions while alternating between heavy pressure and zero-weight as the teenager put his mind to work. At some point in time, Zero didn't know what was going on anymore. All he felt from the sensations were a buzzing numbness. the feeling didn't have a name or direction. It travelled everywhere and anywhere at any time with any intensity. the feeling didn't intensify even after the Aggression Falls hit him with an overload of sour flavour and spicy mix. the same electrifying feeling came to Zero and the brunet held onto the elusive numbness.

Hua Tuo was filleting a fish he caught for dinner when he sensed a small ripple of change in the air. He glanced over to his still-meditating disciple and smiled. Zero was getting there. However, he was still too afraid to destroy the calm surface of the water on the lake to see past truth of the moon in the water. Now that Zero understands acceptance, he has to learn what control was.

Zero tried to keep his frustration in check. "Give it time," he told himself. Enduring the sensations were far easier than trying to catch hold of that mysterious electrifying feeling. Zero felt like each time he was close to finding out what it was, the Aggression Falls would deliberately ruin his chances and take it back. If Zero had to describe the waterfall in one word, he would call it a poophead. The Aggression Falls was a mean thing and a huge bully if Zero had anything to compare it to, it would be like a lion toying with an ant.

Zero waited again for the next wave and repeated the words Hua Tuo often said to him. "Patience is a virtue, Zero..."

The young doctor didn't know how long he spent waiting for the next wave and it seemed as if the waterfall was now cautious of Zero when it failed to deter the brunet who kept his emotions well under control. Right now, Zero was able to slowly pull the attacks into himself instead of letting them push him around and the Aggression Falls didn't like it. Zero wasn't able to completely amass the polarities he experienced and there were a few holes in his blanket of duality.

Zero sulked when the Aggression Falls quickly retreated before he could capture it. He felt slightly off-balance at the moment with more polarities on one side than the other but Zero made up for that difference with pure will-power. He wasn't going to let go of this opportunity when he had made so much progress.

Likewise, Hua Tuo was slightly concerned when he saw how much more yang energy Zero was accumulating compared to yin. The Aggression Falls was a yang attribute qi foundation. Progression Falls was more balanced and Regression Falls was yin qi based. Zero needed to find a way to balance out the yin portion before he can complete the second stage of becoming one with the qi.

Zero felt the burning on his inner world. It was getting harder to hold onto the blanket of duality with the accumulated energy not countering each other effectively. The young doctor waited for Aggression Falls to make its move and sighed when another yang type attack came. Zero didn't really have much yin experiences to counter it and wondered if this was the waterfall's strategy to corrupt his foundation.

The young doctor wasn't too far off the mark. In fact, the Aggression Falls did this on purpose to hinder Zero's understanding of how to control it. Few people were able to grasp the understanding of absolute control but when they did, these masters became sages. It was possible for mortals to attain immortality after training at the Trigression Falls and Gaia arranged Aggression Falls to be the first obstacle to fail as many candidates as possible.

Zero played the long waiting game with the Aggression Falls. Unknown to the teenager, he spent three days underneath the waterfall meditating. If it was a human or another living creature, their bodies would start weakening due to the lack of sustenance with the exception of plants.

The teen persevered and tried to seek out a way of replicating that numbing sensation to understand more about the mystery behind what happens when everything is completely neutralised from each other.

Zero decided to mess around with his accumulated experiences when Aggression Falls didn't respond to his taunts. Even if it was incomplete, Zero wanted to try gaining some clues to support his hypothesis.

The first thing Zero tried to recreate was the physical sensations with varying levels of pain from heat, touch, pressure and even qi accumulation. The young doctor certainly wasn't prepared for a virtual explosion that sent him hurling backwards when he added intense pressure to the volcano bath. From outside of his isolated dimension, Zero was vaguely aware of the repairs his body was making. The realisation that a wrong combination in the isolated dimension could kill him literally made Zero a little more cautious about his next move.

Hua Tuo nearly jumped out of his skin when Zero spat out a mist of blood and rushed over to the teenager's side. thankfully, the internal injury wasn't as severe and Zero's healing magic kicked in automatically.

The array was shaky but soon stabilised once more and Hua Tuo swallowed. Zero was finally exploring the combination of qi energy and finding that balance he needed after being in the acceptance stage for three days. The Sage God decided to be on standby in case Zero's progress takes a turn for the worst. Many cultivators who overcame the first stage often suffered life-threatening internal injuries that crippled their cultivation progress forever after making a wrong move in the second stage.

The physician wasn't too worried about the combinations Zero would try because he taught his student well about magic basics and the six elements. If Zero calmed down and thought rationally, he would be able to overcome this stage without problems.

Zero refrained from doing anything else and waited for his body to complete recovering the damage done. He didn't think that the injury was too serious but the boy now knew better. If there was no risk, he would not progress from this point forth. Thankfully, he was well-prepared for the theory test.

"Light counters darkness but fuels earth and is complemented by water. No wonder it exploded... compressed heat is a combination of fire and darkness that complements each other. It's the opposite of light and water, what was I thinking?" Zero sighed and rubbed his face in the isolated dimension before deadpanning.

"Right, I wasn't thinking. Let's see, what do I try next without risking dumb consequences?"

Hua Tuo slept on the bridge for the next two days while Zero made slow and sometimes painful progress with his understanding of becoming one. On some occasions, Hua Tuo wanted to pat his apprentice on the head but there were times when he wanted to smack the boy with his sandal. Zero was a meditating time bomb in the literal sense. One moment Hua Tuo would swell with pride at a huge step forward and the next minute he would be rushing over to check on Zero's internal injuries with the tell-tale bloody mist spray.

On the other side of the waterfall, Zero thought he was making good progress. As he tried to weave more combinations of elements in his polarity collection and duality blanket together, Zero came to understand the relationship between elements better. At first, he thought that the rule of thumb about complementary elements and neutralising elements applied to everything. While it was difficult to sort them into their respective class and attributes, Zero learnt by guessing and trying. Sometimes it yielded favourable results and other times, it was disastrous.

After a while, Zero saw a more complex pattern when he mixed more than two elements. The rule of elements no longer applied and the results were confusing. Zero gained invaluable knowledge from combining more than three hundred different combinations and was beginning to exhaust his list of four-element combinations. His brain was also hurting and exhausted from the long list of calculations to create combinations. At the same time, Zero no longer heard from the Aggression Falls. He was now completely secluded in his personal dimension and sat in an empty space trying to solve the mystery of his trial. There had to be a reason why he was given an incomplete blanket of duality.

The teenager tried to recall the lessons he learnt. The duality concept was very close to the art of Tai Ji's philosophy and Zero groaned when the five-element combination fizzled away for the seventeenth time. Four-element combinations were tricky but five-element combinations were simply impossible. It didn't really matter what he tried, nothing worked out.

Zero skipped straight away to a six-element combination and was not surprised when nothing happened. It was as if none of the input mattered anymore. Light cancelled darkness, fire cancelled water and earth cancelled wind effectively when Zero put them in equal amounts.

The teenager stared at the results of his experiment and sighed. Why did he come so far only to realise that nothing happened at the end of it all? It didn't really matter now if he collected all the elements missing in his blanket of duality when everything belonged to a category of some attribute. They would simply cancel each other out like the six-element combination and Zero would ultimately be left with nothing.

Hua Tuo was thrilled. Zero was still meditating and it was the dawn on the fifth day when the Sage God felt the atmosphere change. Zero's powerful cultivation base was beginning to awaken and as the sun broke through the rosy clouds, the brunet started exuding a tangible aura of qi that looked slightly wispy for starters. the wind picked up on Zero but the young doctor remained unperturbed. He continued to meditate and started to levitate about ten centimetres above the surface he was seated on.

Zero was fed up. Aggression Falls no longer mattered to him. All he wanted to do was burn the blanket of duality that proved meaningless. After all that suffering it was telling him that the solution to the mystery was nothing? How could it be? What was the point of having different elements when they cancelled each other's merits equally and cease to exist after that?

The best part of it all was how Zero didn't know how to leave the isolated dimension. He knew that Hua Tuo was outside watching over him but he didn't know how to leave his inner dimension. Was he going to be trapped in it forever until he cracked the code?

"Hold on!" the teenager gasped and returned to the blanket of duality. It might be true that when six elements came together, they turned into nothing. However, there was something a little special about that result as compared to the fizzled out five-element combination. Zero couldn't believe he missed out on that earlier and held onto his train of thoughts.

Replicating his earlier experiment, Zero paid closer attention to the difference between the result of the reaction. The five-element combination fizzled out into nothing but not before some friction and struggle for a final victor. On the other hand, the six-element combination completely melded together as if accepting one another before fading out peacefully.

The difference between the way they faded out made Zero think. Was harmony the key factor here? If Tai Ji was built on the concept of complete harmony and balance, it would explain why five elements will not cooperate with each other as well as six elements. At the same time, Zero revised his results with four and two elements of complimenting harmony. He saw a similarity in the result but was dissatisfied with the space they left behind. There were still lingering energy and imbalance in the space for anything less than the reaction between all six elements and Zero wondered if he was looking at it the wrong way.

Perhaps the reaction was a duality in itself! With this thought, Zero decided to investigate further into the reaction that he thought was nothing. The same space that the elements collided in may fool the eye and appear similar but if Zero activated his other senses, he could immediately tell the difference between the few reactions.

To prove it, Zero set up a few combinations to react at the same time. The most significant change was the reaction time. Some elements took longer to cancel each other out and had varying side effects when they met each other. For instance, when fire met water, steam was created before it vanished into nothingness. As a result, Zero didn't think that it was truly nothingness that was created when the neutralising elements met. they simply created a by-product that was easily dissipated.

However, the six-element formation was strange. Unlike the other combinations that took time to react in sequence, the six-element formation fell into the centre and didn't need to find the cancelling element. It seemed to form something like a circle of mixed elements and distribute itself evenly to melt away without side effects. If Zero was looking for perfection in coexistence, this was it.

Hua Tuo was nodding off when the Aggressive Falls was split into half. Zero finally achieved a new breakthrough and had attained enlightenment about the concept of harmony.

In the isolated dimension, Zero didn't stop at that. It was like opening a new door to knowledge when he understood the true meaning of harmony and balance. One by one, his mind was inspired by the finding. He was now able to look at Solo's vast creation with a more profound comprehension. the cycle of life made sense, the flow of time was now within his grasp. Zero also knew how to manipulate energy with his will and suddenly he wondered if this was how Solo felt.

The teenager opened his eyes and looked at the familiar hunched back of his teacher preparing something. They were now back at Hua Tuo's humble hut. Strangely, Zero didn't feel happiness at conquering the Aggression Falls. Instead, he felt a sense of unusual tranquillity as he got up to greet his teacher.

Understanding the mysteries of solo's creation only put Zero in a pensive mood. While many things now made sense to Zero about the world he was exploring, the teenager couldn't help but wonder if this was right. if anything, the new knowledge only served to confuse him more.

"Congratulations, you've conquered Aggression Falls. We can now move on to Progression Falls and Regression Falls. How are you feeling?"

Zero put a hand to his chest and blinked. "Strangely empty."

Hua Tuo wasn't too surprised by Zero's answer. He was also disoriented for a few years after his first breakthrough. It wasn't surprising for Zero to feel out of it after taking a little more than a week to overcome the first waterfall. If they had more time, Hua Tuo would allow Zero to wallow in the swamp of new knowledge, questioning the existence of life before proceeding to the next stage. Unfortunately, he received a text from merlin about Truen's progress. The wood elf was progressing smoothly and would complete his training in two more months. Zero didn't have a lot of time to complete his training with Hua Tuo at this rate.

"Don't worry," he told his disciple and told him to drink up a strange soup.

Zero suspected nothing and drank it in one mouthful as it was a rather small bowl. The moment he did so, he was attacked by an overwhelming flavour that was a cross between hydra spit and heavenly mead. It burned his mouth, nose and lungs. Zero felt the soup awaken every single point in his meridian network forcefully, jolting him awake and his mind was forced back from the trance-like state it entered since the breakthrough.

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The new knowledge still bothered Zero but the apprentice was now no longer in that strange state in between reality and his inner dimension.

"Better now?" the Sage God asked and Zero coughed, gasping for air and drinking flask after flask of water to get rid of that taste.

"I guess," he croaked when the burn died a little. If he ever needed a strong wake-up call, he knew what to do now.

Hua Tuo patted his apprentice on the head. "Take it easy today, we can start training in the progression Falls tomorrow. You did well. From now on, it would be an easy ride."

Zero grinned and regained some of his usual cheerfulness. All confusion aside, the end of the tunnel was now in sight and Zero couldn't wait to challenge the other two waterfalls.

It was nice to hear Zero's voice after one week of silence. Hua Tuo smiled as Zero recounted his experience alternating between telling what happened in his inner dimension and talking through his conflicting thoughts. From what the physician gathered, it was a very different trial from the one he overcame.

"I still don't understand why the Aggression Falls did not try to replicate that empty space that scared me so badly the first time."

"Maybe we will find out the reason once we begin the training in the Progression Falls. You mentioned that the spring water was the complete opposite feeling as compared to that illusion of the empty space under the Aggression Falls?"

Zero nodded. Hua Tuo frowned. He had a few ideas of what that could possibly mean but he wasn't sure. After all, the physician only had his personal experience to speak about. After conquering Trigression Falls, Hua Tuo still had yet to hit the limits of his cultivation potential. The physician felt slightly guilty for putting his cultivation training off for so long. He'd been too busy answering prayers and attending to his Sage God duties that working on his personal progress became on the bottom of his to-do-list. It was left sitting on the back burner for so long that Hua Tuo could confidently say he'd forgotten about it until Zero came along.

"Don't worry too much about it," he told Zero. "The toughest part of your training is over. Trigression Falls can help cultivators improve greatly because of the three stages - formation, enhancement and enlightenment. You might have skipped a few steps because you've already had the formation and enhancement part done. I'm not sure who helped you with the meridian and chakra network creation but it was done very well. There is no real need to go through the creation and strengthening process again."

The teenager nodded. That could explain why it was so difficult for Zero to understand the illusions. Enlightenment was something that caused many sages to stumble. Understanding something greater than the capabilities of oneself wasn't as simple as learning something new. It was a combination of discovery, research and mastering a new concept.

"Is there a need to complete the Trigression Falls trial if I've completed all three stages?"

Hua Tuo flicked his student on the forehead. "You think that you've overcome enlightenment just by conquering the Aggression Falls? You're a fool to think that there is an end to learning."

Zero groaned at the pain and felt his cheeks flush in shame. He let his first victory get to his head and forgot that learning was a never-ending process. His teacher had every right to admonish him and Zero apologised. The teenager felt shame at his arrogance and was mortified by the words coming out of his mouth.

Hua Tuo knew that look on his apprentice's face. Zero was mentally beating himself up for what he'd done and this time, the physician didn't stop him. It was always better to nip arrogance in the bud before it poisoned the mind. It was a lot easier to pick up bad habits than cultivate good ones. However, the Sage God didn't want Zero to linger on it for too long. they had more important things to prepare for. The Progression Falls had a slightly more complicated setup and Hua Tuo needed some help with it.

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"We will resume training at the Progression Falls tomorrow. Today, I will need your help to gather materials for the setup at the second stage. We're going to be learning how to utilise qi with the help of the waterfall."

Zero perked up at the mention of training preparation. "What do we need?"

Hua Tuo passed him a list and the young doctor raised a brow. A huge majority of the things on the list were herbs. Was someone going to get injured? Also, he spotted things like honey and wine on the list. Were they going to host a feast?

"No, we're not going to be hosting a feast. Wipe that drool from your mouth," Hua Tuo told his apprentice tiredly. Leave it to Zero to be so easily sidetracked.

Zero wiped the drool away with his robe sleeve and grinned. "Why do we need all these then?"

"We're going to bathe in it while training."

There was a funny silence as student and master stared at each other. The birds flew away from the strange atmosphere building in the air and even the forest bugs fell silent.

For Zero, he hated baths as much as he hated brushing his teeth. Although he did them daily whenever possible, it wasn't his favourite time of the day. This trial keeps getting worse and worse. Not only was he made to overcome his fear of potentially becoming the void again, but now, he also had to endure bathing sessions while cultivating under the second waterfall. What was it going to be like with the Regression Falls? Would he be made to do Math in freezing water?

Hua Tuo couldn't make out the weird expression on his student's face but he was willing to bet that Zero was thinking about something ridiculous again.

"Can I ask what's the final stage of this trial?" Zero asked in the most cautious manner Hua Tuo has ever heard from him.

The physician blinked. "It's going to be normal meditation," he answered and omitted the part about having to tie Zero to some rock while he meditated. Also, the coldness that Zero has to learn how to overcome would be more difficult than the heat from Progression Falls.

Zero sensed that Hua Tuo isn't telling him everything but normal meditation did sound reassuring. At least he wouldn't be required to do Math. The look of relief on his face made Hua Tuo even more perplexed. Just what kind of training did Zero have in mind? Hua Tuo didn't think that he was a terrible teacher. He didn't exactly torture Zero during the training session, did he?

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Hua Tuo froze and thought back on his actions. He didn't torture Zero, right? Ignoring the boy at the initial stage to force the teenager to think of a way to acknowledge his fears and make him face them head-on isn't it, right? He didn't answer because he didn't want to give Zero a leeway out again but he would save him regardless even if he failed. This shouldn't count as emotional abuse... right?

Zero tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Shifu, are you alright? You suddenly look very pale."

Hua Tuo chuckled nervously and patted Zero's head gently. "Don't worry, I'm alright. Let's go gather the herbs together. I'll make you some handmade noodles in pheasant broth later."

Zero rejoiced. It wasn't often that his teacher offered to cook. Pheasant broth noodles were one of Zero's favourite dishes apart from steamed dumplings. Hua Tuo would cook but he always made Zero help out. For his teacher to want to make a meal all by himself without having Zero to help out was a real reward.

Without waiting to be told twice, Zero went to grab the harvesting medical basket and Hua Tuo heaved a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Zero wasn't very hard to bribe. Even as a teenager, the kid still had some childishness left in him.

Hua Tuo had never been more thankful for magic. The travel from the hut to Trigression Falls would have been torture of a different kind if not for the portal that was already set up. Somehow, Hua Tuo convinced Zero that there was no real need to remove the portal from the hut to the waterfalls with some homemade soy pudding. The teenager didn't mind either way but it made Hua Tuo's year when the boy agreed. Travelling by a cloud mount would still take an hour. Travelling by the portal took less than a minute and Hua Tuo could make several trips to and fro and carry over the cartload worth of things they needed.

After the master and student unloaded bedding, pots, campfire, herbs, rope and dried rations, Hua Tuo told Zero to expand the cave.

"Which side should I expand it to?"

Hua Tuo studied the area. It was a rather small place for two people to be living and while the portal was convenient to help them travel to and fro, Hua Tuo didn't want to go back in the middle of the training. It would distract the mind greatly. Seclusion meant that they were cutting contact with the outside world.

"We need some space to put the bedding and a small cooking area. It doesn't really matter where you expand it to, just make it enough for both of us."

Zero thought for a while. Hua Tuo didn't allow him to sleep in the lamp this time as part of the cultivation training. The teenager thought that the sleeping venue didn't matter too much. In fact, they should be travelling back to the hut for rest but Hua Tuo insisted otherwise. Leave it to the physician to practice it the old-fashioned way. Still, Zero respected his teacher too much to argue. If seclusion was the fastest method to succeed in the trial, Zero would have to put up with it. Besides, they were only going to be gone for a month and then his combat training would resume.

It took Zero slightly more than an hour to make their living space comfortable. At this point, the teenager was thinking about the pros and cons of having home makeover magic. He had Zeus' magic lamp so the teen wasn't very worried about setting up camp. However, was this a little too luxurious for a rugged adventurer? From Vrald and Gerlad's stories, they never had such a comfortable place to sleep in when they travelled. Sometimes they'd find shelter in a cold cave that smelled of mould and on good days they sleep in the open field or under some tree with stars as their blankets around some poorly made campfire. The young doctor wondered how his adventurer life would be when he became a travelling doctor. From Hua Tuo's tales, the Sage God usually carried a heavy and bulky medicinal cabinet with his medicine making tools on his journey. On the other hand, Zero looked at his dimensional bag from En. He stored everything in his void dimension without carrying anything extra on him wherever he went.

The apprentice frowned. Wasn't he a little too spoiled?

Hua Tuo was satisfied with the level of detail Zero paid attention to when creating a new wing in the small cave. There was a room for cooking over the campfire with access to clean water redirected from the spring into the cave. The water was also good for bathing and cleaning if necessary but Hua Tuo highly doubted they would need any of that by training under the waterfall over the next few weeks. Zero even considered making a clothing line over the campfire so Hua Tuo could dry his wet clothing and the physician was grateful for having such a thoughtful disciple. This was how masters should be treated when they took on students. For the first time since accepting Zero under his wing, the Sage God felt respected and honoured.

While it was true that Zero successfully developed the twelve standard meridian points to the maximum potential, the teenager still has not discovered how to develop the eight extraordinary meridian points which pugilist masters developed. In order to unlock the Bagua formation, Hua Tuo took many centuries to master the surface of all eight 'enlightened' meridians. While it wasn't possible for ordinary students to master the Ba Gua to Hua Tuo's level of proficiency, the Sage God had faith that Zero would be able to learn all that he has learnt and more.

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The physician lamented his inability to be compatible with certain elements in the Ba Gua formations but Zero had an affinity with all elements that made it possible for him to unlock and use all sixty-four combination pairings of the spiritual spectrum. Tai Ji movements were founded based on the eight trigrams but nobody has successfully cultivated it to the level of proficiency that was theoretically possible. Qi Gong, on the other hand, has been mastered as the foundations for every martial arts practitioner who wished to surpass the physical limitations of the human body. Zero has mastered Qi Gong and strengthened his body to what is close to a demigod's level because of his complete set of the meridian network. However, Hua Tuo wondered if his disciple could attain even greater heights after mastering the Ba Gua and eight extraordinary meridians.

Zero changed into his swimming costume this time upon Hua Tuo's insistence that it was not appropriate to train in the nude even if they were technically bathing in herbs.

They changed out of their normal robes and started building the 'bathtub'.

The bathtub reminded Zero of a roc's birdnest, crudely made with branches from the tree and some questionable materials. Thankfully, Hua Tuo didn't insist on using bones to build the sides of the nest. Zero didn't know where he'd find the bones in this spring. Maybe if they filleted the monster carp hiding at the bottom of the spring they could use it. Instead, the physician was slapping on some mud he found by the side of the cliff. The mud was called clay and stuck on the branches rather well. Zero found himself learning how to make a survival water catchment while Hua Tuo worked. Instead of relying on home makeover magic, the brunet was simply using a basic mana shield as an umbrella while his teacher slapped on clay to the side of the branch nest.

"Get me more clay," Hua Tuo ordered and Zero extended his other hand to telekinetically scoop up more of the reddish-brown soil to add to the pile in the middle.

The bath Hua Tuo made wasn't very big but Zero could compare it to the size of two turtles. They paved the path up to the bathtub with some rocks that Zero cut into shape with wind magic. The duo made quick progress and it was around noon when Hua Tuo added the finishing touches to the bathtub.

"Ok, I need you to hold that mana shield while using heat magic. The clay won't hold water until it is solid."

Zero nodded and got to work while Hua Tuo excused himself to start fishing for their lunch. Halfway through the heating process, Zero smelled something very wonderful and rather familiar. His stomach growled loudly and the teenager decided to cheat a little. Drying the clay took too long with heating magic so Zero decided to use fire to burn it dry.

Hua Tuo heard the crackle of something strange over his cooking but ignored it. Surely Zero wouldn't be up to something funny right? Drying the clay was an easy thing to do.

The moment he heard a sharp hiss and saw steam coming out from that unfinished bathtub, Hua Tuo removed the fish he was grilling and flew over to where his student was.

Inside the bathtub, Zero was sputtering. He didn't think that adding compressed fire in an enclosed space like this would trigger a massive steam explosion. Still, he held onto the mana shield, not wanting the water from above to destroy Hua Tuo's hard work.

"Zero!"

The teenager coughed as hot steam entered his mouth, burning his lungs.

"I'm ok!"

Hua Tuo highly doubted it but it was too risky to go in there yet. What exactly did his apprentice do?

Once the steam cleared and vision was back, Hua Tuo jumped in through the small crack and checked over his student for injuries. There were some first and second-degree burns but Zero was already recovering rapidly from them. Only after he was certain that Zero wasn't harmed too badly did he smack Zero on the head.

"Do you really want to try dying so badly? If you weren't wearing swimming trunks the Great Gods blessed you with, you would have been cooked!"

Zero grimaced. He couldn't retort here and Hua Tuo was right. He'd been reckless and impatient.

"Sorry, shifu."

Hua Tuo simmered visibly. Seriously, someone had to keep an eye on the teen at all times. There was never a moment he could relax. Just when he thought Zero had matured a little enough to be left without constant supervision, the brat had to prove him wrong.

He studied the ground that was cracked and charred. Zero must have gotten impatient and decided to use direct fire instead of heat. He clicked his tongue in disapproval. This is another lesson Zero must learn.

"Do you know what you've done wrong?"

Zero nodded and looked down in shame all the while maintaining the mana shield. Hua Tuo sighed.

"Not knowing is not a crime. However, not finding out what you don't know and assuming that it will be alright is a crime. Clay needs to be dried out first then fired to be strengthened into a waterproof state. Firing and drying has to be done evenly otherwise cracks will form and if this is going to be a bathtub, we don't want any cracks showing. It wouldn't be any different from the branch nest if it had cracks."

Zero nodded but Hua Tuo pointed at Zero's nose and continued in an even sterner voice.

"However! If you administered fire to wet clay that still contained a lot of water content in such an enclosed space, not only will the clay be damaged, a steam explosion will happen and you would have died."

Zero gulped with crossed eyes focussed on that pointer finger that moved upwards to flick him on the forehead. The teenager yelped in pain as his head was thrown back by the force of that one finger flick.

Hua Tuo huffed. "That's for endangering yourself. Everything happens for a reason. If you don't know why it is happening, you should find out first before taking action. Always look before you leap! Think before you act because once you've done something, you cannot take it back. Once the damage is done, it lasts forever like a scar left behind from an old wound. Not everything can be saved by healing magic, human emotions are even more fragile than their fleeting lives."

"I'm sorry," Zero whispered, horrified at the implications. Hua Tuo had every right to be angry.

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Ever since Zero became a teenager, he'd been making nothing but mistakes. He thought he'd matured enough to handle everything by himself and make accurate judgements like how he found out about the allergies vampires had. However, it seemed as if all those discoveries were nothing more than just a fluke. Zero paled. What if this was actual lives in his hands and he simply took action based on assumption without investigating the actual reason? Would he have killed someone?

Hua Tuo didn't need to say much more when the horror settled in. Zero had to learn that medicine was not a craft to be taken for granted. A misdiagnose could heavily cost someone their lives and future. As a doctor, Hua Tuo made sure to always check all the symptoms for every individual each time they visited to form a diagnosis accurately without getting influenced by what is 'common'.

Out of the two hundred people that showed flu-like symptoms, there would always be the possibility of that one person carrying something that looks like the flu but more dangerous. Hua Tuo always regretted not paying closer attention while he was still working in the palace. Although nobody blamed him for the plague breakout, Hua Tuo always regretted the fact that it could easily be avoided if he'd been more vigilant. He didn't want Zero to follow his footsteps of being complacent with his knowledge and overlooking possible signs of something worse.

"Fix it up. Once you're done, come for lunch. I'll leave your share by the portal, don't cut corners this time."

Zero nodded and scrambled to find more clay, taking care to cut out and dispose of the ruined portions from the earlier explosion. Hua Tuo returned to his cooking this time with his mind at peace. This time, he was sure that Zero wouldn't stray from the path.

It was about three in the afternoon before Zero finally had lunch. He finally understood why haste made waste and felt ashamed for not listening to the words of the wise.

Hua Tuo was preparing the herbs needed for the first level of breakthrough. According to the physician, Zero will be cultivating with Hua Tuo. The Sage God ran through the basics of cultivating the eight extraordinary meridian points. While the explanation sounded fairly similar to what Zero experienced with Tanya and the elemental spirits, it had one difference. Zero was unable to feel it with his body. He had to force his soul out of his body in order to receive the qi in those meridian points.

"The eight meridian points that you will be cultivating will not be in your vessel. It's an extension of your aura and part of your spirit. Then again, I have no idea if this is possible because you are a unique entity. Still, we will attempt it together. Remember to always circulate the qi in a yin and yang cycle with the timing of the tide in mind. We change it every six hours, following the pull of the moon."

Zero didn't quite understand it but Hua Tuo ruffled his hair and told him to focus on eating lunch first. Not one to refuse food, Zero dug in.

The Sage God shook his head. Zero was still too naive and easily distracted. He vaguely wondered if the boy would ever grow out of this although he thought that it was part of Zero's personality to worship food by now.

Normally, traditional cultivators would train the individual meridian point trying to force it to open with the help of herbs as a catalyst. However, Hua Tuo doubted that it would work for Zero's case. His body simply absorbed everything and stored it away as energy for future use and conversion. Hence, the Sage God designed a method of dual cultivation with on acting as the catalyst and the other feeding on the processed energy to force a breakthrough.

The Sage God looked at the herbs in the bath and added more chopped rhubarb for detoxification purpose. After purifying the qi, Hua Tuo needed to clean his system of the pollutants even though he doubted that Zero needed to do the same.

"I'm done!" Zero called out from the cave entrance. He did the dishes in record time and hopped into the spring for a short swim to freshen up. Post lunch sleepiness was a thing he developed lately and he didn't have his hawthorn tea that Hua Tuo normally brewed after a meal.

Hua Tuo didn't say much as he tested the water. Progression Falls was considered the gentlest of all three waterfalls. The medicinal bags that the Sage God threw into the bathtub were beginning to infuse themselves gently with the running water. Hua Tuo was glad that he didn't build the bathtub directly under the waterfall even if that was the best method to receive qi infused water. Beginners wouldn't be able to cope with the pace and he didn't think that having too much of it will help them progress faster. The physician was rather pleased with himself for actually managing to build a tub with a drainage system.

Zero climbed up the smooth stone stairs and held onto the vine railing, not wanting to slip and fall. The water cascaded down the cold stone and Zero thought that the water felt slightly colder than the air. It was nowhere near as cold as the spring so the teen took comfort in that. Hua Tuo warned him that as they trained, the temperature will rise accordingly. A failure to control the energy internally could lead to injuries for both of them.

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"Ready?" the Sage God asked.

Zero nodded and became serious. He didn't exactly understand the concepts that Hua Tuo explained earlier on but Hua Tuo reassured him that he will understand it once they began. As Zero was more of a hands-on learner, he readily agreed to the first trial.

"We will be exchanging roles with six minute-cycles instead of six-hour cycles for the first hour. Please watch how I purify the gathered qi from the water and do the same. The herbs are here to aid in supporting your standard meridian channels during the purification stage. Once the qi has been purified in the first stage, I will circulate the qi to you. Your job is to gather as much yin qi as you can and hold it there while I guide the yang qi to the eight extraordinary meridians for you. Do not fight it or both of us will suffer heavy injuries. At any point in time that it gets too overwhelming to accept, circulate it back to me. It's fine if the cycle is cut short for the first few meditation sessions."

Zero nodded. normally, this method of training wasn't used due to the high risk of broken focus from either party. For ordinary solo cultivation, if the concentration is broken, the cycle breaks automatically and the session stops itself. However, in the dual cultivation method, any break in flow or imbalance can cause internal injuries to one or both parties. Meridian channels will rupture and sometimes if major points were damaged beyond repair, the cultivator becomes paralysed for life.

Hua Tuo also explained the dangers of dual cultivation between people of the same gender. Female bodies naturally harness yin energy while male bodies typically harness yang energy. There were special cases but Hua Tuo didn't go into the details. While it was more effective for female and male partners to train together due to the natural traits and the increased efficiency of progressing through the cultivation stages, not many people did it because of the invasive feeling both parties would feel during the training. More often than not, only couples did it because it was way too intimate for ordinary friends or students and teachers to practice it.

Zero didn't really know what it meant nor minded it. Hua Tuo told him that they would share feelings, memories and for a short time, become the same person with the intertwining of souls despite Zero's lack of one.

Zero sat down in the tub and gasped as the water came right up to his shoulder while Hua Tuo sat with the water comfortably at his chest level.

"Is it too high for you? You can get a rock or something to sit on so that you don't drown while we train."

Zero nodded and left to search for a suitable seat. Hua Tuo wondered why Zero wasn't more concerned about sharing memories and feelings with Hua Tuo. The Sage God wasn't extremely comfortable with his student sharing his past with him but if Zero was going to surpass him as a doctor one day, he ought to know the kind of world Hua Tuo was once a part of in order to do better on the new Earth and beyond. apart from selected few, not many people knew about the old Earth. Hua Tuo was one of the people who roamed it in the golden ages when humans were first showing signs of developing intelligence capable of taking down Gods. Merlin lived through a time that paved the way for humans to understand the existence of Gods and Steve lived through a time when humans started rejecting the existence of Gods and created their own.

"Found it!" Zero chirped and tossed the rock from the cliffside down into the tub.

Hua Tuo shielded his eyes and turned away when the rock landed perfectly in the middle of the tub with a huge splash before another big splash followed. The Sage God wanted to ban all diving activities or cannonballs from cliff sides in the fragile tub as it creaked ominously from the double attack.

Zero rubbed his throbbing bottom. The tub was too shallow for a dive and he was certain he heard a crack although he wasn't sure if that was his bottom of the tub. He didn't really want to check and gave his teacher a cautious glance. It didn't surprise him that Hua Tuo was glaring at him. Zero quickly apologised and settled down into position to show that he was ready for their test run.

The teenager was still worried. He wasn't human and this cultivation method was suitable for those who were more human-like in soul construct. Zero didn't possess a soul and the vessel wasn't made from flesh and blood. It was constructed from magic with materials from the Great Gods. Logically, he wouldn't be able to develop what he didn't possess. The eight extraordinary meridian channels were tied to a human's soul and spirit. Zero was the void. He didn't know how that would be possible at all. Still, if Hua Tuo said that they will find a way together, he would place his trust in his teacher.

They sat with legs crossed under the water. The medicinal bags were doing their jobs well and Zero took a whiff of the aromatic water. He linked hands with Hua Tuo who was waiting for him to settle down comfortably on his rock.

Hua Tuo closed his eyes and waited for Zero to enter the meditative state. Once he felt the water heating up and swirling around them, the Sage God decided to enter his meditative state to match Zero. His student was doing well and had absolute control over the qi circulating in his vessel. Hua Tuo envied how effortlessly Zero took to cultivation and magic. During his time as a human, cultivation did not exist and he had to explore it. Only after the invention of qi gong, pugilists started building on his initial foundation to the powerful art that they now knew it for.

Hua Tuo pulled on the qi in the Progression Falls and collected them in his dantian. There were several methods of dual cultivation and today, he was going to try something called mirroring where one party plays the dominant cultivator to direct where the energy would go and the passive partner focuses on maintaining the energy balance.

From what he could tell, they were doing great by collecting the qi energy separately in the inner dimension. Hua Tuo waited until Zero got a little further with his reserves before attempting to connect their bridges. The water was unbearably hot for him with all the yang energy. At the same time, Zero's body was wracked with shivers from the iciness of the amassed yin energy.

Zero wasn't prepared for Hua Tuo to start probing him with scalding hot strands o0f yang energy but he quickly reacted accordingly and accepted it without trying to fend off the painful energy coming into his body from the right hand. Hua Tuo transferred the yang energy steadily from the tip of his fingers on the right and Zero did the same and transferred his yin energy through the fingertips on his left to his teacher in the same speed and amounts that Hua Tuo was giving him.

Hua Tuo was impressed. His disciple had very good control even if he was still shaky with the purification part. Zero didn't know how to remove the impurities from the qi too well and there were still traces of chaos energy in the yin qi harvested.

The Sage God receiving the impure yin energy and used the medicinal water to nourish his heart before pumping it through the organ, separating the chaos energy and the yin energy. The remainder chaos energy was then pushed into his bloodstream and sweated out back into the water, turning it muddy.

Zero continued to harvest yin qi from the Progressions Falls and he was getting better at differentiating the different types of water coming from it. Some of the water sources felt familiar and Zero guessed that Progression Falls was a river connected together by a few sources. The Spring of Vitality's recuperation properties was present and so was the coldness of death from the Styx River. There some weirder energies that Zero didn't know about so he left them alone and focussed on accumulating the yin qi from the Styx water.

Hua Tuo was sweating bullets by now. He'd gathered enough qi to make even the cripple walk again but for Zero, it didn't seem like it was enough. The teenager had no reaction to Hua Tuo's incessant probing. In fact, despite their linked minds and energy, the Sage God was still unable to find where he and Zero connected. If anything, the physician felt as if Zero was swallowing him whole. It was just an empty space that everything disappeared in.

Hua Tuo shuddered at the immense pressure as the qi he pumped into Zero's inner space started to take form. He couldn't quite see it but the doctor knew it wasn't the eight extraordinary meridians that he was helping Zero cultivate. In fact, it was something else lying dormant within the void possibly left behind by the Great One.

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Whatever that thing was, Hua Tuo felt a terrifying sense of hunger coming from it. Suddenly, the energy from the Progression Falls wasn't enough. In order to feed this unknown potential in Zero, they might need to suck Trigression Falls dry and even so, the Sage God wasn't sure if that would be enough.

Zero was surprised when the circulated energy was suddenly cut off. Why was Hua Tuo stopping? They'd only been doing this for about forty minutes. Did he make a mistake somewhere?

He felt Hua Tuo's apprehension and doubt as well as a little fear but Zero didn't understand why. He was beginning to feel something stir inside of him when his teacher stopped.

"We're ending here for today," Hua Tuo sounded tired as he said that and Zero nodded, not questioning why even though he was very curious.

Hua Tuo was thankful for Zero's silence as he cleaned up the tub a little and removed the medicine bags. The Sage God returned to the cave and pulled out his communicator to ask the cultivation expert about it. Who knows, Trigression Falls might not be the best place to develop Zero's potential after all.

Buddha wasn't expecting a call. The God of Enlightenment answered it and was surprised to hear Hua Tuo ask for his help. Apparently, Zero was learning cultivation but the God of Medicine had run into some walls. Buddha didn't blame him. Zero was a very unique existence and even as the one dubbed as the cultivation monster, he wasn't sure if he was meant to hold onto that title with Zero in the picture.

"I understand. I'll head over soon," he told the weary doctor and hung up. From the description, it looks like Hua Tuo has made some rather disturbing discoveries. Buddha wished that it would be what he thinks it is but the God of Enlightenment would be a fool to hold onto false hopes.

The Wise God packed a few things along including a prayer necklace, a mana lotus, a golden pagoda and some water from his lotus pond. There was only one reason why Zero would be so qi hungry. If Buddha guessed it right, Solo must have planted something very troublesome into the void.

Hua Tuo couldn't be more thankful to see the conman as he stepped out of the portal. He greeted Buddha enthusiastically and carefully explained the situation again. Zero was still outside cleaning up the tub and trying to catch something for dinner. He wasn't aware of Buddha's presence until the Sage God of Enlightenment exited the cave.

"Zero, Buddha will ask you to meditate for a while. We're going to try and locate the eight meridians if possible. Don't worry, Buddha is more experienced in cultivation than I am. In fact, he is known as the cultivation monster because nobody has attained his level of enlightenment in history. He is the record-setter and breaker for anything cultivation related."

Zero blinked. Cultivation monster? Buddha? Somehow, the young doctor was able to believe it. Was the second trial really that tricky to overcome? Still, Zero did not question and do as he was told. He merely watched curiously at the things Buddha took out.

"Please sit on this lotus pad," Buddha told Zero.

The Enlightened One planted the mana lotus into the centre of the spring and Zero watched in fascination as the plant absorbed the qi and water, growing almost as big as the bathtub itself. The lotus pad didn't look very stable in the water but Zero didn't doubt Buddha and stepped onto the leaf.

Barefooted, Zero felt the bouncy texture and cool sleek surface with his feet. The teenager took to jumping a few times and was pleasantly surprised that it could act as a springboard. Buddha didn't scold Zero or judge him for giggling at the bounciness of the lotus leaf. In fact, he seemed amused by Zero's childish behaviour. Hua Tuo simply sighed and left matters to Buddha. Whatever was in Zero's inner dimension was beyond the Medicine God's ability to understand or help.

Zero didn't take long to settle down and was surprised when Buddha took a seat behind him instead of facing him like what Hua Tuo did earlier.

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"Am I facing the right direction?" he asked the cultivation monster.

Buddha smiled serenely. "Yes, don't worry. Can you meditate and enter your inner world as usual? There is something I would like to investigate."

Zero complied and pulled his legs in, assuming an upright sitting posture on the lotus pad. Hua Tuo thought that his student looked rather professional and subconsciously reached for his communicator to snap a photo. The physician was like a doting grandfather who was proud of their grandchild who grew up into a fine young man. The photo turned out brilliant and the physician decided that he would keep this particular one for himself instead of selling it to Isis. The old man spent the next fifteen minutes how to set it up as his wallpaper for the home screen while Buddha worked.

The Wise One observed the qi around Zero as the teen meditated. He pulled out his golden pagoda just in case he lost his way in the void and used it to set up an invisible formation around the lotus pad. There was an invisible tent around the lotus pad that helped to auto-balance out whatever imbalance of energy or element types there were for the cultivators in the area of effect. Buddha spent a long time developing this and didn't use it often simply because it drew on his domain's power of enlightenment. However, knowing that this concerns Zero and Solo, the Enlightened One was not taking any chances. Godhood wasn't easily attained but it could be easily lost. Buddha still had many more things he wanted to learn, see and discover.

The Enlightened One took a seat behind Zero and drew on the pagoda's powers to activate his golden halo. The chaos energy in the Trigression Falls was sufficient for Buddha to make a connection with the void even without a dimensional crack or plane plate border nearby. Wherever the water Trigression Falls got its source from, Buddha was certain that Hua Tuo's fears of sucking the water dry with Zero's thirst were unfounded. If anything, the more real possibility was for Endow Hill to collapse from the deficit of mana and energy that sustained the powerful life forms here. In fact, he was almost certain that without the Trigression Falls, Sleepy Case would cease to exist.

Zero found it enjoyable. For some reason, there was a golden pool of in his inner dimension that continued to pour in steadily. There was no actual need for Zero to focus on sorting out the different types of qi either because the golden pool of whatever did the work for him. It was a pleasant mix of warm and cold and it reminded Zero about the strange illusions he experienced with Aggression Falls.

Buddha materialised behind him and Zero jumped. He had been swimming in the golden liquid that appeared from nowhere in his inner dimension and wasn't expecting anyone to join him. Was this what Hua Tuo meant by the invasive feeling when they practised dual cultivation?

"Hello, Zero."

The teenager smiled awkwardly. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't wearing anything in the inner dimension and neither was Buddha. Unlike him, Buddha had this really glaring golden light coming from his crotch area and Zero raised a brow, taking a look at his own crotch area. The boy frowned in dismay when he noticed that there wasn't any golden light coming from it. In fact, there was nothing there and it looked as Zero had always remembered it to be. Just skin that covered the area like the skin on his knees and elbows... Zero wondered why Buddha had such a special nether region. He vaguely wondered if Truen, Baal and Hua Tuo's crotches glowed too. Maybe he'll ask them later.

"Follow me," Buddha told the teenager who was rudely staring at his crotch without shame or embarrassment. In fact, Buddha was willing to bet his entire cultivation base that Zero didn't know it was rude to stare. The Enlightened One briefly wondered if anyone had the birds and the bees talk with Zero yet. In any case, it wasn't his problem.

Buddha got his priorities right and his mission was to find that hungry monster in Zero's inner world that Hua Tuo found overwhelming. He didn't blame Hua Tuo for not being able to handle the situation. Zero's inner dimension was very similar to the void that Buddha frequented. Although it was devoid of chaos energy at the moment, Zero's inner dimension held a lot of undiscovered secrets. He had lost memory fragments locked, major portions of his innate ability sealed up by the system Solo created as well as emotions.

Yes, Buddha knew that too well. In order to achieve Nirvana, the Enlightened One had to cast his humanity aside. He left all his emotions in the void even though he'd taken some of it back ever since he attained immortality. Zero wasn't able to cope with the overwhelming emotions he felt instinctively from others so he sealed them away. Gods have it easier with the gift to filter prayers and listen to them with an alternative mind so that it wouldn't drive them insane. However, Zero didn't have that. Buddha had to wade through the waves of other people's emotions and feelings in the space with Zero following close behind. The boy's face was scrunched up as voices and feelings overwhelmed him.

Taking pity on the creator, Buddha chanted the heart mantra with the prayer beads in his hand. The chanting built a scripture barrier around both of them and Zero sighed in relief, thankful from the reprieve. Was this really his inner dimension?

Buddha wasn't too surprised about the true form of the energy monster in Zero's void. With so many lost souls that Zero picked up along the way seeking salvation and unresolved grievances, they could be sitting and cultivating for centuries before all the karma was settled.

Buddha's halo helped to light the way and Zero didn't know why there were so many monsters hidden in the darkness. One thing for sure, they were all attracted to Buddha's golden light. The golden pool from earlier was now gone. It was devoured by the horde of nameless creatures in his inner dimension. Zero didn't know how his inner dimension was created because Hua Tuo didn't mention anything about the process of making one when he found out that Zero already had one. The teenager sulked. His inner dimension was probably not the same as other cultivators. Why would there be monsters in his inner dimension that he wasn't even aware of? Hua Tuo described his inner dimension as a garden full of exotic plants but Zero has never seen it. Then again, Buddha should have one too. Why is it that dual cultivation worked one-sidedly? Both Sage Gods have visited his inner dimension but Zero was unable to visit theirs.

While Zero entertained the questions in his head, Buddha was busy searching for something in the muck. The lost souls weren't surprising to know. A good exorcism session and chanting to put them at peace will suffice. However, there was something that kept amassing them even as they walked so unless Buddha did something about the source, the horde would continue growing.

Buddha had a vague idea about what he was looking for. He hadn't been Solo's confident and friend for no reason. According to his knowledge about the creator in the past, Solo was a rather whimsical person but also cautious. The creator didn't trust anyone and had a selfish personality. Life didn't matter much to him and everything he did was purely for his amusement. It is also where Gugu and Jevy inherited their obsessive behaviour.

Zero followed Buddha for what felt like an hour without any questions. With nothing much to do, the boy started learning parts of the mantra. It was easy and repetitive so Zero followed Buddha as he chanted. They walked in a single file along a straight line to nowhere in particular. Occasionally, Buddha would make a turn and Zero would find himself colliding in the Enlightened One's back. For a while now, they were walking on a gentle slope upwards.

Buddha was sure of it. This feeling... it's familiar.

As they closed in on the culprit, Buddha frowned. Logically, it wasn't possible. This defied every single law of the world. However, there was no other way he could explain the sense of familiarity. Solo shouldn't exist. Yet, he felt his presence here along with Zero behind him. They might be the same existence and entity but they gave off very different vibes. If Zero was warm and sweet like honey tea, Solo would be cold and sharp like a blade.

"I can see something!" Zero exclaimed and stopped chanting. It was very small and faint and far in the distance but even Buddha could see it.

At this point, the nameless creatures in Zero's inner dimension had dwindled in numbers as they got closer to it. Buddha never picked up his walking pace but Zero was bouncing and hopping, trying to jump over Buddha's shoulder to get a better view of that mysterious thing in Zero's void.

It took longer than Zero thought it would for them to reach the mysterious glowing object. To his surprise, it wasn't very big. The object was a box or a crate that was sealed. Zero could easily hold it in his hands as the box was only about a foot long. Buddha didn't stop chanting immediately but when he did, a deafening silence made Zero uncomfortable.

On closer observation, the light emitted by the box didn't look like anything Zero had seen before. The light was grey and almost black like the darkness around them. It didn't reflect the golden light coming from Buddha and seemed to be completely isolated on its own. Zero didn't know why but he felt as if the box wasn't a part of his inner dimension. It was as if it came from an external source and was planted here before he even knew it.

He was not wrong. Buddha recognised what the box was and why it was here. He helped create it after all with Solo's instructions. However, the Enlightened One didn't know what to do with it now that he confirmed his fears.

Zero looked at the Sage God curiously. For once, he saw a clear conflict in Buddha's eyes. He no longer had that serene expression on his face and Zero swallowed. If Buddha was serious, it meant that trouble was brewing.

He stared at the strange box and wondered what they were going to do about it. Was this what Buddha wanted to find? Perhaps this box was what was causing Zero so much difficulty in his progress with cultivation. He didn't have a problem when it comes to magic apart from his inability to recover mana naturally. However, Zero found a way to overcome that by absorbing things and converting energy from one form to another.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, unable to stand the deafening silence any longer. The tension was too thick and it made Zero nervous.

Buddha didn't answer right away. He was thinking.

Zero didn't know if the Sage God heard him the first time but decided that it was best not to ask a second time with the heavy frown on Buddha's face.

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Not even the Sage Gods would be able to help Buddha make the decision he was forced to make at the current moment. The box in question was something Buddha helped solo store all his will in for Zero when he awoke. It was previously sealed away in a part of the void that only Buddha could access. The box was unsealed recently when Zero accepted the memory fragments from all six Great Gods. While all of it was going according to Solo's plan, Buddha didn't know if it was fair for Zero to be still under Solo's influence even when he was gone. The Mind's Eye system was stored in this very box and it was Solo's will that prevented Zero from doing many things that the teenager wanted.

Buddha turned around to look at Zero. The teenager became nervous and jittery when he did so. Zero didn't know what Buddha was thinking about but for the Enlightened One to be so serious, this must be of utmost importance.

"Zero, I have a question for you. You must answer me to the best of your abilities about what you truly feel and not what makes the most sense."

The boy nodded and stood at attention, waiting for the most serious question that Buddha was ever going to ask him.

"What are you going to do if you have to face Solo who has become your enemy?"

"What are you going to do if you have to face Solo who has become your enemy?"

Zero blinked. Buddha wasn't joking and the boy found himself smiling for some reason. It would mean that he would be able to meet Solo again wouldn't it?

"I will save him," he told Buddha who wasn't expecting such an answer.

The Enlightened One smiled a genuine smile when he heard that. His heart felt lighter and the Sage God knew what he should do. Even if he was breaking his promise to his old friend, Buddha would put all his hopes onto the teenager before him. While Solo was a powerful being, he was extremely fragile on the inside. His distrust for his creations made him lonelier than when he was alone at the beginning. It was why Solo made the Mind's Eye system as insurance to protect his future self.

Seeing Zero now, Buddha didn't think that Solo's insurance was needed. Zero was strong even if he didn't know everything. That resolution and courage to face the unknown were what made the teenager different from his past self. Zero didn't only rely on his capabilities to get out of sticky situations. He counted on the people around him to watch his back while he forged the path ahead for them even when everyone despaired.

Buddha recalled how Zero was always able to find a solution that nobody else was able to come up with. Back in the abyss, Zero didn't kill Rhinestone. Instead, he broke the man-made dimension by flooding it. Nobody else would have been able to do what Zero did. If it were Solo, Buddha knew that his old friend wouldn't be as merciful. The creator would have reconstructed that dimension and erased the spider demon's existence for eternity.

It was ironic how Solo destroyed his creations easily as the original creator while Zero tried to preserve the creations and nurture them even though he was the destroyer. Buddha thought that no matter what his old friend had become, there would always be light to darkness and darkness to light. Like two sides of a coin, Solo and Zero might never meet but the Enlightened One knew better. If time ran in a circle as all cycles did, Solo and Zero would eventually meet where the end is the beginning.

Zero watched as Buddha got closer to the ominous box. He couldn't help but feel nervous. Was this Solo's tomb? Was Buddha going to release the zombie called Solo residing within? Zero wasn't prepared for it. He met Solo once in the time crossing but he didn't know much about Solo's life. Buddha wouldn't ask him random questions about his past self without reason. The box definitely had something to do with Solo even if it wasn't Solo himself.

Buddha chanted something in a language that made Zero's head feel fuzzy. It was familiar but he couldn't recall where he'd heard it before. The system didn't translate it for him either and started malfunctioning much to Zero's alarm.

[System re-registering rights.]

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[External interference detected, eliminating the threat...]

[System failed to eliminate the threat, emergency sleep-mode activated.]

When the system fell asleep, Buddha caught the box in his arms. The box no longer glowed and didn't float. Zero blinked as he put two and two together.

"That's Mind's Eye?"

Buddha nodded. "I took a gamble," he told the teen who gaped at him.

It felt unreal to Zero. All along, he thought that Mind's Eye belonged in his head just like how the Blessings the Great Gods gave. It should be something akin to mana and not some mysterious box floating in his inner dimension. Now that Mind's Eye had gone to sleep, Zero worried about Mii who was technically a by-product of the system. What was going to happen now?

Buddha took a while to tinker with the settings of the box and Zero watched without understanding what was going on. He had many questions. Why would Buddha know about Mind's Eye? If this was the system made by Solo, did it mean that he could no longer see Solo in person unless there was another time crack? What's going to happen now that the system isn't working?

The Enlightened One tapped the box and rebooted the core functions. The box came back to life and floated with a white glow this time. As it spun and gave off quite the light show, Zero stared at Buddha who studied it intently.

Then, the Enlightened One turned to him. "Go on, identify yourself and register your name."

Zero didn't know what he was meant to be doing but a friendly introduction shouldn't hurt.

"Hi there, I'm Zero."

The box didn't seem to register it and Zero gave Buddha a helpless look. The stupid thing continued to spin slowly and Zero wondered if it was broken. Maybe they should take it out and get someone else to look at it.

Just as Zero was about to suggest it, the box stopped spinning and settled on a low golden glow that felt warm.

[Registering new owner: Zero.]

[System restarting...]

Zero waited with wide eyes when the box slowly opened up. The teen could barely hold onto his excitement as what was inside started to reveal itself. If this wasn't Solo's body, perhaps it was an afterimage of Solo himself? Was he going to receive a message from his past self or a gift?

Buddha monitored Mind's Eye closely as it registered Zero as the new rightful owner. Solo did tell him to pass the system on to his future self after all. He just didn't specify who should be the administrator of it. Back then, Solo's will controlled Mind's Eye and Buddha didn't think it was a problem seeing how Zero was new to everything. However, over the past few months in Earth's time, Zero had matured considerably. He was no longer alone and ignorant about the world. While Zero was growing, Solo's will remained frozen in time and stuck to the conventional thoughts, restricting Zero's potential. Now, Buddha was going to correct it.

Instead of a face similar to his, Zero saw someone else familiar emerging from the box.

"Mii?"

Indeed, it was the strawcherry fairy. Zero wasn't exceptionally thrilled to see her. He thought that something grander was going to appear from the box and that disappointment was clearly reflected on his face. Mii woke up after being forcefully powered down earlier. She was slightly disoriented but it didn't take long for all the information to catch up with her.

One thing that shocked her greatly was the change of ownership. Zero was now the administrator of the Mind's Eye system and as a by-product of the new system, Mii was worried. Solo's will didn't allow her to express her opinions about what was good for Zero. With Zero as the new owner, would he bind her as a puppet simply to do his bidding instead of treating her as a friend who often played the devil's advocate?

"Mii? What's wrong?" Zero asked when the strawcherry fairy simply stood still, not completely coming out of the box.

Buddha decided to give the assistant a literal hand out of there. With Mii sitting on his palm, Buddha explained. "She's still processing the new information. A system update after the change of owners must be a rather big thing."

Zero bought it and started working on the system configurations when it prompted him for some setting requirements.

"How should I fill this in, Buddha? I don't know anything about Mind's Eye!"

Buddha allowed Mii to collect her thoughts and observe her new system owner as he made some configurations. The Enlightened One helped Zero navigate his way through the complicated system administrator panel and explained some of its functions.

"You can also add anything to it that you feel is insufficient," the Sage God told him and Zero thought about it.

"Can I add something that I'm bad at?"

Buddha blinked. "For example?"

"A calculator function!"

Mii felt riled up by Zero's suggestion and snapped at him. "Do basic addition yourself! Also, don't think that I do not know you've been asking Bob for answers pertaining to basic multiplication. You've been skimping on homework too ever since you came back from the abyss."

Zero cringed at Mii and mumbled under his breath.

"What did you say?" the strawcherry fairy raised her brow with hands on her hips. Her spunky attitude was back and the assistant made a full recovery when she felt that nothing much has changed with Zero taking over the controls ads the system administrator. If anything, she felt a huge weight lifted off her. She no longer had to watch out for things that might get her existence erased again.

"I said that you haven't really changed," Zero muttered and went over to nuzzle the small fairy with his cheek.

"Hey! Stop that, you're getting snot all over me!" Mii squirmed but Zero ignored her complaints. He was too happy.

The first thing that came to his mind when the system malfunctioned was how he might lose Mii. Now that he was certain the spunky assistant was alright, Zero couldn't help but cry a little. Mii gave up struggling after a while and resigned herself to fate. If being lazy and wanting a calculation function added was all Zero wanted, she would still be able to help him with it.

"Seriously, is that all you need? A calculator?"

Zero released the fairy who quickly put some distance between them. "Of course not, I want to know everything there is to know about the system. If it was created by Solo, surely there must be more information about how he created the worlds, where the divine entities are and how to meet him again, right?"

Buddha shook his head. "The system was designed by Solo with what he knew back then. Hence, it is not possible for the system to tell you what it does not know. The database has not been updated in a long time and many things are lacking. It was only recently found out that some Divine Entities made Divine Fragments."

Zero sighed. He knew it was too good to be true. being the system administrator only added more responsibility and Zero didn't like responsibility very much.

"What about quests? Can I cheat quests now and unlock all the functions?"

Mii shook her head. "The system was designed in a way to build and improve itself after objectives are met. Usually, it required materials to do so. For example, the energy conversion function was only possible after Solo completed the map of his creations. It's not as simple as you think it is. In order for the system to 'convert' energy, it has to sacrifice some of the energy sources you have in the void and put it back into creation while harvesting the energy form that you requested another source and put it into your void pocket."

Zero felt his jaw slacken. So it was nothing more than a trick done by the system all the time? What about the water that he used to burst open Rhinestone's dimension?

"That was a different case. We simply used what already existed in your void inventory. No conversion was required. However, when you converted one thing to another, we had to source for the item you were looking for and exchanged it with what you had. The void is a very funny place. Only you are able to access it freely. To everything else that goes in, there's a very strong force that doesn't allow it to come out unless you will it. Time doesn't exist in the void either."

After listening to Mii's explanation, Zero gave it careful consideration.

"Does this mean I can use it as a portal to store not just people but living creatures too?"

Mii gave Buddha a look for help. The Sage God stepped in to explain how the void was not a sustainable place for life.

"Living creatures need air or water or some sort of sustenance that your void doesn't have. It's more complex than that."

Zero sighed. "What about Bob? He lives in the lamp technically and his mind can travel to and fro in my mindscape. That's part of the void."

"You have a contract with him that allows him to do that."

Zero grinned. "So if I have a contract with people I can bring them along on travels using the void?"

Buddha and Mii didn't confirm or deny it so Zero declared that he will be bringing more people along.

"System! Make Mii, Bob, Zoe and Lily the moderators. Share with them my administrative rights so that they can manage tasks on my behalf."

[Drafting contracts for individuals Mii, Bob, Zoe and Lily in progress. Sharing of administrative rights denied. Reason for denial: Security and risk management conflict.]

Mii rolled her eyes when Zero fumed over the denial. "You can't pass us all your rights. However, you can pass us part of the system rights for things you want us to do. There are several levels of the system that only you can access. It should be fine to share the rest."

Zero tried again and this time, the system accepted it.

Mii found herself staring at a long magical contract draft by the system. Not wanting to read it, the strawcherry fairy simply signed it with her mana and the contract disappeared.

Zero watched as the names of four individuals became added to the system. By now, the box was starting to close and Mii hurried back into it but Zero stopped her.

"Don't go back there, it's lonely. Come with me! You can live in the lamp for now and still be in the mindscape with Bob if you don't want to meet everyone else."

The strawcherry fairy thought for a while. "I can't. As the system's guardian, I need to protect it from external parties trying to steal the system's mainframe. Also, it's easier to manage things from inside the system."

Zero looked sad for a moment and made the assistant promise to come out every once in a while.

When Mii returned to the box, Buddha decided that it was time for a good spring cleaning. If Zero was in charge of the system, there was no longer a need for all the strange collection of lifeforms in the void as power. Zero was now responsible for finding the source of power for the system. Besides, it only ever consumed huge amounts of power when Zero made a special request. After Mii's explanation, it should be clear that the teenager was expected to do more quests in order to receive help from the system.

"If there isn't anything more, would you like to clean this place up and redecorate your inner dimension? I can't think of this as something you'd be comfortable with."

Zero nodded quickly. "Yes, please! I want to have an inner dimension somewhat similar to shifu's but with a waterfall and a big lake with many kinds of animals and not just plants."

Buddha chuckled. In his inner dimension, there was only a huge lake with lotuses of all kinds. For cultivators, the greater the variety of things, the more they comprehend.

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"I don't know if we can achieve all of that in one day but we can definitely clean the place and brighten it up a little," the Sage God told Zero and started working on chanting the mantra.

Zero joined in and slowly but surely, the nameless creatures started disappearing one by one. When they disappeared, they became stars in the sky and Zero marvelled at the beauty of having at least a million stars in his huge inner dimension. Although it was still dark, there were stars to guide the way.

"How do I add all the plants, water and animals in here?" he asked.

Buddha smiled. "Through cultivation. Come, let's go. Your teacher has been waiting for us for some time now. With this, you should be able to develop the eight extraordinary meridians without issues now."

Zero smiled and held Buddha's outstretched hand as they started the long walk back.

Ball of Nothing

"Hey Mii," the young doctor asked after they got out of the inner dimension. Buddha was talking with Hua Tuo and the young doctor was told to entertain himself.

"Yes?" the assistant called out cautiously. For some reason, there was a sinking feeling in her gut when Zero called out to her. The strawcherry fairy was busy communicating with Lily and Zoe who were now part of the mindscape gang.

"What is the difference between being a male and a female?"

The strawcherry assistant dropped what she was doing and paused. Was this really happening?

Zero waited patiently but when he heard no response from Mii, he began to worry. "Mii?"

The assistant sighed. She did not sign up for this. If anyone had to give Zero the talk, that would be his parents. But Zero only had children, grandchildren and creations to ask. Why didn't Solo leave behind a creation guide about the different things he created and how they worked? Now there was going to be that awkward conversation about the birds and the bees that Zero might not even understand because he lacked the necessary parts to identify as male or female.

"Zero, why don't you, Bob and I talk about this in the mindscape tonight," Mii suggested and Zero agreed.

Thankfully, for the rest of the day, Hua Tuo and Buddha decided to give Zero a break from his training as they discussed the best methods to help Zero develop the eight extraordinary meridians that he naturally lacked.

Zero spent his time reading up about anatomy about males and females on the reading device that afternoon but only became more confused by the knowledge. Male and females exist for the sake of repopulating so that Solo didn't have to continuously do it. It's a rather smart idea created by his past self. However, he didn't understand why he couldn't let all living creatures simply reproduce themselves like worms who were both male and female.

Zero thought back about his early days. Does that mean Namekuji was a hermaphrodite? Was that why it could house so many tiny ones in his body? Were those Namekuji's babies?

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What about Buddha? Zero scratched his head over that. Buddha was technically human so he should be seeing either a branch or a flower at the human crotch area. That was basic anatomy after all. What did a glowing light there mean? Was Buddha neither male nor female? Then again, typical signs of deep voice, more muscular structure and absence of developed chest point towards males.

Zero paused. If he thought about it, Mitchnew didn't have developed chests like Coux or Qin Yun. Amaraline might not have a developed chest but she certainly didn't have a muscular structure or deep voice. Perhaps she was an undeveloped female. Mitchnew was muscular like Zenobia but without the chest. Her voice was also low and raspy so Zero wondered if he'd gotten the dark elf's gender wrong now.

"Sekkin referred to Mitchnew as his wife so Mitchnew must technically be a female. Why is it that signs are pointing towards her identifying as a male?" Zero sighed.

"As expected, the only way to tell a person's gender is by studying their crotch areas. I still think branches and flowers are the easiest way to confirm genders. What would that make Buddha then? The books didn't mention anything about the absence of branches and flowers. No mention about light sources at the nether regions either..."

Dejected, Zero decided to do some self-studying.

"Shifu! I'm going out for a walk!"

Hua Tuo waved at Zero and told him to be back by dinner, Zero dashed off and the two Sage Gods resumed their discussion while the young doctor decided to locate the nearest animal in the vicinity.

Not too far from Trigression Falls, Zero caught a small yellow bird. The bird had a high-pitched voice that pointed to females and looked pretty. Zero guessed that it must be a female since females are typically better looking than males with their slender builds and curvy silhouettes.

"Time for the reveal," Zero told himself and flipped the bird onto its back hoping to catch sight of a small branch or flower.

Instead, he saw none. Shocked by the revelation that Zero might be the same as birds, he consulted Mii once more.

"Mii! Tell me, am I really a bird? Is my body modelled after birds? Why can't I fly? This is so unfair!"

The strawcherry fairy groaned. It looks like the matter can no longer be put off. She called for the dragon who was napping in the egg and told him to handle Zero. She had a lot to do and used that as an excuse to run away from teaching Zero about the more embarrassing things.

Bob didn't know what he was in for when he appeared before Zero. The young doctor was holding a bird in his hand with his pants down to his ankles.

"Zero! What are you doing?"

The teenager was nearly in tears. "Bob! I'm actually a bird but I can't fly... am I a broken bird?"

That made the dragon speechless. How was Zero a bird? Who told Zero that he was a bird? Also, why was Zero not wearing his pants? What if someone saw that? Even in a forest with nobody, decency was still a must. Bob knew that he didn't care much about decency when he was in his dragon form because like all animals, they felt comfortable in their own skin. However, humans were vile creatures. If one did not wear clothes in the presence of other humans, one would feel a sense of vulnerability to eyes feasting on their naked skin. The prickling feeling of lust directed to his naked human form felt disgusting and from that incident onwards, Bob always made sure to wear clothes as a human.

"Zero, wear your pants properly and we will talk," the dragon instructed and also ordered Zero to let go of the poor bird who might have been traumatised.

Zero sniffed and pulled up his pants quickly much to the Eternal Dragon's relief. For some reason, he had an inkling Mii sent him over because she didn't know how to deal with a growing teen in their puberty stages. Zero was not exactly a teenager going through puberty but he was finding out a lot of things that made him act like one. Recovering parts of his memory and syncing the memories of four divine entities through their fragments can be daunting. He didn't blame the boy at all for not understanding what gender was despite being a doctor.

"Ok, let's talk now. What's bothering you? Please start from the beginning, I've been quite left out of the loop ever since I saw a funny contract. Just so you know, I did sign it and have yet to check out the new system function that automatically appears in the mindscape."

Zero sniffed and told Bob how he had to go to his inner dimension to find out whatever was hindering his progress with Buddha.

"And then I saw that Buddha had this glowing light at his crotch area. I'm so confused now because I thought that Buddha was a man. After researching about genders I'm even more confused because I cannot confirm if Mitchnew is a male or a female. She doesn't have a well-developed chest, has a deep sounding voice and is muscular."

Bob coughed awkwardly and looked around nervously. If Mitchnew heard this coming from her angel, she would be so hurt to hear it even if Zero made that statement with pure intentions.

"Ok, I will explain this only once so you must listen carefully to it. also, you must promise me to never make such statements again. Judging anyone by their gender can often hurt them. If Mitchnew heard this, she would be very hurt by your words even if it is true. Most people cannot help being the gender that they are and some of them are just souls trapped in the wrong bodies."

Zero nodded and listened to Bob explain the concept of genders seriously. There were three kinds of genders as opposed to the two that Zero thought there were.

"Genders exist for reproduction. In most cases, genders cannot be changed. However, there are some creatures who can change their genders. These are very rare and often only ever happens in hermaphrodites. Humans have attempted to change their genders before and there is reason to believe that they were successful. The previous earth allowed the mating between two people of the same gender and have been able to procreate life."

"That's fascinating. Did that mean they were able to create life by themselves like hermaphrodites?"

Bob hummed. Not much of that was documented. His knowledge didn't extend that far either and if there was someone who might know about it, that person would be either Merlin or Steve Jobs.

"Sorry Zero, I don't know much about genders in humans or the experiments they did to it. I only know the natural process of how it is created and what it does. You'd have to ask Merlin or Steve Jobs about the experiments humans tried. It's not pleasant is all I can tell you. They attempted alchemy, cloning and all sorts of horrible things that took a lot of lives."

The young doctor nodded and decided that he would stay away from that topic for now. Bob then explained how life was created and what the branch did to the flower. Zero was amazed by it and then became confused.

"Wait, if babies were born from inside the stomach, then how will you be born? You come from an egg."

Bob grinned. "Good question. Like I said, that's the more common method. Sadly, it isn't very convenient for some of the other animals and magical beasts so we find other methods of procreating life. the egg is like a portal womb where the baby grows. So the branch will still fertilise the flower and then the female will lay an egg in somewhere she thinks is safe. Sometimes the mother takes care until the egg hatches but sometimes she doesn't."

Zero made an angry noise. "Why can't the mother take care of the eggs? They're helpless to wind and rain and hungry animals!"

Bob smiled. "Birds lay eggs because they're body is way too small to house several baby birds inside them. The same is with fishes. However, while the birds can sit on four of five eggs for a month, fishes lay thousands of eggs at one time. The mother cannot possibly care for so many children can she?"

Zero shook his head. "I suppose not? But what if they get eaten by other bigger fishes before they are hatched?"

"That," Bob told Zero. "Is the life cycle. The mother fish lays thousands of eggs because she knows not many of them will be born. Some will get eaten before they are born and others will get eaten while they are small and weak after they are born. However, for the strong babies, they will grow up to become mothers and fathers to give birth to even stronger babies hoping that more of them will survive."

Then the dragon added that all living creatures do the same to provide better for their young hoping that they will become stronger than them to continue the species. The species that didn't survive the growing harsh competition will eventually become extinct.

"That's sad. But it still does not explain why humans cannot be hermaphrodites. If what you explained earlier about some humans being unhappy with their gender or fall in love for others of the same gender, wouldn't the problem be resolved if everyone had both genders for procreation?"

Bob smirked. "Can you imagine humans populating the world at their will? It takes many years for humans to find a compatible mate and when they do, they can bear children once every year. What do you think will happen if they skip the searching process and start repopulating the world every year after they mature?"

"There will be many humans?" Zero tried.

"Correction," Bob pointed out. "There will be many small humans with not enough big humans wise enough to care for all of them. Have you seen Seth? Do you know how many adults are needed to take care of one baby? If Karris was on her own, she would have a difficult time and both mother and child might not make it."

Zero thought about it. Bob had a point. He explained what extinction was and Zero thought about it. If there were humans who could procreate at will, the world would be overpopulated with humans and there would not be enough resources to sustain everyone. Humans have taken to farming simply because it was easier to feed the population. The mountains and forests were cut down to make cities and towns so the food that took many years to grow were no longer sufficient. If there were more mini-humans than big humans, they would only become extra burdens to the ecosystem and it wouldn't be long for the planet to be destroyed by humans.

"I understand now. However, I don't get the part that you say some humans tend to find the same gender to mate with. Why is that a thing? Isn't that wrong? A flower needs a branch to fertilise it. Two branches and two flowers won't' fertilise each other. Besides, if children were like fruits, the fruits developed by two flowers or two branches would mess up the concept of yin and yang completely. It's going against the cycle."

Bob sighed. He knew Zero was going to point it out. The term homosexual is not going to be easy to explain. However, the best way to do so without Zero questioning it was to call it a 'bug' in Solo's creation.

"Not everything the Great One created was perfect. Because humans were given intelligence, sometimes the genetics created had flaws in them. You've seen the flaws too right? In Steve's term, it was called a 'bug'. The error in those created humans made them attracted to the same gender. We call it homosexuality but the purpose of the fruitless mating is because the genetic line should not be passed down with that combination after that human's generation. The evolution has reached a dead end and it's a method that preserves the continuation of the human species for the stronger offsprings."

Zero nodded. Now it made sense. Still, one question remained. "What about those you said were souls with labelled genders but had been attached to the wrong physical body? Was Enma careless in assigning the body? Was there a shortage of bodies?"

Bob sighed. Leave it to Zero to question what transgender meant. Unlike homosexuality, the dragon couldn't really smoke his way out of it.

"I believe you'd have to consult King Yama pertaining to this. I do not have an answer for dragons do not experience this problem. In fact, humans are the only species who encountered such an issue. It might be due to their level of intelligence."

Zero nodded and Bob took his chance to run away. He was going to chew Mii out for throwing him to the merciless doctor. Zero didn't give him a break and asked everything under the sun from babies to the strange thing called love and the procreation process. Bob couldn't lie to Zero but he couldn't give him a too detailed answer either. He simply glazed over details and gave Zero a top-down view of the process in the most medical way he could explain it.

"Good job," the strawcherry fairy praised when Bob returned to their mindscape. Zoe was also there and Lily was bright red after hearing the lecture. None of the mindscape girls wanted to give Zero the talk and Bob groaned. he'd fallen right into the trap of being the only male present.

"You could have thrown Zero a book or something," he complained.

"Zero researched it up before he talked to you. He still had questions to ask. I see that you're very good at handling Zero. While I'm busy coordinating the background work, I'm putting you in charge of Zero's education and emotional well-being," Mii said.

Zoe volunteered to be Zero's unofficial guardian and emotional support while Lily decided to simply be his friend and go-to assistant whenever he needed someone to talk to.

"He is calling King Yama now to clarify the reason for transgenders," Bob told them and Mii laughed. She could already imagine Enma's reaction to it.

"I'm curious to know how he will answer Zero. You gave him quite the logical and medical explanation like a true professional. You do realise that Zero wouldn't understand any of the concepts for lust because of it, right?"

Bob rolled his eyes. "So what if Zero understood it? He's got nothing down there to explore with. If Lilith didn't want to expose Zero to any of that, I will not do the honours of touching the pandora's box. also, he's too young to be thinking about such things!"

Zoe agreed. In her eyes, Zero was still a child who needs a lot of love and protection. Zero might have matured physically but the zashikiwarashi knew that he was still the same sweet kid on the inside.

While the mindscape occupants debated about the pros and cons of Zero finding a romantic relationship and if they should encourage it should the opportunity arise, King Yama was having a hard time justifying the reasons for his actions.

"You see, when a soul is scheduled for rebirth, we can only match it to the database. Remember that complex formula about sins and virtues? Yes, that's the one. Not all souls become humans, some become plants or animals. We're not in charge of deciding gender because it isn't our job."

Zero wasn't buying it. "How come souls know what gender they want to be then? I thought you said the reincarnated souls will be erased of any past life memories unless there were special cases."

King Yama groaned. This wasn't his job. Souls were supposed to be part of the life cycle that his mother managed. His job was to see that the process moved smoothly. Why did Zero come to complain about transgenders? Humans were the least of his concern as most souls reincarnate into plants and animals. He only paid attention when a soul was sentenced to rebirth into a lower or higher life form. Everything else was decided by the cycle that Sedna and Gaia maintained.

"Look, Zero. I would love to know why this is happening too but for the Purgatory, we only have the responsibility of seeing that every reincarnated soul has a vessel to occupy and that each vessel does not hold more than one soul. We see an available vessel in the correct plane for reincarnation, we ship the soul ready for rebirth immediately. This is what we do. As for gender-matching, it's not something I have control over. Perhaps you might want to speak to my mother or aunt about it. Gaia and Sedna decide the cycle so they might have a better idea."

Zero nodded. "I understand. Thanks, En and sorry to disturb you while you're very busy. Oh, can I also ask if you have a branch or a flower in your crotch area? Buddha has light in his area so I can't tell. I don't have either, so I'm doing a general survey for better understanding. Are immortal species very different in this aspect?"

King Yama blinked. Branch or flower? What was this boy talking about?

"I don't have any. It's the same as yours. Why?"

Zero was shocked. "Don't have any? Then how do you know if you are a male or a female?"

King Yama hummed. The question never really come to mind when all the spare energy he had was poured into working.

"I've never really thought about it," he admitted and Zero visibly deflated until the Purgatory Ruler added that it shouldn't matter. "Isn't it better than the transgenders you were talking about? Not having a gender means you can actually choose what you want to be. I just don't have the time or motivation to try being a female. I've always been a male so I'm sticking with what is comfortable for me. Are you curious about becoming a female?"

Zero paused. Was he curious? "A little," he admitted. "But the dress and wig that your mothers bought for me in La Boutique made me scared of becoming a female. If human females are required to dress in such uncomfortable clothes, I would rather stay male. The tracksuit is the best and I'm not giving it up."

Enma laughed. That sounded very much like something Zero would concern himself with.

"No Zero, genders do not define behaviour. If anything, males can wear dresses too if they liked. I don't see why females cannot wear tracksuits. Transgender is a thing among humans so you'd fit in perfectly even if you wore clothes of the opposite gender in the body you prefer."

That made Zero consider it. "I guess you're right. But do girls always need long hair? My hair is growing rather long now and I haven't had the time to cut it. Would that make me a girl once it grows out to the length of the wig?"

Enma thought about it. "I don't really know, Zero. Have you tried altering your vessel to become a female? Is there any visible difference other than the hair length? I'm sure there's a function for you to transform that vessel somewhere. I heard Zeus talking about it."

Zero went into the system settings for his vessel and scrolled through the long list.

"You're right! There is a function to customise my vessel's appearance. I can even change my eye colour, skin colour, hair colour at will. Oh, why isn't there a height function? Also, yes, gender-swapping is an option too. Let me try it now."

Enam waited for Zero to test the function out and was surprised to receive a text not too long after it happened.

The unsuspecting Purgatory King clicked on the picture Zero sent and nearly went into cardiac arrest at the nude picture of Zero's female vessel.

"What do you think?" Zero asked again with his voice in a much higher pitch.

King Yama paled and his subordinates glanced over with worry when the demigod rushed out of his office and excused himself for the rest of the day.

"Zero?"

"Yes, Enma?"

The Purgatory Lord took a deep breath. "Please don't ever send pictures of yourself without clothing to people. It doesn't matter who it is, just never do it again. Understood?"

Zero blinked. He just wanted to show Enma the difference. Other than the long hair, he had a slightly bouncier chest although it looked almost the same as Mitchnew's and Amaraline's. His voice was as high as the voice he had before he became a teenager and his waist was slightly smaller but everything else remained the same. If Zero had to say it, he preferred the female form better. It looked a lot prettier and Zero liked how he was more flexible in it. If there was something Zero disliked about the female vessel, it was the one-inch height difference. They made his female vessel shorter than his male vessel and Zero didn't have an option to increase height.

"Zero?" King Yama asked when he received no reply.

"En... they removed my height in the female vessel... I don't even have an option to edit height. Why?"

King Yama couldn't answer him. The ones who made Zero's vessel weren't present and King Yama could only comfort Zero as he sobbed over the conflicted thoughts.

"Maybe you could grow your hair out in the male vessel to make it look like the female vessel? You said that there wasn't much difference between the male and female vessel right? Other than the bouncier chest and smaller waist that you can do without I think flexibility can be trained by doing stretching exercises. Also, if you like the voice of the female vessel you can simply speak in a slightly higher pitch in your normal voice. Nobody can tell the difference once you grow your hair out."

Zero sniffed. Enma's words gave him some form of hope and Zero went back to his customisation menu to change it back to his male vessel.

"Ok. I will not send nude pictures to anyone. Also, I think I'll stick with the male vessel simply because it is taller. I might grow my hair out and do stretches as you suggested too. Still cannot believe they removed one inch from the female vessel..."

King Yama chuckled. Zero's height complex still hasn't changed. If Baal heard it, the Demon Lord would be laughing for days.

"I don't think you should worry too much about genders, Zero. In fact, I think it's better to ignore the impact of a person's gender. It shouldn't matter what gender they are because it wouldn't change a person's true nature. If they are kind, they would be kind as both male and female. If they are nasty then nothing's going to change."

Zero smiled. Enma was wise. gender didn't really matter when it came to friends. Zero knew that he would still be Baal and Truen's friends even if they were both females. In fact, now that he thought about it, Mitchnew could be a man and Sekkin could still marry Mitchnew while calling him his wife. Zero was too narrow-minded earlier. Males could be wives and females could be husbands.

"For the record," Enma who heard Zero's mumblings interrupted. "Mitchnew is definitely female. I have her records here."

Zero blinked. "Really?"

King Yama smiled grimly. "Yes. Unfortunately so. Don't go around assuming people's genders unless they introduce themselves to you. Transgenders are easily offended. Always refer to them by their names if you're unsure, ok?"

Zero nodded. "Thank you, Enma! I'm going to call Gaia and Sedna now, ok?"

The Purgatory Lord ended the call and immediately deleted the photo of Zero's nude female body from his communicator. He's never had a girlfriend since the beginning of his existence but he's beginning to wonder what would happen if Zero continued to stay in his female vessel. After all, he felt his heart skip a beat earlier when no other beautiful woman could make him react this way.

"No, it's because Zero is special. He's my very first friend, it's only natural to treat him differently. This is not love, it can't be."

While the King of the Purgatory was tearing off petals of the mana lotuses in the Spring of Vitality to know if it was love or not, Zero was busy making his final call to understand the mystery behind genders.

"Hello Sedna!" his bright and cheerful voice made the Goddess coo in delight. It had been a while since anyone had any news about the young doctor.

"Hello, Zero. How have you been? It's good to hear from you."

Zero chatted for a while and updated her about his progress with the training. "Buddha and Hua Tuo are now discussing on the training plans today so I have a little bit of time. I called because I have some questions that even Enma wasn't able to answer. He said that either Gaia or you would know better because you oversee the cycle of life."

Sedna smiled. "Interesting. That boy is very smart so there shouldn't be a lot of things he doesn't know. What's bothering you, Zero?"

The young doctor started explaining about his questions on gender ever since he saw Buddha's glowing nether region. He also told Sedna about Bob's explanation and Enam's answer about the reincarnation process.

"So that brings me to my question. Why are souls being matched to the wrong vessels? Homosexuality couldn't be avoided but transgender should."

Sedna wasn't expecting the topic about the birds and the bees to be brought up when she received Zero's call. For the first time, the Great Goddess wished that Zero had called her sister instead. Still, she thought carefully about how to answer Zero.

"It's not as simple as that," she told the teenager. "Souls don't often identify with genders upon reincarnation. In fact, they lose all their memories of it. The only reason why they feel like they should align with a particular gender is because of the energy they absorbed during the transfer between planes. Some planes are more balanced so the soul is neutral and can adapt to the gender it is born into. However, some planes are more yin positive or yang positive so the souls with lingering yin or yang energy will become developed into that gender. It's not something we can prevent or match."

Zero raised a bow at the revelation. "Souls go through planes before the rebirth?"

Sedna smiled. "Yes, they do. In fact, some of them travel through the cracks between the planes and harvest chaos energy before birth. Usually, the chaos energy interferes with Enma's memory-erasing process and they become reborn with memories of their previous lives."

"Is there a way to pass rebirthing souls in a safer passageway?" Zero asked and Sedna sighed.

"You'd have to ask Gaia about it. I take care of the rebirthing for plants and animals but Gaia works on the souls of the humans to be rebirthed. Or you could ask the Queen of Dryads because she's in charge of collecting fallen soul fragments for rebirthing. Souls don't always come back in one piece especially for the moe intelligent life forms like humans. They are often damaged and we send them to different planes to recover their form before they reach their new vessels."

Zero groaned. The transgender problem would continue to exist because of the intelligence humans possessed. He didn't need to call Gaia or talk to Tanya to know why these souls needed repairs. Humans had the ability to use soul magic and often they tapped on energy reserves like chaos magic that they didn't understand, hurting the souls in the process when it returned to the cycle.

"I think I understand now, thank you Sedna..." Zero smiled and the Goddess wished Zero all the best for his training.

The young doctor ended the call and groaned. Solo created humans because they were the most interesting creatures and while Zero didn't deny that, he wished they could be less complicated and destructive. Not only were humans destroying worlds and Gods, but they were also capable of destroying themselves.

The brunet spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about humans. Karris was human but she didn't seem to be too complicated compared to the stories about other humans and what they'd accomplished. Maybe she was the less extreme type of human. Zero then thought about Hua Tuo and Buddha who were both once humans. He couldn't help but be impressed. All the humans and once-humans Zero knew were very different with no two creatures showing any similarity.

"I wonder why my past self created them in the first place when there are so many problems."

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Too much thinking made Zero yawn. He felt sleepy and decided that he should head back for a nap. Hua Tuo would be mad if he overslept and missed the curfew. He didn't want to worry his teacher either and trouble them to search for him so Zero made the wise decision to head back now that he had his answers.

"It would be nice to have a gender that could grow in height though," he thought half-seriously and yawned again.

For now, Zero was feeling lazy. This vessel was good enough and Zero didn't think it would matter much if he was going to be meeting all sorts of non-human creatures. Camie who had giant blood in her easily towered over even the tallest humans so Zero was quite content with the genderless identity he had.

If people were going to judge him based on his gender, he was going to take Enma and Bob's advice to put them in his unworthy list until they changed their minds.

The narrow-minded do not deserve to be friends with him because Zero's friends came from all over the place. If the couldn't look past gender, how were they going to look past other things like status, species and talent?

Ball of Nothing

Hua Tuo wasn't joking when he said that Buddha was a cultivation monster. The ideas Buddha kept suggesting were things the physician had never heard of before. He followed very strictly to the books he read and marital manuals. Cultivation was something that progressed by stages through hard work and talent.

The Enlightened One didn't follow the strict conventional rules that Hua Tuo learnt. In fact, the Sage God of Medicine was wondering if he was severely outdated. He never really kept up with the times but this was just too much. It was as if Buddha told him the world was a pyramid and not a sphere as he always knew it to be.

Simply put it, Hua Tuo was overwhelmed. Buddha just came crashing into his world and pointed out everything was wrong. Now Hua Tuo didn't know what to do with the few centuries worth of cultivation he did. After toiling away for so long, Buddha came in to tell him none of those was really required. The doctor felt depression coming for him.

"The basis of cultivation is a journey about finding yourself and going further spiritually. The moment you attained immortality as a Sage God, the rules of cultivation for mortals no longer applies to you. You've never been restricted to cultivate the ways they did. Seven hundred years to develop the full network for chakra and meridians are for humans. Most of them won't live past two hundred so the method is absurd and completely ineffective."

Hua Tuo felt numb on the inside. His world turned to ice at those words. As if to rub salt into the fresh wound, Buddha added that it simply wasn't possible to begin with because he attained enlightenment without following the manual at the age of thirty-five while he was still human and did it after only forty-nine days of meditation.

The physician didn't dare to meet Buddha's eyes. He didn't know what to say. Buddha's stories were widely known to all but Hua Tuo simply never paid any heed to them. Right now, he was paying the price for his stubborn pride. If only he'd lowered his head to ask the conman for guidance, he wouldn't have wasted almost a millennium trying to get to the enlightened state.

The Enlightened One didn't comment about Hua Tuo's silence. His method of cultivation greatly differed from the Chinese philosophers. There were pros and cons about cultivating it the way Hua Tuo did but a stable foundation was not one of them.

"Don't be sad, old friend. Your time was not wasted. While the basis of enlightenment is the same, the different methods will yield different fruits. Cultivating it my way will only make you become like me. Take a look at my followers in Nirvana and you will understand."

Those gentle words were like salve to Hua Tuo's burns and the physician felt slightly better. Zero was still out and the two Sage Gods discussed details on how to break the limits for Zero who wasn't even human enough to practise cultivation in the first place.

"Well, he's already made it this far. What's a little more cheating going to do? He's not going to get hurt even if he finds out."

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Hua Tuo stilled. "You mean..."

Buddha smiled. "If the eight extraordinary meridian points don't exist, we can just create them for Zero. To be more precise, we can guide him into creating them on his own."

Hua Tuo didn't know how they were going to do it but that sounded like a better idea than what he had in mind. "How are we going to pull this off?"

The Enlightened One grinned. "Remember that Zero is now the system administrator? Also, the child knows how to use chaos energy to cushion the friction between qi and mana. Not to mention, he has an affinity with all elements."

Hua Tuo nodded slowly. He still didn't know what Buddha was getting at. Being a system administrator didn't automatically mean that Zero had creation powers. As Zero's teacher, he was very aware of that fact.

The Enlightened One smiled. "Do you know what the eight extraordinary meridians are called in my method of cultivation?"

Hua Tuo shook his head. Sure, there should be similarities but what would that change at this point? Zero's body wasn't human and the boy didn't even have a soul. Cultivation was only qi manipulation for Zero at this point. He wouldn't be able to produce qi of his own just like how he wouldn't be able to produce mana of his own.

Buddha picked up a dried twig meant to build a campfire and dipped it into the water before he started to draw out something on the stone floor of the cave. Hua Tuo recognised it.

"Isn't that the Dharma Wheel?"

Buddha smiled. "Also known as the Eightfold Path. Doesn't this seem familiar with the eight extraordinary meridians? Philosophy isn't all that different. Each extraordinary meridian could be linked to one of these practices. Zero might not have a soul nor a human body to develop the physical cultivation aspects but he has emotions and intelligence, doesn't he?"

The physician nodded. Buddha made sense, this could work. However, there was no guarantee that the method would work. Zero had always been a rather intuitive learner. The doctor remembered clearly when he was teaching Zero how to master healing magic. Revival magic was the toughest stage for anyone to master and even Zero struggled with it. However, after the nightmarish days of experimenting it with no success, Zero suddenly had an awakening and never made a mistake from that day onwards when he used revival magic.

It always amazed Hua Tuo that Zero could find a solution that wouldn't work for anyone else but worked perfectly for him. The teen was always overcoming obstacles and staying true to who he was. That was one thing Hua Tuo had always struggled with. Society's expectations always pressured him back when he was a human and that feeling never disappeared even after attaining immortality. On the other hand, Buddha was like Zero. He didn't allow anyone else to influence him. In fact, Buddha kept his personality intact, unlike Hua Tuo who constantly kept himself in check, afraid of offending the more powerful Gods.

"Zero will find a way," Buddha said. His tone was so serious that Hua Tuo found himself believing the Enlightened One even if he didn't believe in himself. If it was Zero, the boy just might make it.

"We will try your method. Let me know how I could assist," the physician told Buddha who then elaborated on his plans.

The more Hua Tuo listened to Buddha's plans, the more he was convinced. If there was a confidence meter attached to the plan, Hua Tuo would give it an eight out of ten. It might be unconventional and completely went against logic but everything that his student stood for never followed logic. One must fight fire with fire sometimes and this would be one of the times Hua Tuo agreed with the saying.

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Zero came back without a splash this time and it surprised Hua Tuo. The brunet muttered his greetings and lumbered over to the bedding like a zombie before crashing in the straw mattress. Zero didn't often snore when he slept but this time, Hua Tuo heard the soft snoring coming from the teenager who fell asleep in record time. That had to be less than ten seconds but Zero was completely dead to the world. What exactly did his apprentice do to tire himself out so much?

Then again, it was a rare opportunity and Hua Tuo decided to hurry along with the plans. Buddha marked out the matching meridian points to the emotions and teachings in the Eightfold Path.

Right View = Conception Vessel

Right Resolve = Governing Channel

Right Effort = Penetrating Channel

Right Mindfulness = Yin Regulating Channel

Right Concentration = Yang Regulating Channel

Right Speech = Yin Motility Channel

Right Action = Yang Motility Channel

Right Livelihood = Belt Vessels

"We will start in the order of livelihood, speech, action, mindfulness, concentration, effort, view then resolve. It's what completes the cycle from the lowest stage of awakening."

Hua Tuo took down notes and formulated what was required for the forced cultivation session. The Sage Gods hashed out a few more details about what they would do. This time, Buddha will join in with Zero's cultivation training. According to the Enlightened One, there was no need to split the Trigression Falls training into three like what Hua Tuo intended.

"In terms of awakening, the first three stages are mortal virtues as represented by the Aggression Falls. Livelihood, speech and action make up that tier. Progression Falls is what the meditation stage of awakening is all about. Mindfulness, concentration and effort make up this part of the training. The last stage is the actual enlightenment breakthrough called wisdom or insight. It is usually different for every individual. Some take minutes while other years. Some never make it at all. Regression Falls represent this stage of wisdom. Right resolve and right view are the final trials before one becomes enlightened. Zero doesn't struggle with all of them, only some parts of it. To hasten the training process, one person will have to be Zero's anchor and support and the other has to be Zero's guide."

The physician compared notes. Buddha's Eightfold Path was rather similar to the teachings of Confucianism.

"I think I understand the majority of it. It is very similar to the teachings of Confucianism back in China."

Buddha chuckled. He knew why it was similar. "I know. He was my cultivation friend. We met in the void frequently and shared with each other a lot of things. However, he didn't attain immortality because he had too many earthly attachments even after he died."

Hua Tuo was stunned. The great philosopher was actually Buddha's friend? How uncanny was it?

"I see... how should we do this then? I'll be the anchor and you be the guide?"

Buddha shook his head. "You need to be the guide. I don't know anything about human anatomy."

The physician looked troubled. While it was true that Buddha had no clue about human anatomy, Hua Tuo didn't have a good grasp of the correlation between the virtues and the extraordinary meridians they were meant to match. Confucius' version of the Eightfold Path was very incomplete on the details. the general concept was there but Hua Tuo wasn't confident in interpreting them accurately enough to guide Zero.

"I don't know much about the Eightfold Path. You don't have to worry much anatomically because the cultivation method is non-conforming to logic. If anything, Zero might crate them in his inner dimension instead of an extension of his body."

Buddha's eyes lit up at that. "We can create it in his inner dimension then! Nobody said it has to be outside of his vessel. In fact, this can be used when he transfers vessels. Your suggestion is brilliant!"

"I- no, huh? What?" Hua Tuo was confounded. How did this become a suggestion? Also, was it even possible to create extraordinary meridian points in someone's inner dimension? Wasn't the inner dimension a place to recover, store and generate qi?

"How can Zero use the power of the eight extraordinary meridians if it's not part of his vessel?" the doctor asked.

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Buddha just raised a brow. "Amitabha. When there is a will, there will be a way. Zero will find the way, our duty is merely to light the path for him."

Hua Tuo felt his eyebrow twitched. Buddha was obviously dodging the question. If the Enlightened One didn't have an answer, how can the physician know what to do?

Still, they didn't have much of a choice. Hua Tuo could only hope that Buddha's confidence will bring them through this.

No! The physician wanted to slap himself. In times like this, hoping was not the right thing to do. Zero's entire cultivation future was depending on it. As the teacher, he would fake it until it comes true. Even if they didn't know what was going to happen with such a shabby plan, Zero was a miracle maker. He would show them the way and as his teacher, Hua Tuo was going to hold the sky full of flimsy lies for Zero until he succeeds.

As long as one had faith, anything was possible.

Ball of Nothing

Zero woke up feeling completely refreshed. Instead of Hua Tuo cooking dinner, Zero was surprised to see Buddha taking over kitchen duties for the day. He didn't think that the Enlightened One was capable of cooking and it surprised him.

Buddha stirred the pot and tasted the soup before nodding. For some reason, Zero thought that Buddha was very used to cooking with that sight and rubbed his eyes. Was this an illusion? He didn't think that the Wise One would be doing chores and menial tasks himself with the number of servants he had running around in Nirvana. Buddha didn't really have to do anything he didn't want to, he was rich. Besides, from what he heard from Merlin, Zero knew that Buddha was once royalty while he was human.

Zero wasn't complaining when Hua Tuo told him to run back to the hut for an extra set of cutlery and bowl. Buddha was joining them for a meal and Zero was thrilled to try someone else's cooking, not that Hua Tuo's wasn't great. The physician didn't even have time to add on to the list of things he needed from the hut when Zero disappeared through the portal. He sighed and shook his head while checking the rice that was steaming in a wooden basket. Dinner was almost done and the physician wanted an early night.

Zero returned in a flash and the three immortals ate in silence with only the sound of occasional slurping and clinking of chopsticks as the background. The water roared outside but thanks to Zero's soundproofing magic, they were spared that unnecessary din.

"Zero, tomorrow we will resume training. Buddha will be joining us but we won't be continuing the cultivation using the three waterfalls method. Buddha will explain what we are going to do next," Hua Tuo told his startled student.

The Enlightened One found Zero's surprised expression endearing. Zero couldn't help but look like a fawn who saw a lion in the middle of playing. Buddha smiled and told Zero to read up on the Eightfold Path.

"We are going to create the eight extraordinary meridians based on the dharma wheel. Remember how you wanted to have many things in your inner dimension? We can start creating that using a different cultivation method. However, the Dharma Wheelmust be the base for all your future cultivations. While you sleep tonight, make use of the time to think about what you'd like your first creation to be. Remember, it is going to be the centre of your inner world. If the creation is weak, you cannot make much future progress."

Zero nodded and Buddha left the cave for Nirvana again. Hua Tuo let Zero have some time to think about what he wanted to do. He didn't even scold the boy when the teenager zoned out and let water drip all over the cave floor.

Out on the edge of the cliff, Zero looked up at the sky and felt the cold wind in his face. The waterfall's roaring below him wasn't as loud as it could have been from high up. Still, it covered up the sounds of insects buzzing around in the night. The stars in the sky reminded him of the sky in his inner dimension.

What did he want to create first? He wanted to make something strong in the inner dimension and while plants are the basic form of all life on Earth, Zero didn't think creating a tree for his foundation would be good even if it made sense. That would be too boring and predictable. Besides, he wanted something he could interact with while he was there.

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That's right, Zero wanted to have a huge lake in there. Maybe he should start with that first and then slowly add the other plants and animals he wanted over time. He looked down into the spring below and thought about that monster koi. Maybe he could create a lake guardian too. If the dharma wheel had a physical form, Zero was certain that it would have eight limbs too.

Feeling inspired, Zero went to bed and had a pleasant dream about the beautiful inner world he would create.

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"Are you ready?" Hua Tuo asked. Zero was back to his swimming trunks even though they were not underneath the waterfall.

All three cultivators were sitting on Buddha's giant lotus pad in the centre of the spring in a small triangle. Zero started meditating first with his right hand linked to Buddha's and left to Hua Tuo. The young doctor focussed on finding his centre and waited for the Sage Gods to join him.

Buddha soon appeared under the starry sky in Zero's inner dimension but Hua Tuo was nowhere to be found.

"Where's shifu?"

Buddha smiled. "He will be guiding your mind's eye to aid you with the creation of your cultivation base. I'm going to start introducing materials in here for you to use. Remember, do not stray from the eightfold path. A ruined cultivation base is forever."

Zero nodded and Buddha vanished. The teen couldn't feel Hua Tuo's presence at all from hi inner dimension and wondered what he was meant to do. According to the study materials, the eightfold path was simply about the right practices and mindset. Zero didn't know how they could help with cultivation.

"Maybe I should head back to where the box was," Zero thought and made his way over. That box had to be the centre of his inner dimension. In a place that Zero didn't know any other landmark, it was the most logical thing to do.

Hua Tuo growled when he saw the boy making his way over slowly.

"Do you know how long I've waited? Buddha has already started. Hurry up, we don't have all day!" the physician snapped and Zero found himself reacting to it with an expected burst of anger.

"How was I to know? Nobody told me anything!"

Hua Tuo's eyes grew cold and Zero paled, covering his mouth with a hand. He'd never shown such blatant disrespect to Hua Tuo before.

"No, shifu! I'm sorry, I don't mean it... I don't know what came over me earlier..."

Instead of getting berated for a second time like Zero expected, the physician smiled. Zero looked down in surprise when his left hand was covered in ice.

"What-"

"That's a test of Mindfulness. Your Yin Regulating Channel is opened. Remember, emotions are the key to cultivating here. Search yourself to understand the concepts Buddha told you. I will be here when you need me. Till we meet again," Hua Tuo wished him the best of luck and disappeared once more, leaving Zero all alone.

Zero smiled. Now he understood what he was meant to do. Zero looked at the box before him and sat opposite of him. Now all he had to do was draw on memories and lessons he learnt to prove that he understood the dharma wheel. it might take a while but it shouldn't be too difficult.

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Four hours. Zero knew he spent four hours in his inner dimension without much success. So far, he managed to complete six out of eight paths. Livelihood and Views were proving to be exceptionally difficult for the inexperienced and pampered teenager.

"This isn't working," Zero groaned and voluntarily exited the inner dimension.

Buddha and Hua Tuo were surprised by Zero's decision to end the rials earlier. He made good progress with six out of eight paths and Hua Tuo couldn't be more pleased. However, the two paths that Zero had yet to comprehend were tricky to explain.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't do it..."

Buddha smiled and left Hua Tuo to do the debriefing for their first meditation session.

"Don't apologise. You're still young and have not experienced the world. Many people don't succeed in cultivation. It took Buddha forty-nine days of meditating to understand the eight paths completely to be enlightened. It's only the first day."

Zero still looked down and Hua Tuo sighed. Sometimes he thought that Zero put too much pressure on himself.

"What do you have trouble comprehending?" Hua Tuo asked. Master and student were still on the giant lotus pad but it had a far more casual atmosphere now as if it was a grandfather speaking with their grandchild.

Zero sulked. "Right Views and Right Livelihood. How can one know they'd always have the right views and opinions in a world full of unknown? Also, I've never had to work for anything to know what a livelihood feels like."

Hua Tuo chuckled and sighed. He ruffled Zero hair with affection and smiled. "My boy, Right Views isn't the same as Correct Views. You are right. Nobody knows for sure what's the best decision to make for the best outcome. However, we can follow a set of principles to guide us towards a path we won't regret. What is the one thing you want to abide by even in times of the unknown?"

Zero thought about it. He wanted to explore the world Solo created and help people who are hurting along the way. In his eyes, anyone who doesn't have ill-intentions should be helped. However, there were people like Douglas who did bad things out of circumstances even if was a choice he made. Zero frowned. How did Carrabas, Douglas and Rhinestone differ? Ill-intentions weren't that easily identified if that were the case.

Hua Tuo left Zero alone to ponder over it. He did his job at pointing Zero in the right direction so as a teacher, all he could do now was have faith in Zero.

A dinner, Zero was still thinking about it. This time, Buddha decided to give Zero a little nudge in the direction both Sage Gods were waiting for.

"Do you know why the Dharmachakra is in the shape of a wheel?"

Zero snapped out of his thoughts and blinked. Now that Buddha mentioned it, there wasn't really a need for the eightfold paths to be a wheel. Then the realisation hit Zero. The Eightfold Path wasn't a crossroad, it was a cycle.

Buddha didn't say anything else when he saw that light in Zero's eyes. The teenager was a really fast learner if he had a teacher who could point him in the right direction to run in. Hua Tuo watched his apprentice closely as Zero ate. The boy's mind wasn't present and it didn't take long for food to be spilt all over the floor.

After finding out that the Dharma Wheel was a cycle, Zero looked closer into the relationships of all eight paths. If he had to describe it, their relationship was more complicated like a spider's web instead of a simple wheel. If he mapped the image out in his head, the Right Views were created by Right Resolve and Right Mindfulness. If he was to put that into context of what made a view correct, it was more than just intention. It was the ability to see the world from a top-down perspective as well as feel the pain of others as his own and consider all factors to make a decision was what made the right view. It can only be considered correct once Zero understood all the possibilities. Judging someone based on one perspective didn't make that view right even if the person had good intentions.

Neither Sage Gods were expecting for Zero to achieve a breakthrough over dinner and a simple conversation. Normally, meditation and focus were required for that. Still, they rejoiced. Buddha decided to give Zero another hint for the Right Livelihood concept that he couldn't grasp.

"What's the difference between a livelihood and a career?"

Hua Tuo who was doing the cleaning up paused for a while before resuming his chores. Why didn't he think of that? No wonder Buddha was the cultivation monster and not him.

Zero tilted his head to the side. Was there a difference between career and livelihood? People worked for both of it. "I don't understand. People work for them, right? I've never had to work for anything I needed."

Hua Tuo raised a brow when Zero said that. "If you've never had to work for anything you needed, do you think I'd allow you to eat dinner?"

Zero looked at the half-finished bowl of rice. "But working means earning money right? All I did was hunt and help to cook or dinner. I don't have a job, I just help out around where I can."

Buddha didn't offer any other hints and Hua Tuo wondered how he should explain the concept of work to Zero. People did work that they didn't get paid for too and instead, they were given lodging, food and shelter.

"What use if money if nobody wanted to accept it? The only reason why many people work for money is so that they can use it to buy lodging, food and things that they want. We don't use money to exchange for dinner between the two of us because it's too troublesome. However, you still do work in the form of cleaning, hunting and tending to my garden."

Zero frowned. "What's a career then?"

Hua Tuo smiled. "That's your like your dream to become a doctor. It's not essential for surviving but it's something you want to do."

Zero nodded and rocked himself to and fro with crossed legs pulled up to his chest. The concept of careers was new to Zero but if he had to put that into a smaller scale that he could comprehend, careers were things that went beyond his immediate needs for survival. It was work that he did without actually needing repayment for. However, livelihood was something that Zero would have to do just to exist. For example, Zero didn't need a lot of food and he only needed to help out a little in exchange for that. However, the teenager would need to absorb a lot of things simply to ensure he doesn't return to the void again from over expanding his energy reserves.

What exactly makes a livelihood right in this context then?

By the time it was time for bed, Zero was still thinking about it. the teen tossed and turned a lot but was still unable to fall asleep. He decided that a walk would do him some good and snuck out of the cave.

The familiar district sight greeted him with the honoured graves in the middle of the busy developing city. The boy decided to take a walk in the abyss for a change of air. For some reason, he felt as if he might get some clues to his current predicament.

Bob and Mii watched Zero closely as he wandered around the market district. Despite how well the Garden of Roth was doing, there were still underlying tension between the demons and angels. Zero noted how many poor demons had flocked over and the children looked like they were starved badly. Zero had no money on him and could only watch them while feeling apologetic that they'd have to go hungry.

About two stalls away, there was a lone boy whom Zero identified was a lizard demon of some sort. the boy's tongue flicked in the air nervously as his eyes darted to and fro, watching the stalls and the crowd. His erratic behaviour attracted Zero's attention and the young doctor decided to watch him.

The lizard demon boy walked over and blended in the crowd. Zero wasn't expecting him to go near a kebab stall and swipe a good number of skewers before making a run for it by climbing the walls and disappearing into the maze of alleys. It happened so quickly that Zero didn't have time to react. Naturally, the kebab store owner was furious but there wasn't much he could do.

Zero stared off blankly into space as his mind worked. Suddenly he understood what livelihood meant. The child who stole the kebabs did it for survival but the kebab owner who sold them probably didn't need so many sticks. Besides, not all his kebabs would have been sold by the end of the day and he could afford to give away a few to the poor and starving children but he didn't. He sold kebabs because it was his career and not his livelihood.

However, Zero knew that stealing wasn't right. If Zero was that starving child, he would go around asking to work in exchange for food instead of stealing. He was aware that some people wouldn't give him food or work. In fact, judging from the gloomy atmosphere in the market, he didn't think anyone would. Still, Zero thought that the lizard boy shouldn't have taken so many for himself. then again, he wouldn't be surprised if the extra skewers were for other starving children who were too young or weak to steal for themselves.

Thinking so much made Zero's head hurt and he decided that it might be time to return. He now understood the difference between a livelihood and a career but what does a right livelihood mean? Working hard and making an honest income didn't really make sense in such a dire situation where everyone fought for their survival. What could Buddha possible see that Zero was missing out? Was there even a wrong livelihood ignoring the methods?

Zero fell asleep the moment he hit the straw mattress. Thinking so much tired him out.

That night, Zero dreamt of a dream. He dreamt that he was back at Hua Tuo's hut arguing with his teacher about using cleaning magic.

"Why should we use a pail of water and a rag when I can easily wash everything away with magic? Not just cleaning but also watering the garden. It doesn't make sense to do everything manually when we have the ability to make our lives simpler!"

Hua Tuo smacked Zero on top of his head. His cheeks were puffed and he was red with anger as Zero had once again implied that he was behind the times.

"There is merit in living simply. Young ones like you have no patience or discipline! Go clean the fireplace and don't quibble with me or I'm only making plain porridge for dinner."

Zero sulked and reluctantly picked up the rag to start cleaning in that dream. However, before he could do it, Baal appeared. With a snap of his fingers, everything was cleaned. Not only was the place spick and span, Baal decided to conjure up things he thought the physician needed.

"Here's a throne, some walls. Oh, the hut is too small, let's make it a castle instead," the Demon Lord mused and Zero gaped.

Baal didn't stop at that. Instead, he started piling things that he thought Hua Tuo and Zero might need for their daily lives and started stacking things that were unnecessary like Lucifer's Bloody Willow - Veronica. Although the intentions were good, those were things Zero think was necessary for the simple life he and Hua Tuo led. The fanciest thing they had was the waterwheel outside but with Baal's opinions about what they needed for basic living, they had chandeliers instead of normal wax candles.

Zero woke up in cold sweat and realised that it was already dawn. He didn't sleep much but the brunet wasn't tired. Instead, he was fully energised. Hua Tuo was still soundly asleep and Buddha was still in Nirvana. The teenager decided to tackle the last obstacle on his own. He climbed onto the huge lily pad and started meditating.

The right livelihood meant simple living and Zero could relate to that. Hua Tuo always taught him not to take more than what he needed and Zero found himself completing that last missing connection. In his mind, the Dharma Wheel slowly came together. Light pillars interacted with one another and Zero felt something change in his inner dimension.

With eight new virtues and meridian points cultivated, Zero felt as if his inner dimension was completely transformed. The night sky turned into day with the blinding sun. Then, clouds started forming and it gathered heavily in one spot before rained down. Zero watched in amazement as the ground slowly sprung to life with grass and small plants. Also, the lake that he wanted slowly filled up.

Once the lake was filled up, Zero caught sight of something moving inside it. Could it be the lake guardian? Zero was a little nervous about meeting the guardian. Was it going to be a big monster carp as well?

Slowly but surely, the mysterious lake guardian surfaced and Zero gasped in surprise. It had a huge head and two big eyes at the side. However, the thing that made Zero so amused was the number of legs it had. Just like the spokes in the Dharma Wheel, this octopus had eight different coloured tentacles.

The lake guardian stared at Zero and moaned. Although the young doctor couldn't understand it, he knew what it wanted.

"You want a name right? I'm terrible at it, so let me know if you don't like it, alright? How does Inky sound?"

The octopus thrashed and Zero flinched when water came down on him, wetting his clothes and hair.

"I'm taking that as a no... ok, how about Octo-Octo?"

The lake guardian wasn't amused and Zero thought that it might be a male since the cute name wasn't to its liking.

"I know! Paul!"

This time, the octopus decided to climb out of the lake at scribbled something on the grass, destroying some of the landscape in the process. Zero took a look at the octagon and raised a brow. He didn't know what the guardian wanted.

"Octagon?"

Frustrated, the octopus made more scribbles of lines and dashes. It took Zero a while to know why it looked so familiar.

"I know that this is! It's the Ba Gua formation!"

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The lake guardian rejoiced and Zero rolled his eyes. "You're a weird fellow. I'm going to call you Ba Guai instead. Are you going to object?"

Of course, the octopus wasn't too happy about it but it was still a better name than Inky. Zero grinned and named the guardian Ba Guai.

"Ba Guai suits you, don't look so dejected. Ba still stands for the eight legs you have and Guai just depicts your weird personality perfectly. Eight Weird is a little strange so I'm sticking with Ba Guai. Shifu would be happy to meet you later when he wakes up so treat him with respect, alright?"

Ba Guai didn't have a choice and chose to ignore Zero instead, diving down into the bottomless lake once more.

Happy that he completed the trial successfully, Zero left his inner world and ended his meditation session. He simply couldn't wait to introduce his cultivation base. What could possibly be cooler than a gigantic octopus guardian as a cultivation base? Zero loved it, Ba Guai was perfect!

Ball of Nothing

[Bonus Scene taken from Chapter 100 - Training (8)]

*Chapter excerpt*

He didn't know how Zero thought about fusing two dying or dead animals to improve his success rates. The creatures lived but seeing that they were two very different species, they couldn't come to agree on which prey to hunt and that resulted in their deaths by starvation - something Zero learnt the hard way.

Hua Tuo didn't understand how Zero thought it would be a great idea to pour healing magic constantly into a dead creature for more than three minutes. The unexpected happened when the creature morphed into a zombie who came alive in the form of a spirit taking over possession of its rotting body. Even after its resurrection, Zero faithfully continued to supply it healing magic and Hua Tuo almost fainted when the creature became a zombie mutant capable of absorbing mana for its survival. Without knowing what he did, Zero left happily. Hua Tuo only knew about a massacre of a small village the day after and had to secretly end that monster's 'life'. Endow Hill's magic was strong enough to drive the weak-willed minds insane. With an indestructible body and a weak mind, it was only a matter of time before what Zero 'saved' morphed into everyone's nightmare. If not put to a stop, it could very well turn into a calamity class demon, given enough time. When Zero learnt about the monster he created from Gaia who heard it from Hua Tuo, he mourned for the deaths of those innocent villagers and promised to never do that again.

*End of Excerpt*

How long had it been since Hua Tuo entrusted him with the secrets to revival magic? Zero was beginning to feel a sense of urgency and frustration. Of all the obstacles he faced, this was taking the most time to master. He'd never had any learning disabilities or difficulties before, so why now?

Hua Tuo's silent disappointment was affecting Zero in not a good way. Every night before he went to bed, he would take a look at his teacher's face and feel bad. True, the old man might be stricter than usual and more grumpy. Zero has also become less chatty lately due to the tension between them. However, on the inside, the boy thought that he must be a severe failure of a student. Hua Tuo was a great teacher and Zero found himself understanding the clear instructions. It's just that when a life was extinguished before his very eyes, Zero couldn't help but feel their desperation. It was impossible for him to be level-headed in times like that when something was screaming at him to stop the inevitable.

The fault lies entirely with him and Zero sighed. If only there was a way for him to get it under control. His body simply didn't listen to him when the time called for it. Zero knew everything in his head and at the back of his hands what he needed to do. However, for some reason, the vessel he was in simply couldn't react the same way his head knew he should be reacting. He was unable to master Hua Tuo's cold and impersonal demeanour and set his mind to focus on the job without caring about the results. Zero cared too much about the dying patients and panicked more when they were actually dead. He feared for them as much as he feared his failure.

On hindsight, perhaps that was the reason for his continuous streak of failure. Zero found it very hard to be optimistic about his progress with the results of his incapacity staring back at him. The number of lives he failed to save kept on increasing by the day, adding an invisible weight to his very existence. If he could collect the number of tears he shed over every life he failed to save, Zero was sure that his tears could fill up a small pond by now.

The heart was a peculiar organ. Although there wasn't anything wrong with his vessel, Zero felt as if someone was continuously squeezing it. Was that the ghost of all those fishes he failed to save? It was gradual but undeniable that Zero's confidence was diminishing. Each time the fish failed to respond and the soul left the body, something fragile in Zero broke. Hua Tuo's sigh echoed loudly in Zero's world and the silence that followed was even worse than that admonishing look at the very beginning.

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Zero knew that he was inadequate. Hua Tuo hasn't said anything about giving up but Zero was almost ready to throw the towel in himself. If the number of lives he had to sacrifice to master this revival magic outweighed the number of lives he could save in future with it, Zero was heavily considering to drop it. However, Zero also knew that if he didn't master this magic that was Hua Tuo's signature healing magic, he would be a failure of a disciple.

Hua Tuo's light snores were the last thing Zero wanted to hear tonight. With so many thoughts tumbling around in his head, the boy decided to take a walk. The night was always something Zero liked whenever he was feeling down. Under the cover of darkness beneath the starry sky, Zero didn't have to worry about anyone spotting him. He could allow himself to stop smiling and cry.

Zero knew that he could call any of the people on his communicator's contact list to talk about it but he thought that it wasn't fair to be doing so. This training was a test to see if he could overcome the difficulties that he will face in the future as a travelling physician. Hua Tuo never stopped Zero from doing what he did as long as it was reasonably safe. That made Zero wonder if there was something he missed out previously. He only understood what he should be doing and not why he should do them.

Thinking about it, Zero wondered why Hua Tuo broke it down so specifically. It might work on fishes but if he wanted to save humans or birds, did the same revival magic techniques that worked on fishes apply to them?

"Maybe there's something else Hua Tuo wants me to find out but I've been too focused on making the revival magic work to understand the hidden lesson. That's right, Hua Tuo isn't the kind of teacher who would spoon-feed answers. I have to find out what he wants me to learn on my own. Perhaps this isn't the best way revival magic is done, perhaps there are hidden tricks to this!"

Feeling rejuvenated with the new target in mind, Zero started thinking about ways he could do some special training to help him understand the mysterious art of revival magic.

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Hua Tuo sensed a change in his disciple. Zero was now more enthusiastic despite his failures. for some odd reason, the boy had taken more interest in the bodies of the fishes they'd cut up for lunch after his failure to revive them. This made the Sage God more cautious. Whenever Zero got into one of his 'experimental learning' modes, it was often followed by trouble.

Zero kept thinking about it. For now, he had to understand the differences in anatomy between species. Through observation and reading up, Zero understood that most living creatures he ate had brains and hearts. That was also the crucial point in revival magic. If Zero could successfully restart the brain and the heart, then heal up whatever is causing organs to malfunction, the creature would come to life automatically.

In that case, if he were to get two living creatures of different species one with a functioning brain and the other with a functioning heart then healed them up so that they became one living creature, would that count as a successful revival?

Hua Tuo told Zero to hunt something and prepare dinner that day so Zero leapt at the opportunity. He was going to find a pheasant.

Normally, they didn't eat the brains of pheasants so Zero had experiment materials. There would still be life some moments even after the head is detached from the body but Zero had to work fast. Some fishes can still live without the head attached so Zero was going to try his fusion theory out. It was easier to focus on healing and fusing the two species that were moments away from death instead of one creature that had already completely stopped functioning. With this method, Zero knew that he had higher chances of succeeding without needing to focus too much on supporting the functions of a revived organ.

Hua Tuo noticed how his student was acting strange. He'd never been that enthusiastic about preparing dinner before. With suspicion, Hua Tuo chose to follow Zero discreetly from a distance. He wanted to know what his student was up to this time. His progress in revival magic was stagnant and he could see the toll of those failed attempts beginning to take its toll on the boy. However, Zero made a complete recovery from that crippling depression with renewed optimism that scared Hua Tuo.

True to his suspicions, Zero decided to head to the river after he caught the pheasant. The boy put the poor bird out with a strong sleeping spell and Hua Tuo was curious as to what his student would do at the river.

Zero undressed and folded his clothes neatly beside the sleeping pheasant and jumped into the water. At first, Hua Tuo thought that his student was just going to catch a tasty afternoon snack and was about to return when Zero did something strange.

Hua Tuo's eyes widened when Zero retrieved his hunting knife from his inventory. In one swift move, Zero cut the head off the fish he caught and the head of the pheasant who was still asleep. The blood splattered everywhere but Zero was more concerned about losing time. His teacher watched from the shadows how Zero was attempting to create a chimaera and frowned.

Zero spent a long time trying to figure out how to connect the different circuits even though it was easier to maintain the life of two different animals now that he didn't have to pour mana to support the brain and the heart simultaneously. With his left hand, Zero supplied mana to the pheasant's brain and with his right, he supplied mana to keep the body alive.

Therein lies the main problem. Zero didn't know that the animals he chose would be incompatible in terms of blood vessels, skeletal structures and muscles. Even the cell structures were slightly different and Zero groaned. He should have known it wouldn't be that easy in practice. In theory, it sounded simple to simply regrow parts that were missing for the fusion of two different species. He read it in alchemy but the subject was very vaguely explained so Zero could only figure the rest out when he actually did it.

Now, he found himself stuck. If he released the supply of mana right now, both animals will die in vain. Zero wanted to scream and tear his hair out. For now, both the fish and pheasant were alive but if Zero doesn't find out how to reconstruct them on a cellular level, they would be doomed.

As the blood started to drip dry, Zero thought about something. If he could not replicate the cells for either fish or bird, perhaps he could make something more neutral like a general muscle structure and bridge the vessels over. The blood from the bird and fish was mostly gone by now and they were essentially thriving on Zero's mana supply so reconnecting the vessels and drafting new skin didn't matter much. Zero felt as if they were closer to becoming fairies who thrived on mana instead of oxygen and food. Still, it was worth a try.

Hua Tuo watched as his student tried to copy and replicate parts of muscles and blood vessels. The process of learning through trial and error was painfully slow. Zero went as far as to understand the structure of skeleton to recreate something that held the bird and fish together. He saw how Zero would absorb a small part of the bird's body or fish's head to understand their anatomy better. Slowly, the creature fused together with Zero's aid.

Hua Tuo couldn't believe his eyes. If he hadn't been there for the last hour to watch Zero's slow progress, he wouldn't believe that chimaeras could be created without dark magic and sacrifices. In fact, both the bird and fish retained their souls in the same body. Zero did reconstruct a huge part of the chimaera's body but the most important achievement was how the sanity of the chimaera was retained. It wasn't corrupted in the process and continued to flop on the ground trying to get away from Zero.

Zero flopped onto the ground, butt-naked. He didn't know how long that took but the bird-fish was now alive. His experiment proved successful and Zero felt happy. Although it didn't help him much with understanding revival magic, Zero now knew that a new door was open to him. Regrafting was a process of absorbing and recreating the old body part into something newer and stronger. The bird's skeleton was hollow and light with the fish's skeleton was rigid. They had two different respiratory systems and even blood types so Zero altered those as well. He didn't do much to the muscle structures but that shouldn't be too much of an issue. Zero created blood cells after analysing both types of blood and decided that it might be better to stick with the fish's blood seeing as the bird will be living underwater for a while. He added new body parts like gills to the bird's head as well as eyes that could function underwater.

With that, Zero felt satisfied with the chimaera he'd created. It might not be progress towards revival magic mastery but Zero now knew there were other possibilities and that revival magic can be used on other species easily. He only required to channel mana to the parts that required support. Even without a lower-body or blood, the creature would still thrive for a while. The crucial part was replenishing lost parts that Zero had taken out during the disassembling process. If that was done correctly, the creature will survive the transformation.

That night, Hua Tuo pretended not to notice Zero slipping out. Instead, he allowed Zero to do so while following the boy closely. It didn't surprise him that Zero was tracking the chimaera and it didn't take long for his apprentice to notice that something was wrong with it. Hua Tuo couldn't help but pity the poor experiment.

Given that both bird and fish retained their consciousness, their instincts and feeding habits couldn't be that easily changed. The bird kept trying to fly and the fish often ended up on land. Not to mention, the pheasant ate seeds and insects while the fish only ate plankton and other smaller fishes in the river. The poor diet and different needs caused the chimaera to grow insane and eventually starve to death from the differences.

It was barely a week of the chimaera's birth before it died. Zero cried heavily when he found the body of his first revived experiment. It was doing so well before and the boy simply couldn't understand what went wrong. Perhaps this is what the alchemists faced when trying to create artificial life and fusion between two different living creatures. With two souls in one body, the subject often died.

Hua Tuo was glad that he followed Zero out on his nightly trips. The chimaera's body was already rotting when Zero tried des[perately to use revival magic on it. It didn't matter how many times Zero failed, he continued it despite the fact that both souls of the original host had already left it. Hua Tuo didn't need to stay to watch the end of what would happen either. Eventually, he hoped that Zero would give up and let the dead rest in peace.

Zero continued for hours and despaired over not being able to recall souls. His earlier theory about mana acting as a battery for the body remained correct. The corpse didn't decay any further when he got the organs functioning with mana fuelling them. Hence, Zero decided to continue channelling mana into the body while searching for the souls that left it.

Zero was still searching for the souls when he felt the body beneath him twitch to life. He didn't know how long he had been meditating but the sun was almost up now. The student jumped in alarm and decided to hide the body for now. He would continue it tonight. For now, he needed to hurry before his teacher woke up.

Hua Tuo pretended not to know what his student was up to but regretted it when things got out of control. he didn't understand the reason for Zero's cheerfulness until Roovan from Half Moon Village reported about a strange monster going around to massacre smaller villages on Endow Hill. The Sage God investigated the case and was horrified to find out that Zero's chimaera had turned into a zombie.

He didn't need to question his disciple about what he did to know what happened. Zero must have ignored the three-minute rule and desperately tried to bring his creation back to life by pumping in mana into an empty body. With so many lingering souls around, it wouldn't take long for one to discover a free vessel to possess. Unfortunately, the tragedy didn't end there. Endow Hill was a breeding ground for monsters and beasts because of the dense mana around it. Weak-willed souls will only be driven insane by the potent mana and that was exactly what happened to Zero's chimaera.

If it went berserk as a half rotting bird-fish, Hua Tuo would have left it alone. However, it started evolving and gaining intelligence after eating the villagers. The Sage God could no longer ignore the threat it proved to be and ended the creature before it became capable of evolving into a calamity class demon.

After he subdued the zombie, Hua Tuo had to return to heaven for a short while to fill in his report because the soul was corrupted.

The report ended up in the hands of King Yama and Gaia because of the soul discrepancy. Horrified by the report, Gaia pressed Hua Tuo about the details. Training with Hua Tuo on Endow Hills proved to be more dangerous and Mother Nature was reconsidering cutting the training for Zero short. Unable to convince Gaia, Hua Tuo told her to talk to Zero about it. The choice was in Zero's hands if he wanted to continue down the medical path. Hua Tuo was slightly hurt by the lack of faith the Great Goddess had in him but he couldn't blame her. She wasn't given a lot of details about what was happening on Endow Hill.

Zero was happy to receive a call in the middle of his practice and Hua Tuo allowed him to answer it, excusing himself so that Zero could take his time and speak his mind.

"Gaia!"

"Hello, Zero," Mother Nature smiled. Zero sounded as if he was having fun. It was a relief to hear that the boy wasn't down despite the lack of success in mastering revival magic. However, she didn't think Hua Tuo had informed his student about the little experiment that went wrong yet. She hated to be the one to break the news but she had to.

Zero was silent after Gaia told him what his chimaera had done. He felt a sense of grief that things had gone so badly and that he had a hand in the massacre of that small village.

"Zero?"

"I'm sorry!" Zero cried, unable to undo what he had done. He made a huge mistake simply because he didn't listen to Hua Tuo and used healing magic even after the soul has left the body.

Gaia didn't berate the boy. Many people made mistakes during their training, some bigger than others. She believed that Zero would learn from it and not repeat the same mistake again. However, she still had to ask if Zero wanted to continue with his training.

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Zero didn't hesitate to answer despite the grief that he would continue with the training.

"I will master revival magic no matter what. If I give up right now, all those lives sacrificed would be in vain. I cannot be so irresponsible as to run away from failure after so many lives have been sacrificed. I need to work harder and make up for my mistakes."

Hua Tuo who was eavesdropping had to hide and wipe away his tears. As hard as it was for Zero, the Sage God felt the same pressure on his shoulders. As Zero's teacher, he couldn't give up when his student was still determined to succeed. He had to find a way to help Zero master this final stage even if it meant sacrificing more lives.

However, through hearing Zero's resolve, the physician was also sure of one more thing.

Zero was going to be a great doctor, one capable of surpassing even him.

After Ba Guai was created, Buddha went back to Nirvana and wished Zero all the best for the final stages of his training. Hua Tuo couldn't help but be amused by Zero's cultivation base. Who would have thought that Zero would come up with such a weird guardian and an even stranger name to accompany it? Now the Sage God couldn't help but be curious about the kinds of names Zero would come up with for his Spiritual Attacks after Hua Tuo taught him how to manipulate his qi.

"Today, we celebrate," Hua Tuo told Zero. "We're going to Half Moon Village for a feast. Congratulations, Zero. You did well."

The teenager blushed badly at the sincere compliment and stuttered his thanks. Still, a feast sounded fantastic so Zero told Zoe about it in his mindscape. The zashikiwarashi rejoiced and went to work immediately, not forgetting to congratulate Zero before she left.

The young village head decided that he will do his part and hunt a nice catch for the feast. Pity Hua Tuo didn't allow him to catch the spring guardian. A monster carp would make a good feast.

They arrived around late morning in the village. Zero reached into his inventory and pulled out five huge turtles from the Trigression Falls. After much debating with Hua Tuo, the physician finally relented and allowed Zero to sacrifice some cultivated turtles for the feast. Besides, eating cultivated turtle meat would mean that the villagers would all be qi nourished to some extent. Qin Yun in particular who was a cultivator would benefit the most from this boost.

Zoe welcomed Zero with a hug that went right through him. Zero chuckled and Hua Tuo thought that it might be a good time to teach Zero how to use his newly acquired ability.

While Zoe busied away, the physician pulled his student to the side.

"Next time you hug Zoe, try channelling qi through your body like a second skin."

Zero blinked at that tip but nodded. He didn't know what qi does that magic cannot do but if Hua Tuo wanted him to have some hands-on practice to familiarise himself with it, Zero had nothing to lose.

Zoe was surprised when she felt someone touch her. The ghost turned around and saw that it was Zero who was hugging her from the back but with something strange acting as his aura that was probably what made it possible for physical contact. Usually, she could only interact with objects because it took too much energy to materialise and interact with people. Also, each time someone passed through her, Zoe would feel colder as they took away some of her energy. On busy days when she didn't have time to recharge, Qin Yun would come by to help her to replenish her energy with some qi. However, it was never warm like Zero's and the sudden change in temperature made the zashikiwarashi freeze in shock.

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Hua Tuo smiled when Zoe eventually returned the hug warmly. The household ghost was sobbing too, too touched to do anything else. Zero had brought spring and summer back into her life with his newly gained gift and she couldn't be more thankful. Other than inviting her on his travels with that mindscape sharing contract, Zero had reminded her what the sun felt like,

Hua Tuo was satisfied after observing Zero's level of proficiency in qi manipulation. He left silently in search of the fox spirit to teach Zero about the different kinds of qi manipulation. There were some errands he had to attend to in heaven and it was inappropriate to drag his student there. Hence, the physician brought Zero back to Half Moon Village so they could play babysitters for a while.

After hearing Hua Tuo's request, Qin Yun nodded. The Sage God smiled and thanked the fox spirit before leaving the village discreetly. Zero was still preoccupied with the lab members who were keen to get his measurements for his trial weapon that they were tasked to create. In fact, it would take a good few hours before Zero had any spare time at all. The village was in a buzz with so many matters that they needed Zero to look into as the village head.

Zero took it upon himself to work hard from the gardens to the construction project. He even took some time to play with the children while checking up on Karris and Seff's health in Hua Tuo's place. The boy was kept busy the whole time while Zoe and Lovina worked up a huge sweat preparing for the feast. Everyone wanted to make it memorable and enjoyable to celebrate Zero's new breakthrough that Hua Tuo told them about. Zenobia had a feeling that the next time they saw Zero, it would be for a farewell feast when the young doctor had to travel for his adventures.

At the feast, Zero looked around and didn't see his teacher anywhere. In fact, Zero searched his map for Hua Tuo's whereabouts but it only showed him that Hua Tuo was no longer on Endow Hill. That made him worry a little until Qin Yun told him that his teacher had some jobs to take care off and entrusted her to teach him how to use qi now that he has a stable foundation.

"Cultivation can take a long time and it is an arduous path but I believe you don't need to follow what we cultivators do. I heard that you can mix magic and qi?"

Zero grinned. "Yupp!"

Qin Yun smiled. Zero hasn't been slacking off in relaying messages to her from her village. She receives a letter from him once a week usually except for the past few weeks because of his sudden seclusion. While the fox spirit enjoyed reading what her sisters had to say, she enjoyed the little notes about Zero's progress and thoughts even more. To think that there will be a day someone would discover the solution to the mystery behind qi and mana simultaneous manipulation... Qin Yun was glad she lived for so long to see the day come true. Who knew that chaos energy from the void existed for this very purpose of harmonising qi and mana?

She made an agreement to start teaching Zero about qi manipulation right away after they tended to the medical garden tomorrow morning.

"Latitia says that some of the herbs you got from the abyss auction are growing well. However, Cleo is having some difficulty with the special seed that you requested for. It might be the lack of proper environment on Earth that makes it impossible to grow. She was also unable to determine the type of plant the seed belongs to."

Zero was surprised to hear that. Perhaps he should take that seed to Tanya for investigation. Cleo was a dryad and there shouldn't be any plant that the spirit couldn't grow.

"I see, thanks for letting me know. I will see you tomorrow morning."

Qin Yun smiled and urged Zero to join Clowis and the warriors for a hand wrestling match. So far, the most impressive match was Mitchnew holding her own against Tambolt. Dwarves were known for their strength and as an elf, Mitchnew was naturally at a disadvantage. However, the ex-assassin was doing well by defeating Tambolt and Grandma Moppo who was sipping ale in a corner, grumbling about getting on in her years.

Zero stood close to the wrestling match and watched out for anyone who was possibly injured. He cheered loudly when the two dragon descendants were made to pit against each other. Vrald was winning but Zero urged Gerald not to give up. With a strange twist of events, the golden-haired swordsman pinned his friend down hard enough to put a crack in the rock surface. Zero panicked a little but Vrald seemed to be injured apart from his bruised pride.

The feast progressed late into the night until everyone fell asleep from exhaustion or became dead drunk. Zero found himself cuddling up against Zenobia together with Leon, Rima and Jacqueline. Qin Yun was cleaning up some of the mess when she chanced upon the endearing sight. She couldn't help but be thankful to the teenager who'd given her a second chance at becoming a human again and went up to him to place a gentle kiss on his forehead. Zero didn't stir and Qin Yun continued cleaning the rest of the cave with Moona's help.

The next morning arrived too soon and Zero hurried to prepare hangover medicine for those who drank too much the night before. Nobody kept to the schedule and the village had a relaxed atmosphere hanging around it. Cleo and Qin Yun didn't take offence when Zero was tardy. He apologised and hurried along to help them with the garden while taking back that one seed that simply wouldn't grow. He knew where he'd gotten that seed and didn't think that it would actually grow at all. Still, it was worth a shot and Zero thanked the ladies.

The young doctor helped with harvesting the ready herbs and expressed his excitement at some of the rarer abyss herbs growing. Cleo and Latitia giggled at the teenager's behaviour. Zero hasn't really changed much since he was a boy and they were thankful for that.

After gardening, Qin Yun took Zero out of the village for a short training lecture and demonstration. Zero followed eagerly and the other villagers slowly settled back into their normal pace of life, busying away on their individual tasks.

When they were a good distance away from the village, Qin Yun stopped and had Zero sit down to watch her demonstrate what could be done with qi.

The teenager sat by the river bank and watched as Qin Yun gathered qi to her feet. She smiled and walked across the river surface without losing balance or getting wet. Zero was impressed with the water walking technique and Qin Yun made it more impressive by demonstrating that it was possible to create ice as she walked.

"The trick here is to use yin qi instead of yang qi that I was using earlier. Tang qi heats the water up and I was actually walking on a layer of steam. Ordinarily, that steam would have burnt the soles of my feet but I was circulating yin qi internally to counter the external yang qi. Likewise, I did the opposite for frost walking."

Zero applauded and couldn't wait to try it out.

"You might want to change out of your clothes when you're practising water walking," the fox spirit smiled and Zero agreed.

The first time Zero tried to circulate yang qi on the outside and yin on the inside, he misjudged the amount of qi required and was shot up into the air from the extreme heat. Qin Yun laughed at Zero's surprised expression and the boy quickly switched to magic to cushion his landing. Usually, beginner cultivators found it hard to maintain enough heat to properly walk on water. Most of them would sink into the river on their first attempt, getting wet. Zero was completely opposite and didn't know what moderation meant. Despite living for a very long time, this was the first time Qin Yun saw a beginner cultivator getting shot into the air by an explosion of steam trying to walk on water.

Zero groaned as he made his way back to the river. He'd been shot up quite high and landed a good twenty metres away from where he started. The shock still rattled him but the young doctor had an idea of which direction he should be working towards when it came to adjusting his control.

"How was it?" the lady asked, totally amused.

Zero groaned in embarrassment. "I'll try toning it down this time," he told her.

Zero was more cautious the second time he tried. He allowed the qi to circulate in one leg as he slowly placed it on the water surface, testing the stability of the foothold.

The water started boiling and sizzling when Zero was still a good ten centimetres away from the surface so the boy reduced the intensity of the qi and was satisfied when he could place his foot on the surface without sending him flying. However, as he tried putting more weight onto it, Zero found himself sinking and raised a brow at that. Was it not enough?

"Try controlling the area that your qi circulates to and condense it within a bubble. Right now, the qi you send downwards are dispersing into the water," Qin Yun told Zero and the boy took a few minutes to try holding onto his qi.

"It's still escaping," he told Qin Yun. By now, the qi around his feet was more stabilised but it was still shaky.

The fox demon nodded. Zero was doing well controlling his output but he was forgetting to direct them to the right channel. In fact, Zero has stopped circulating the qi and simply allowed the stagnant energy to flow out of his meridian channel much like water through a hole-riddled balloon. There was little control and the lack of technique made Qin Yun wonder how Zero was able to power through it without knowledge of how it actually worked. Hua Tuo told her that Zero was an experimental learner and seeing it for herself wasn't the same as hearing it.

Zero was quick to understand concepts when given hints in the right direction. Qin Yun had never seen such a self-directed learner before and Zero's progress frightened her as a cultivator. How was Zeroable to manage everything so perfectly with only one or two tries? In order to fully understand how to control qi and manipulate it, cultivators took years of practice from developing their cultivation base and building up reserves to unlocking higher levels of understanding for a more refined level of control.

It didn't take long for Zero to experiment pushing qi through specific open meridian points to understand the trick behind walking on water. Qin Yun spent the hour watching Zero explore all different options between skating on the water surface to springboarding through the air. Qin Yun thought that the surprises would end there but she was severely mistaken when Zero demonstrated a yin yang performance of simultaneously maintaining one foot encased in yang qi and the other in yin qi.

"Has he understood the principles behind the yin-yang coexistence?" Qin Yun couldn't help but be shocked and humbled by Zero's cultivation talent. To reach the stage of understanding co-existence of finding yin within the yang and vice-versa, the fox spirit had to go through seclusion and gruelling meditation sessions. The chances of losing control and having the qi backfire were very high. The fox demon had to spend several months recovering from a particularly bad internal injury after a miscalculation trying to master the skill but Zero was switching between yin and yang freely as if he had centuries worth of practice already.

Was there anything that this child couldn't do?

Zero remained unaware of Qin Yun's inner conflict and focussed on exploring new methods to use qi. He was finding a way to perfect walking on ice without getting stuck onto it or melting it completely. The skill was by far the trickiest he had to overcome and Zero clicked his tongue in frustration as the ice melted once more.

Qin Yun couldn't help but wonder what Zero was thinking about for the last twenty minutes. On the surface, it looked as if the young doctor was having fun skating on the water surface and painting a beautiful picture with ice. However, as time dragged on, she couldn't help but notice how troubled it looked.

"Zero, let's take a break!"

The brunet paused for a moment and sighed before heading back to the river bank.

"I see that you're having some difficulty?" the fox spirit asked with a smile and Zero nodded.

"I can't seem to walk without melting the ice once it is formed. I think my control lacks finesse."

If that was said by someone other than Zero, Qin Yun wouldn't hesitate to whip them with her tails for bragging. However, coming from the doctor's apprentice, she could only exercise patience. Zero was still very ignorant about the standards of the world and he wasn't bragging through his statement because Qin Yun understood how Zero genuinely thought he wasn't good enough.

"Zero, not even your teacher Hua Tuo has mastered the art of walking on ice without melting it. I believe you've found the difficulty in maintaining a heat high enough to create steam but low enough to not melt it. The logic is impossible from the start. Ice cannot remain intact when you're trying to walk using steam."

Zero thought about it and hummed. Qin Yun made sense. Now he understood why he couldn't succeed. He was going about it the wrong way.

"Are there any other things I can do with qi? For example, maybe I can create wind instead or steam to walk on water?"

Qin Yun smiled. It didn't take long for Zero to figure out that there were more than one ways of walking on water apart from what she'd shown him.

"That's right, other ways exist. Simply put it, qi manipulation can be in a direct method like what you've been doing so far and an indirect method. However, unlike magic, qi can only alter the forms of objects that are in your surroundings. They are not automatically imbued with elements like mana so many cultivators choose to train their bodies in addition to their cultivation bases. I have an ice body and Hua Tuo has a medicine body."

Zero blinked. "Medicine body? How does he get a medicine body? Is he part plant or something?"

Qin Yun laughed at Zero's mental imagery. "No, silly. He's human still. Have you heard of Western Venom? He was a cultivator who created the toad skill. His body was trained to become poisonous and very toxic so when he activates his qi, it will fuse with the blood in his body to create a poison-based attack. Like how you encased your feet with qi to walk on water, qi can be applied the same way internally. Many pugilists use qi to encase and guard their heart when they are poisoned. Think of it as a barrier to redirect the poison. The poison will be circulated and gathered at one point using qi to be purged from the body through sweating or vomiting normally. However, that's just one way of using qi."

Zero listened carefully and nodded. As far as the explanation went, qi and blood were very closely related. Was that why Hua Tuo was asking him about his standard meridian channels? Without them, he couldn't cultivate at all.

"What will happen if I cannot circulate qi through a certain meridian because it is blocked off? Hua Tuo mentioned something about being able to disarm cultivators and paralyse them by blocking off their meridian points temporarily although he hasn't taught me how it is done."

Without warning, Qin Yun hit two of Zero's acupuncture points that blocked off his meridian circulation. The apprentice was alarmed at first but soon noticed that it didn't affect his qi circulation. He did feel significantly weaker in the areas that the meridian path was blocked off and could move his limbs connected to it but there wasn't anything major or life-threatening.

The fox spirit smiled. "Even if I didn't do anything, the meridian path will unblock itself within a day. Think of it as a blood clot. If you rub it, the blood clot will clear faster and if you don't it will simply take longer to recover. However, this is only dangerous when you're in a battle and are rendered immobile during it. You wouldn't be able to clear the blockage so soon and that gives your enemies enough time to finish you off."

As Qin Yun unblocked the meridian points, Zero felt his strength coming back to his limbs slowly. It was a strange feeling but he could understand where Qin Yun was coming from.

"What is the second way of using qi other than using it as a barrier internally?"

Qin Yun grinned and demonstrated gathering qi into her palms and pulling in air from the surroundings, forming a huge vortex in the middle of the forest. Zero felt his jaw slacken at that display of skill. With Qin Yun acting as the centre of the world, she was drawing in elements from the surrounding to control them as an extension of herself.

"This is an advanced form of Tai Ji that involves qi manipulation. You can use qi to sharpen a blade to pierce through any armour with wind or use qi to reinforce your armour with dirt. Qi can also be used to create walls to defend against arrows. You can use any element to create that as long as you have a good grasp of yin and yang. There are pugilists who have channelled qi into music for an area attack too. The basic of qi is life and as long as there is life, you can do anything."

Zero practised a little with Qin Yun and took to sparring using qi, exploring new ways of using it and taking pointers from the skilled fox spirit. Somewhere in the middle of the sparring, Zero knew what kind of combat style he wanted to develop. From magic enhancement to qi, Zero thought that simple was best. Tai Ji was an art that consisted of only basic movements but it had a very fluid style of movement that allowed Zero to be highly adaptable to any situation. With qi and magic at his disposal, Zero didn't want to restrict himself to either. Qi attacks didn't kill but magic if used wrongly could.

The teenager dodged another tail stab and used qi to act as springboard mid-air to put some distance between them. If qi was like the weapon then magic would be like his armour. Zero focussed on dodging for the time being. He observed carefully how Qin Yun covered her blind spots with no wasted movements. The ancient fox was very skilled and never over expanded herself, proving it difficult for Zero to close in on her.

Qin Yun smiled when Zero started using qi to enhance his forearm that blocked yet another tail strike. After getting hit by it the first time, Zero quickly learnt that she was not to be underestimated despite his indestructible body of sorts. Zero felt the bone fracture but the adrenaline didn't allow him any time to feel pain as healing magic kicked in.

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Given no choice, Zero was forced to be on the defensive and focussed qi into the places that Qin Yun struck. Through that exercise, Zero found that he was getting better at keeping a continuous circulation of qi while distributing qi to the areas that require it more. He was also getting the hang of rebalancing the qi after using some and it became easier for the young doctor to get used to stepping on water or tricky surfaces.

One cool trick he learnt from the spar was the act of walking in the air. Although it wasn't considered as flying, Zero knew that it came very close to what he wanted. Right now, Zero was focussed on trying to close in on Qin Yun to block one of her meridian points and render her immobile. From Hua Tuo's lessons, Zero already knew the major meridian points on the human body. However, Qin Yun was a nine-tailed fox. The pesky thing about fighting with someone who had nine extra limbs was how difficult it was to locate the one acupoint that connects all nine tails. Each time Zero landed a hit to disable one, Qin Yun would use the other eight tails to distract him while unblocking the meridian for that one tail and they would be back to square one.

Right now, Zero was hiding in a bush, waiting to ambush Qin Yun when she came. He had a good idea on where that magical acupoint was that would render all nine tails immobile but the tricky part was getting behind Qin Yun. He was baiting the fox spirit to look for him and Qin Yun was approaching when Zero's stomach decided to betray him with a growl loud enough to scare away some birds resting on a tree nearby.

Qin Yun heard the growl from the bush and couldn't hold it in any longer before bursting out in laughter.

Zero stood up from the bush with his cheeks red from embarrassment now that his position had been compromised. The fox spirit called it a truce and helped the teen get leaves out of his hair before both of them headed back to the village for lunch, unaware that lunch was two hours ago.

Ball of Nothing

Zero didn't like the sly smiles everyone was giving him. It was the kind of "I-know-something-you-don't" kind of smile. Baal would often give him this annoying smile when he was keeping secrets and the one thing Zero hated more than cliff hangers were secrets. If he knew they existed, it drove him crazy to not know what it was.

Qin Yun and Zero were the last to eat lunch and Zoe wasn't too pleased. Even as the zashikiwarashi fumed, she continued to heat up their lunch and refill their cups. Qin Yun did a debrief with Zero about his fighting style earlier on. It was clear as day that Zero wasn't a warrior. His movements may be nimble but his bloodlust missing. His experience was also sorely lacking and Qin Yun easily gained the upper hand because Zero wasn't sly enough to use tricks.

The fox spirit was quick to finish her food and excused herself while Zero got bombarded by the kids about his training session.

Out of hearing range, the warriors decided to gather up to discuss their surprise Martial Exchange Demonstration. Roovan was patrolling the area to investigate the disturbing waves of energy when he saw Qin Yun sparring with Zero. The boy looked like he was struggling so as experienced warriors, they wanted to help Zero develop his personal fighting style.

"What's the plan?" Roovan asked as he landed in the village square.

Ruth took a stick and started scribbling names on the soil, matching the matches and opponents.

"It would be better for Zero to observe real battles instead of teaching him basics from the book. He's rather smart but lacks experience," Ruth told the eleven gathered warriors who agreed.

"We also wouldn't want to overwhelm him with too many styles so we're pitting the same type of fighting styles together. The first match will be between myself and Mitchnew as we're both archers."

Mitchnew agreed with the Chieftess and asked if Zero would need to learn any long-ranged styles.

"I'm a sniper but Zenobia is an acrobat. She specialises in fast bow drawing but I specialise at accuracy."

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Ruth shook his head. "It doesn't really matter because the tonfa is a mid-range and close quarter combat weapon. Still, I would like Zero to know how archers fight so he knows how to counter them in future."

The vampire turned to the giantess and the new village chief warrior. "The both of you specialise in close-combat so I will have both of you face off with each other. Fear not, we will be using this clearing after Lovina reinforces it with magic to avoid damaging too much of the village so feel free to go all out."

Clowis grinned ferally and Camie laughed. As a giantess, she was always careful to handle everything in the village gently. If she went all out, it would be easy to smash the smaller people into pulp. She didn't know if Clowis would be able to handle her full strength but as the new village head warrior, surely he could manage somehow. The thought of actually having a good spar made both warriors happy.

Gerald wasn't too surprised when the vampire matched him up with Vrald seeing as they were the only two sword-users in the village. Likewise, Vishnu and Gweshr were paired up because of their transformation abilities even if the minotaur didn't need special conditions to transform.

"We will wait for a full moon," Ruth told Gweshr who expressed his concern. "It's only two nights away."

Qin Yun didn't know what to think of her opponent. While Titor was also a spirit, he was nowhere near as powerful as her. The mother of all foxes asked Ruth if she should hold back. Titor didn't take any offence to Qin Yun's attitude. Deep down, he knew that he would never be able to win this ancient nine-tailed fox. Still, it would be an honour to spar with her.

"I will do my best to not let you get bored. Hopefully, we can inspire Zero to incorporate qi into his combat style," the brown bear spirit descendant smiled.

Qin Yun grinned. She would fully make use of Titor to demonstrate the full extent to what qi could do. Titor stiffened and shuddered when he felt the fox spirit's bloodlust directed towards him. He sincerely hoped that Zero would be kind enough to patch him up by the time the match was over. He didn't know if he even stood a chance against such an overpowered opponent.

The last pairing for the Martial Exchange Demonstration was none other than Ruth and Roovan.

"Isn't it unfair for you?" the raven beastman asked. Ruth shrugged. "As long as I get enough sunblock salve, I should be fine. We're demonstrating aerial battle. I will be partially transforming into a bat on that day and using weapons so feel free to do the same."

Roovan grinned. "We could do it at night if you want, no need to do it under the sun when it is clearly a disadvantage for you."

Ruth thought about it and agreed.

Zenobia drafted the schedule for the Martial Exchange. There would be two matches each day starting tomorrow with two matches in the night.

"I think it will be nice to have Camie and Clowis' match tomorrow in the afternoon. Mitchnew and I will fight the first match in the morning."

Nobody objected and Ruth volunteered for the night match on the second day.

"I guess we can go for the afternoon match on the second day?" Vrald looked at Gerlad who nodded.

"I have no objections. What about you? Do you want to go on the second or third day?"

Qin Yun smiled. "I don't mind going on the third day. Gweshr and Vishnu have to go on the night of the third day because of the full moon. I guess we're done now?"

Zenobia grinned. "This will be exciting. I wonder what kind of combat style Zero will develop."

Ruth chose not to comment, the memory of that deadly axe heel drop kick still fresh in his mind. Mitchnew didn't look too sure either and pitied Ruth when he shuddered. The ex-assassin knew that even without a solid fighting style or experience, Zero was extremely dangerous. His raw potential could easily put seasoned adventurers out of business.

However, with power comes responsibility and if nobody taught Zero how to control them, it could very easily become a tragedy.

"It's decided, we make the announcement tonight at dinner. I'm sure everyone wants to spend as much time as they can around Zero. There'd be another feast tonight," Zenobia sighed.

Qin Yun laughed. "Our young doctor has stocked up on hangover medicine. I think he's getting better at understanding us."

Her statement made the warriors laugh. It was true. Zero had come a long way since they first saw him as Hua Tuo's puny student. His weak first impression and the shock he gave everyone after using Divine Magic was certainly a game-changer. Zero spent months missing after Lord Baal took him away to recover and returned as a teenager, much to everyone's surprise. Still, it was easy to recognise Zero. Other than his height, nothing much has changed on the surface.

As the warriors went their separate ways to prepare for the Martial Exchange Demonstration, Ruth decided to check on Seff. The baby vampire was growing up quickly according to Olaf who was loitering in the village and harassing Schaf whenever he could. Lucifer was still livid about his stolen books and for one period of time, Ruth heard that the dragon got dragged back to hell for his punishment. It only lasted for a few weeks before the dragon returned to the village.

The vampire neared Karris' hut when he heard Seff. The boy was now a gorgeous chubby infant of two years old even if had only been about a month since he was born. Karris measured his growth spurt several times a day and Mitchnew was finding it challenging to keep up with the new clothes she had to make for the baby. Seff proved to be extremely intelligent and was able to understand common language now. He still had to feed on dark magic and Lovina has been diligent in feeding him three times a day if not more. Seff can now eat and drink things so Karris and Lovina have been trying to get the boy to drink dark mana potions from a bottle instead. Ruth didn't think they did very well because Seff toddled over to him and started sucking on his finger.

The Roth vampire allowed it and patted his godson's head. Who knew that half-bred vampires grew up faster than full-blooded vampires? Also, Zero did a check-up yesterday and noticed that Seff had no allergies to sunlight thanks to his human genetics. Ruth envied that a little and sighed. Nobody knew if Seff could feed on human food when he got older but for now, everyone was glad that Seff didn't need to drink blood to survive.

"Hey, you're not hungry anymore so let go!" Ruth shrugged the kid off when the pink eyes turned back to silver. Seff pouted playfully and huffed.

It turns out, the kid was also a glutton and Ruth didn't know if that was thanks to Zero's influence. Leon had been telling him stories about their village head and his incredible feats and Seff simply idolised the young doctor, wanting to be like him. Vrald told the half-vampire that he had to eat a lot to grow big and strong so the child has taken to becoming a glutton.

Karris was knitting some new pair of socks when Ruth carried the boy inside.

"Hello," he greeted and the human smiled. She looked slightly tired because of how Seff didn't need a lot of sleep at night. Moona could only entertain Seff for so long in the night before the child got homesick and wanted to see his mother. Ruth had been caring for the child whenever he could for the past few weeks while Zero was with Hua Tuo cultivating in Trigression Falls. The kid has grown attached to him and Ruth wondered if this will always be the case for the next hundred years.

"I will be participating in an event two nights from now and staying for a little longer before heading back to complete Zero's training."

One thing Ruth liked about Karris was how she didn't ask a lot of questions and simply accepted life the way it was. She smiled and wished him good luck cheerfully and Ruth wished that she'd asked him about his next visit instead.

Seff didn't take the news too kindly and started to cry. He clung onto the vampire's leg and didn't let go, even going as far as to digging his growing teeth into Ruth's ankle. His mother was immediately at Ruth's side, apologising and trying to get her son away from his godfather when the unbelievable happened.

Seff smacked Karris' hand away with a force that a normal child shouldn't possess and everyone heard a loud crack. Ruth froze and even Seff let go of his ankle to stare at Karris who yelled in pain before crouching down to cradle her limp wrist.

"M-mommy?"

Karris' face was contorted with pain and her clothes drenched with sweat. Still, she shakily smiled and reassured Seff that it was alright.

"It's not your fault, darling. Mommy's ok."

Still, the boy knew what he'd done even if he didn't understand why. He hurt his mother and the guilt made tears pour non-stop. Ruth froze up and in that instant didn't know if he should rush to find Zero first or comfort his wailing godson. If left alone, he wasn't sure what Seff would do. It might endanger Karris more with his uncontrolled powers and emotions.

"Zero?" he tried the mental connection and thankfully, it connected.

"Ruth? What's wrong?"

Thankful for the response, he urged his student to come over quickly. When Zero heard about the accident, he got up and apologised to Leon, Jacqueline and Rima for skipping out on their promised game of tag.

The village head didn't run, he simply teleported over and analysed the scene before him in five seconds. While casting calming magic on Seff, he took Karris' wrist to examine the damage.

"I'm going to cast sleeping magic for a while to numb the pain while I heal it. Nothing too serious, it's just a broken wrist."

Karris nodded and Zero set to work quickly. Seff stared wide-eyed at Zero who was fixing Karris' wrist and whimpered. The baby vampire knew who Zero was and he had mixed feelings seeing his idol help his mother whom he'd injured accidentally. Would his idol be disappointed in him for hurting his mother? Seff was afraid and didn't dare to look at Zero after the young doctor had tucked Karris into bed.

Zero turned to Ruth with a questioning look at Seff who was hiding behind his godfather's leg. Ruth decided to talk to Zero telepathically and they agreed to bring Seff out for a change of environment to talk about it. Right now, Zero felt that Ruth was more needed here instead of back at Hua Tuo's hut. His combat training can be done without the vampire's help. It will merely take longer. Besides, there were many experienced warriors in Half Moon Village who would be happy to teach him.

Ruth didn't say anything about that and kept the thoughts to himself. He felt torn as Zero's teacher and Seff's godfather. Zero didn't have very much longer before he completed his training and had to leave Endow Hill. After Hua Tuo taught Zero how to perform surgeries and after Zero perfected his combat style, he would graduate and leave for his magic lessons with Merlin.

As much as Ruth hated admitting it, he would miss his student and saviour greatly. Sometimes, he thought about accompanying the boy on his travels out of worry for him but then remembered that there was someone scarier and more capable who would be by Zero's side during his adventure. He might not be familiar with Truen but the wood elf certainly had a reputation. Baal was also cautious about dealing with Zero's bodyguard who was more overprotective of the brunet than anyone Ruth knew.

"Hey there buddy," Zero smiled. He spoke softly and gently when they were a little away from the hut. It was a quaint spot by the gardens and nobody visited it at this time of the afternoon.

Seff refused to meet Zero's eyes as big fat tears welled up at the brim of his lower eyelid. he felt immensely guilty and didn't know how to make things right. Would his idol be disappointed? His godfather was also unusually silent. Everyone would hate him now, he'd been a terrible boy for not listening to his mother.

Ruth stared at the small trembling figure and sighed before placing a comforting hand on the boy's head. it was a familiar weight that conveyed reassurance and acceptance. The simple action was all Sef needed to know that he wasn't hated and let the tears fall, apologising profusely.

Zero smiled and hugged the small vampire. Growing up with uncontrollable powers was difficult especially without guidance. Zero knew this too well with firsthand experience. He couldn't count the number of mistakes he made and the mess he caused each and every time. If it weren't for Truen, the Great Gods, his friends and his teachers, Zero would have gone astray onto the wrong path a long time ago.

"It's not your fault," he told Seff after the young child stopped crying. Seff still didn't look at him and Zero continued.

"However, you still need to apologise to your mother. You still hurt her and that's a fact."

Seff stiffened at that and before the guilt could eat him up, Zero was quick to add on.

"Your mother isn't angry at you. She's ok now but the same thing could easily happen again. Seff, you're a strong boy. You're a lot stronger than your mother and very different from many people out there. As a strong boy, you need to protect your mama from bad people. Won't you learn from your godfather how to ut that strength to good use?"

The dirty blonde boy looked up to Zero with his big silver eyes. "Pwotect?"

Zero grinned. "That's right. You can fight away all the bad people who want to hurt your mother and the people in this village. Ruth is very strong too and he can teach you how to control that strength and use them carefully. What do you think? Is not such a bad thing to be strong now, is it?"

Seff thought about it for a while. He might be young but he knew what he wanted. "Will I be stwong wike you?"

Zero blinked. Him? Strong? His only talent is absorbing things into the void. Many of the villagers here could easily whoop his behind with one finger and the young doctor felt uncomfortable lying to a young child but he still nodded in difficulty with fake enthusiasm.

"That's right, you can be strong like me. However, it will take a lot of hard work."

Ruth raised a brow at Zero's awkwardness when Seff turned his sparkly eyes towards him. The half-vampire started opening up to his idol and told him stories about eating a lot to become like him. Zero laughed at the story and told Seff that if he ate too much he would get scolded.

Seff turned pale and turned to Ruth in horror. Ruth simply smacked Zero and the head.

"You only get scolded because you ate Hua Tuo's lunch and left nothing for him. Also, the chefs in La Boutique are afraid of your stomach because you don't stop eating! If you limited it to only food, I doubt anyone would fault you but you ate their plates when you become overly excited. Those things cost more than food!"

Zero denied it and Ruth fumed. Seff watched his godfather and idol argue before laughing. They took a longer way back to enjoy the sense of normalcy with Seff riding on Ruth's shoulders. Ruth was thinking about Zero's proposal to have him stay in Half Moon Village to care for baby Seff and pay a visit every few days for his lessons instead of staying with Hua Tuo the whole time. The Roth vampire felt torn. He didn't want to choose between his godson and student. They both needed him very badly and time was too short.

"Mama!" Seff screamed when he saw his home and scrambled off Ruth's head, running over to Karris who was waiting for them at the door.

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"My child, where have you been?"

Seff cried once again and apologised while his mother carried him in her arms, stroking his hair softly. Zero watched the warm scene and felt a pang in his heart. Mothers were great creatures and even though Zero was surrounded by many people who loved him, the brunet couldn't help but wonder what a mother's love for their child is like. Karris was a frail and weak human but in front of her child, she was like an unbreakable wall with her love. Zero felt as if she could hold the world up even if everything was collapsing around her in order to protect Seff. That trait was admirable and Zero wished he could experience that kind of warmth even at least once.

Ruth watched his student and couldn't understand the reason for that longing expression as he watched the mother and son. Was Zero envious of that family love? The vampire thought that Zero was rather blind to it. Although his student doesn't know it, there were many people who were willing to lay their lives for him even if they knew he was an inextinguishable existence. To protect Zero and keep him happy, these people would stop at nothing.

Ruth looked back to the mother and son with a knowing smile. He was one of the people. It was way too late to turn back time, the young doctor had already captivated him like how Seff has captivated Karris' entire world.

Decision made, Ruth decided to find the lab members. They should be done with the prototype of Zero's training weapon while trying to craft the actual one that was commissioned. He needed to familiarise himself with the tonfas before he could teach Zero how to use them.

The excitement could be felt in the air. Everyone was pumped up and gathered in the village square. It had been a long time since they witnessed such an exciting sparring session. magic, qi and adrenaline thrummed through the veins of every warrior who was watching the demonstration. Zero didn't know who would emerge victorious. Both ladies were equally strong and he couldn't help but want to root for both of them at the same time.

As Zenobia and Mitchnew stepped into the magically reinforced arena, Lovina wondered if she missed out any reinforcements. Zero had a hand in this and the witch couldn't help but run through her mental checklist as the master of ceremonies began riling the crowd up.

"You might know them already," Lowis smiled.

The crowd cheered and Zero joined in with Seff on his lap. Ruth was on standby as part of the security team in case something went out of hand. Karris couldn't seat so near to the front because nobody could predict how the fight would turn out. They didn't want to risk Karris getting severely wounded from a stray arrow during the fight even if the ladies were using dummy arrows for it.

"On the right, we have Lady Zenobia, our Chieftess and an agile archer who is known for her graceful war dance!"

The crowd cheered and Zenobia raised her bow. The half-elf-half-rabbit-beastman warrior grinned. She came fully prepared with her quiver full of twenty arrows dipped in red ink without arrowheads. Three short daggers were strapped onto the side of each muscular thigh. They were practice daggers and whetted down to be blunt but could still be proven dangerous in the correct hands. Her brown leather leotard left nothing to the imagination and Zenobia had her hair tied into a bun to prevent it from obstructing her vision.

The chieftess looked very much like a warrior queen but Mitchnew's presence didn't waver in Zenobia's glory. Instead, the dark elf was like a shadow waiting to ensnare her target in one fell swoop. Lowis smiled and looked to his left.

"On the left, we know who this is. As one of the most infamous assassins of all-time, famed for killing within a strike, Mitchnew."

The dark elf didn't do anything and continued to stand nonchalantly at the side while the crowd went wild. Unlike Zenobia who was rather muscular, tall and heavy chested, Mitchnew was sinewy and thin with a very flat chest. The seamstress wore a tight-fitting black leather archer costume that covered her from head to toe. The black hood covered her head and Mitchnew wore a mask over her mouth and nose, giving her red eyes glowed ominously. If Zero had to compare her to an animal, he would compare her to a raven that resided near Baal's castle. Mitchnew resembled death and perhaps that was due to the oversized black hood that looked very similar to what Hades wore all the time.

"Today we've gathered for the first match of the Martial Exchange Demonstration. Make some noise between the showdown of archers!"

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The villagers cheered and Lowis grinned. He should really think of getting himself a side job as the hosting master of ceremonies for events.

"For those of you who don't know, here's a short introduction of the warrior's fighting style. Zenobia is a close to mid-ranged fighter who specialises in rapid shots to suppress her enemy's movements before closing in with her short daggers. Be careful though, our chieftess is an expert with not only the short bow but also with her daggers that can be used to slash, stab and throw."

Zero took down notes and Seff watched him curiously. The brunet was no fool. Half Moon Village was full of talented individuals and it would be his loss if he didn't make full use of the event to study different combat styles. Even if Zero wasn't a bow user, he could take down notes about how bow users fought. The teenager wanted to think of a way to defend against bow users as they posed a lot of threat to melee fighters if they didn't know magic.

"Most of you might not have seen Mitchnew in action before and honestly, neither have I. However, this is what Sekkin told us and we will simply have to take his word for it even if he isn't here with us today. Mitchnew's speciality is assassination with a longbow that she enhances with magic. Her signature move is a one-shot snipe from eight hundred metres away. apart from being an expert marksman, our seamstress is an expert in High Elf Savate, a form of dance-like kickboxing."

The foreign martial art unheard off to many made the spectators curious. Lowis grinned. This was going to be a treat for everyone. Mitchnew might have left the bloody world in her past to live peacefully with her husband in the village but it was difficult to forget one's roots. Nobody has seen Mitchnew demonstrate her abilities much and it certainly made them wonder what she was capable of. If it wasn't for Zero's studies, he wasn't so sure that the dark elf would willingly participate.

"Last but not least before we start the match, please stay clear of the village square and only watch from the benches or apartments. Although magic enchants have been placed to ensure your safety, the security team will not be held responsible for any unforeseen accidents during the match. If there are no further questions, let us not delay any longer. Cleo, please!"

The dryad grinned and went up to the middle of the village square while the lab members got into position with image capturing magic devices that will show the audience a better view of the match using a gigantic holographic display above the arena space.

Lowis made his hasty escape, not wanting to become tree fertiliser as the dryad worked up magic to convert the barren ground into a small forest. It wasn't simply a battle of merely skills but wits as well. With ample of shadows and trees to hide behind, both archers would be pushed to their limits. In a new terrain that neither archer knew, it would test their ability to make good and fast battle judgements as well as setting traps for their opponents while avoiding becoming a target.

Seff was taken away to where Karris was. He was too young to be so near the border. On the other hand, Zero decided to jump to a higher spot where he could see everything going on more clearly. The sky bridge was perfect for it and he didn't think that Roovan or Olaf would be there.

"You like the view from here too?" the Frost Dragon asked and offered Zero some tea.

The teen grinned and accepted a cup. The three of them turned their eyes back to the match that had already begun.

Zenobia was fast with her hands and made traps to alert her if Mitchnew was near. The trap was fairly simple and it was something Zero recognised. The hunters often set up the same trap to know if there was a wild animal in the vicinity. He didn't know how effective that trap would be against Mitchnew who was also on the hunting team.

On the other hand, the dark elf didn't bother with traps. Instead, she took to high ground and was studying the direction of the wind, looking for a good spot with a clear view. Mitchnew was careful as she ran around to study the new terrain, opting to stick close to the shadows and cover of tree trunks when she did so.

The two archers were not close to one another and there was no fighting but everyone was nervous for them. The preparation stage progressed steadily and the opponents got closer to discovering each other's location. It wouldn't be long before someone launched the first attack. Zero thought that Mitchnew might have a higher chance in initiating the surprise attack. She has the widest angle of view and Zenobia was closing in on her location from the middle grounds.

Roovan grinned when Mitchnew landed on a tampered branch. That alerted Zenobia of where her opponent was and she stopped running to turn back. the chieftess approached with caution and stopped just before entering Mitchnew's field of vision, cautious about the assassin's sniping skills.

Zero raised a brow. Why wasn't Mitchnew doing something about her location? Surely she should know that she'd been discovered. Still, he held his tongue to continue watching.

As Zero suspected, Mitchnew knew when she had given her position away. Instead of cursing or panicking, the dark elf retrieved a small knife and started cutting off barks and vines to make something. Not everyone who saw that understood what the sniper was doing. Zero was also confused until Olaf explained that she was making decoys.

Zenobia crept closer and hide in the cover of the thick undergrowth. The chieftess moved silently and the rustling of bushes could easily be passed off as the breeze. Mitchnew was at the upper canopy of the bush Zenobia was currently hiding under. Now, the only problem was how Zenobia would attack now that she was in position.

Mitchnew sensed something amiss too. the forest was too quiet and her instincts were telling her that Zenobia was already in the area. Luckily, her decoys were complete and Mitchnew slunk back into the cover of shadows. Both archers waited, neither making the first move and the tension rose.

After a few minutes of stillness, Zero couldn't help but ask why neither archers were moving.

Roovan smiled. "It's called tactics. mitchnew is waiting for a more favourable position to make her move. She has to get out of the area before Zenobia gets to her now that she has decoys. On the other hand, Zenobia might know where Mitchnew is but she's at a geographically disadvantageous location. For archers, those on the higher ground has an advantage in terms of field of vision. Before Zenobia can reach the top to where Mitchnew is, she would get shot at and has to defend which would give Mitchnew time to escape. They are both waiting for something to change and give them the advantage because neither of them wants to lose the factor of surprise."

Olaf didn't say anything as Zero took down notes. The teenager watched diligently and kept his eyes trained on them like a hawk.

The wind blew pleasantly and the clouds floated past to cover the sun for a brief moment. At that exact moment when the sun was covered, both ladies made their move. Zenobia leapt from the bush and hopped her way into the upper canopy but Mitchnew was already setting up her decoys. The dark elf was gone by the time the clouds passed and Zenobia drew her bow back only to find that her target had escaped without a trace. She didn't have time to worry about it because her next trap was triggered nearby and the chieftess rushed to pursue.

Zero couldn't help but be impressed by the tricks Mitchnew had at her disposal. The dark elf wasn't waiting in vain. Other than the weighted decoys, Mitchnew readied small pebbles that she threw at branches she knew were tampered with. In order to throw Zenobia off her trial, the dark elf used sound to distract her.

If it had been Zero, he would have been fooled and stalled. Mitchnew threw them in a way that they would ricochet in opposite directions. Zenobia was fooled the first two times but she soon learnt the trick and ignored them. The dark elf didn't have a choice but to draw her bow and hid in the tree to wait for Zenobia to appear when she found a good spot.

Zero couldn't see where Mitchnew was as she lay in wait. The dark elf was well camouflaged. On the other hand, the teenager couldn't help but worry about Zenobia who was still giving chase.

The twang of a longbow about fifty metres away alerted the chieftess to dodge even though she could not see the threat. Mitchnew clicked her tongue and quickly escaped to avoid a close combat situation.

Zenobia looked back at the headless arrow embedded deep into the tree and gulped. If she hadn't ducked in time, she would have been brain matter on the forest floor. With or without arrowheads, Mitchnew's shooting was dangerous.

Zero paled when he saw the embedded arrow. If that had been a stray arrow, would the flimsy mana barrier still hold? He wasn't doubting Lovina's skills but Mitchnew was ten times more terrifying today than she usually was. She didn't seem like she was having a friendly match. The dark elf looked as if she was literally out for blood.

Olaf was having a good time beside Zero. That dark elf was good, way better than his travel companions. He wondered if she was willing to travel with them on a quest to spread the good name of Half Moon Village. The Frost Dragon doubted that the stubborn seamstress would but it might be worth a try.

Mitchnew didn't look breathless and Zero wondered how the ex-assassin managed that. Zenobia was already sweating and trying to quieten her breathing but the dark elf didn't look ruffled. Zero observed how Mitchnew never gave up her position of advantage and waited for Zenobia to fall into her trap before firing her arrows. Each time the dark elf missed, she would immediately change her position before Zenobia could track her down. The young doctor also noted how the seamstress tended to stick to the same area that she previously scouted. Mitchnew was a surprisingly cautious person, unlike Zenobia who was willing to fight in her enemy's territory.

Zenobia counted the arrows and continued to dodge them with barely an inch of her life. they were both given twenty arrows and Zenobia had been careful to collect the arrows Mitchnew fired so that the sniper could no longer go back to refuel her quiver. So far, Mitchnew had only fired five arrows in total. The dark elf was playing it safe and in order to pressure her to fire more arrows, Zenobia had to do something to make the dark elf feel rattled.

Zero felt his eyes widen when Zenobia jumped back down to the forest ground, leaving Mitchnew behind. Did she give up already?

Mitchnew lowered her bow and frowned. The chieftess was a very smart strategist. Could this be one of her tricks to force the dark elf out of hiding? She didn't know what to expect but staying up in the tree was also not a solution. Zenobia might not come back up this way again and the one who faced a disadvantage would be her in the end. She was down to fifteen arrows while Zenobia still had a full quiver and six daggers. The chieftess had been collecting and disposing of her arrows so the dark elf wasn't left with much choice. If she gave Zenobia too much time to prepare, she might lose the match of long-distance and be forced into a close combat situation that was disadvantageous to her.

Reluctantly, Mitchnew left her hiding spot much to Zero's surprise. Olaf decided to be kind and explain the dilemma Mitchnew was facing.

"Zenobia may not be as good of a fighter but she is definitely not someone to be underestimated. The chieftess protected the village for many years even before you came here. She is extremely resourceful form what I heard and Mitchnew knows that. If the chieftess has time to make preparations, Mitchnew would be at a disadvantage. She already used five of her arrows and cannot recollect them back because Zenobia took them. however, the chieftess still has all her weapons and lost nothing."

Zero nodded. Resources were important in drawn-out battles. He thought that creating a good combat style was the only thing he had to do but after watching the archers fight it out, Zero knew that he was inadequate in fighting strategy and techniques. This wasn't something Ruth or Hua Tuo could teach him. Zero might be book smart but he doubted he could react accordingly if the situation called for it. that was a gap that only experience could fill.

Zenobia was gathering materials for a smokescreen on the forest ground when her ears picked up on unusual movement. The chieftess rolled into a bush nearby for cover when she heard another twang.

This time, Mitchnew didn't allow the chieftess to get away and followed up quickly with another arrow. Zenobia felt her heart leaping in her mouth when the second arrow missed her nose by a centimetre but that near-death experience didn't stop the seasoned warrior. Instead, she became more confident in her movements and choose to break for a sprint instead of crawling through the bushes.

Mitchnew cussed when Zenobia started hopping away. Her next two arrows missed when Zenobia leapt twice in mid-air, a thing that rabbit beast folks could do. The unpredictability of her movements made it hard for Mitchnew to snipe. Her quiver was already down to half of what it originally was and still, she hasn't landed a single hit on the agile chieftess.

Zero couldn't help but put a hand to his chest. That exchange was too close for comfort. His doctor self almost leapt into battle to assess the situation for casualties. He watched through the holographic projections how the arrow missed Zenobia by a centimetre. The chieftess even made a small strangled noise as she made her escape.

Still, the teenager held onto his book tightly and watched as Mitchnew pursued Zenobia. Their positions were now reversed with Mitchnew pursuing and Zenobia running. Both archers have lost the advantage of high grounds by playing a game of tag on the forest grounds. However, Zenobia had the advantage of speed with her and Mitchnew found herself struggling to keep up.

The chieftess found the confidence to release arrows of her own and Zero thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. The chiefess nocked three arrows and fired them in Mitchnew's direction.

The dark elf dodged them by doing a flip in the air. It looked impressive enough that Zero found him applauding that graceful movement. Still, Mitchnew was at a greater disadvantage now because of it. That flip stalled her for a while and Zenobia used that chance to regain the height advantage, climbing up a tree and nocking her bow once more in rapid succession. The dark elf could only do a back spring and leap to hide behind a tree when the volley of five arrows down on her and embedded themselves into the ground. Zero didn't know how Zenobia did that. She managed to fire five arrows in less than a second and more impressively, Mitchnew dodged them all with that short distance.

There was no telling who was more agile and had a quicker reaction. The young doctor thought that both Zenobia and Mitchnew were amazing. Olaf was amused by how many notes Zero was taking during that short interaction. The boy flipped a page and the Frost Dragon wondered if it was a reflection essay tasked by Ruth judging by how diligent Zero described the encounter.

Both archers were now down to half their original number of arrows. The match was only concluded when the other party was marked with paint. Lowis watched intently as Zenobia put some distance between Mitchnew and herself after that fast-paced exchange. Everything in the forest seemed to still again as the archers went into hiding.

Zero felt the adrenaline pulse through his veins and his mind worked at a million miles per hour, trying to analyse the possible next course of action. If he were in Zenobia's or Mitchnew's position, Zero thought of what he would do while everyone waited for them to take action.

Mitchnew didn't waste time and pulled out something unexpected in the middle of the match. Zero didn't know why he seamstress would take a sewing kit into the match but still was interested in what tricks she had up her sleeves. The dark elf didn't disappoint the crowd when she started tying strings onto her arrows. The threads were only visible under a certain angle of light and were hard to capture on the image capturing device.

Zero scribbled furiously into his book while Mitchnew worked. Her fingers were extremely nimble and soon, all the arrows had threads connecting to them. The seamstress tested the tension and smiled beneath her mask. It wasn't very common for other people to know the tricks she had. usually, she would use spider demon silk instead of common threads. Sekkin's spider demon silk was as strong as steel and extremely hard to spot. Mitchnew lost count of how many unfortunate people she had beheaded with this technique. The arrows would simply be a decoy. What Mitchnew was aiming for this time was a formation of traps using the threads. She was going to immobilise Zenobia and end the match in the next ten minutes before it dragged out too long.

Zenobia was ready when the arrow came. being high up had its advantages and the chieftess leapt to the left. She had barely landed when the next arrow came at her. The rabbit beastman could only jump down to avoid that. Mitchnew was firing them faster now and Zenobia didn't know that she was being led into a trap formation until she felt something in her hair digging into her neck.

Nobody made a sound as Mitchnew jumped forward and stabbed the chieftess with one of her arrows. The blue ink on her leather armour stood out contrastingly against the dull brown and Mitchnew removed her hood.

"Sorry, Chieftess. I guess this is my win."

Zenobia was stunned into silence and it took three full seconds for the audiences to cheer for the victor. Lowis quickly jumped down to declare Mitchnew as the match's victor and thanked both archers for putting up such a wonderful demonstration.

Zenobia laughed shakily after she was freed from the trap. "I guess I'm really not your match as a warrior."

Mitchnew shook her head and removed the mask covering half her face. "No, you were a good opponent. You made me worry for a little back there when you disappeared. I was forced to come out of hiding to pursue you."

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Zero clapped and took down more notes as the ladies shook hands. He was floored by Mitchnew's clean execution for that trap and wanted to know if he could add in formations into his combat style. There was also that cool looking combo that Zenobia used to shoot and escape. Zero needed a cool combo too when he fought so that the enemies didn't have time to react.

Olaf watched the young doctor pen down everything and took another sip of his tea only to realise that it was already empty. he looked down at the two archers and smiled. That was a really good match and the dragon wondered if he was able to register as a last-minute participant.

He looked around to try to find someone worthy of sparring with and frowned. While the villagers were good, he didn't think anyone could best him even without magic. He was a dragon after all. Then, he heard a giggle beside him and looked at Zero thoughtfully.

Maybe there was someone worth sparring with after all. Olaf wondered if Hua Tuo would be angry when he came back to find out that Olaf messed around with Zero for a bit. The boy was so focussed on studying techniques that the Frost Dragon didn't know if any of that would be retained in an actual battle situation. He heard from Ruth, Zero's combat instructor, that the boy had some sparring experience with Ruth and Mitchnew before his cultivation training. Olaf didn't know if getting knocked around counted as sparring but found himself getting more interested in what Zero could come up with after witnessing the matches.

Bob's face came to mind and Olaf pouted. Even if Hua Tuo wasn't angry, his friend would definitely hold it against him for bullying his master. Then again, the best way to teach a dragon how to fly was to push it off a cliff. Right?