NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 243: A Gift
Tap.
With a soft snap of his fingers, a faint blue light emerged before him, solidifying into a pool of clear water. Ren removed the bandage from his forehead and meticulously cleansed the bloodstains from his body.
Perhaps influenced by someone's subtle habits, Ren found himself increasingly enjoying using a finger snap to activate his abilities.
The clear water, without any container, floated in mid-air as if defying the laws of gravity.
Upon closer inspection, one could even discern that each droplet was moving in a fixed, rhythmic pattern.
Grasping the core of the Herrscher of Reason wasn't particularly difficult for Ren, but his control was limited to that. The Herrscher of Reason's core differed from other Herrscher cores; it contained the consciousness of the 300,000 victims collected by the first Herrscher of Reason, instinctively resisting Ren's intrusion.
However, a forced melon may not be sweet, but it's enough to quench your thirst. Ren's goal wasn't to transform into the true Herrscher of Reason. He simply needed to use his authority to control the core and siphon a portion of its power.
The fixed trajectory of the water droplets indicated that every single one was under Ren's precise control. If Bronya were to handle such immense computational power right now, her head would probably explode.
The essence of the Herrscher of Reason lies in understanding and creating. It's like building with blocks – first, calculate the positions, then assemble them piece by piece. Therefore, Welt's abilities primarily manifested in the form of a simulated Star of Eden.
Divine keys, while seemingly unscientific, are indeed weapons that humanity can create through technology. As long as the parameters of each "block" are calculated accurately and followed step-by-step, effective damage can be inflicted in a stable and scalable manner.
But Ren was different. The essence of his ability was Domination. He didn't need to fully comprehend the structure of things; he could simply create them and then control them. Using the block analogy, Ren could pile the blocks together first and then use his Domination to stick them together like glue.
Therefore, he didn't need to materialize specific weapons. As long as he desired, anything could become a weapon.
This pool of clear water was the best example of his Domination. It wasn't a weapon; it was just ordinary water, abundant on Earth. However, under the control of his Domination, it transcended the realm of mere weaponry. If mixed into ordinary water and consumed by someone, Ren could turn it into a deadly poison at any moment.
Of course, that was a rather inefficient way to kill someone. Ren had countless methods to take a life. Using this method was akin to creating the Judgment of Shamash only to bonk Kevin on the head with it – something one would only do out of sheer boredom.
The reason for creating this pool of clear water was simply for Ren to ensure that his abilities weren't leaking. After all, his next encounter would be with Li Sushang, who had completely mastered the Taixu Swordsmanship.
The essence of Spirit in Taixu Swordsmanship wasn't as simple as one might imagine. Even with mental fortitude as strong as Ren's, he hadn't mastered the Taixu Swordsmanship. He could only simulate similar attacks using his power of Domination to steal abilities.
Especially since Ren's current state wasn't entirely stable. While Kiana's attack was primarily shouldered by the Will of Honkai, the target was undeniably Ren's Theater of the Domination, and he inevitably suffered some impact.
Under these circumstances, he also had to divert some energy to suppress the Herrscher of Reason's core. Facing the highly sensitive Taixu Swordsmanship, even a slight abnormality could be detected.
However, it wasn't a major concern. Based on Ren's deductions and the predictable nature of the narrative, Kiana should be with Anti-Entropy at this moment and unlikely to appear in ARC City. As long as he didn't get tangled up with the protagonist, he could afford to be a little reckless.
His current primary objective was to get his hands on Li Sushang's Taixu Swordsmanship. The disconnection of the Herrscher of Dominance would definitely be noticed by the Will of Honkai cluster, leading to the creation of a new Herrscher.
If his calculations based on past events were correct, the birth of the Herrscher of Sentience wouldn't be far off.
Having experienced the Will of Honkai's intrusion, Ren also became aware of some of his own weaknesses.
The Hive Mind was Ren's core ability, allowing the integration of all his puppet consciousnesses. However, this also meant that if one puppet was invaded, it would inevitably feed back into the Hive Mind.
Kiana's immature Taixu Sword God, even after being amplified by Ren, could inflict such significant damage on the Will of Honkai. If the complete force of it were to be absorbed by the Hive Mind, it could cause considerable trouble.
In a way, mental attacks naturally countered the Hive Mind. Therefore, Ren urgently needed to strengthen his mental defenses.
Given Ren's cautious nature, the possibility of being discovered by Little Senti was low.
But Little Senti was Little Senti, after all.
As a baby with 50,000 years of memories, she might just decide to target Ren. Ren wasn't afraid of her attacks, but if his existence were to be spread by the Herrscher of Sentience and reach the [Herrscher of Flame]'s ears, trouble would quickly follow.
Therefore, the best course of action right now was to acquire the complete Taixu Sword God to enhance his resistance against mental attacks.
Achieving this wasn't difficult. The authority of the Dominator granted Ren formidable stealing abilities. He didn't need to painstakingly learn the mantras of Taixu Swordsmanship.
As long as he could completely record the entire process of using the Taixu Sword God, he could analyze the underlying principles by comparing it with the data from Kiana's previous attempts.
After tending to his injuries, Ren retracted the created water and began utilizing ARC City's surveillance system to locate Li Sushang.
According to the information Alvitr had gathered, this young woman from 500 years ago wasn't wary of technological devices but was highly sensitive to even the slightest trace of Honkai energy. Against such a person, traditional technological methods were more effective.
"Good thing Kiana's not here. Her access level in this city is even higher than mine… Well, let's just consider this compensation for tricking her."
…
Precisely because Ren had suppressed his senses as a Herrscher, he didn't realize that on the rooftop about 400 meters directly above him, the spatial portal Kiana had left behind was slowly dissipating.
Kiana, not wanting to get entangled with the enemy, had directly used her spatial abilities to shake off Li Sushang's pursuit. If she had taken just one more step forward, she would have passed directly over Ren's head.
A few seconds later, Li Sushang, having lost her target, looked around in confusion. The aura of True Qi had abruptly stopped here.
"That's strange, she was just here." Unwilling to give up, she closed her eyes again, using her Sword Heart to sense the surrounding energy, but she found nothing. Instead, she happened to notice the location of her handkerchief.
"Huh?"
She walked to the edge of the rooftop, poked half her head over, and saw Ren in the alley below. He was leaning against the wall, seemingly doing something.
"Could he be crying?" Remembering how she would cry to her master when she got injured during martial arts practice as a child, she realized Ren was all alone, without anyone to confide in. He seemed rather pitiful.
A feeling of sympathy washed over Li Sushang. She temporarily put aside her curiosity about the Taixu Sword Qi and leaped down from the high building.
Her lightness skills was excellent; her feet touched down as silently as a lotus flower gently landing, and she reached the ground without attracting Ren's attention.
"Don't cry, I didn't think things through earlier," she said apologetically as she approached Ren.
Ren, who was holding his phone and using the surveillance to locate Li Sushang, froze. Calm as he usually was, his fingers couldn't help but tremble slightly, tapping the screen.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly, immediately turning off the screen. When he turned his head, there was actually a tear glistening in the corner of his eye.
Casually wiping away the tear, Ren replied in a hoarse voice, "I wasn't crying, just some trivial matters."
"Is that so?" Li Sushang saw the stubbornness in Ren's expression. She offered comfort, "When I was little and got hurt practicing martial arts, I would cry too. Back then, my master would always sit in front of me with some flatbread or candied hawthorns, but instead of giving them to me, he would eat them all in front of me. The louder I cried, the happier he seemed.
Although I'm not your master, I can still afford candied haws now, I just don't know if the shops are closed."
"They're probably closed at this hour," Ren replied, following Li Sushang's lead and diverting the topic.
"By the way, what was that thing you were holding earlier? It's clearly not jade, but it could glow, and I seemed to see many places on it."
Clearly, the surveillance footage Ren had accidentally shown hadn't escaped Li Sushang's notice. Fortunately, it was just public locations, and no sensitive information was revealed.
"It's just a phone, have you not encountered one before?"
"No, I only just awakened…" Realizing she almost revealed her true identity, Li Sushang quickly covered her mouth and corrected herself, "My family's rules were very strict, I've never come across this 'phone' thing before."
"I see. Then you can have this one, I don't really have any use for it anyway." While secretly deleting the surveillance program, Ren placed the phone in Li Sushang's hand. He was worried about not being able to track her in real-time; with the phone on her, it was a real-time tracker.
"But, this is your belonging, it probably wasn't cheap."
"You saved my life. I have nothing else to repay you with but this."
"Then I shouldn't accept it even more. Helping those in need is my duty, there's no reason to take a reward." Li Sushang repeatedly refused.
But Ren, as the Herrscher of a Thousand, was well-versed in telling convincing lies. "We are strangers, receiving such a great favor would make me uneasy. It's only natural to accept a reward for helping others. If you don't accept it, I can't help but be suspicious, worried that you have ulterior motives. Of course, I'm not saying that about you, but accepting the appropriate compensation is convenient for both of us."
As he said this, Ren's eyes were filled with a look of suspicion, as if saying, 'You're after my body.' Faced with Ren's pressure, Li Sushang had no other choice but to reluctantly accept the phone.
"Then how about this? Since I've accepted your gift, take this, consider it an invitation for you to be my guide?"
She placed the large handful of loose change she had into Ren's hand, her tone brooking no argument.
"I just happened to see a location selling candied haws on this phone. Why don't you take me to check it out?"