Chapter 41: A Tactical Fighter

...

Moonlight draped over the branches.

Inside her room, Liana penned characters onto a parchment.

"After soaking in the marrow pool, his body is reborn. Ideal for body refinement."

"Combat talent is passable. Relies on blunt force. With guidance, mastering tactical combat is possible."

"Possesses an innocent heart. Must cultivate balanced methods to avoid straying onto the wrong path."

She wrote her evaluation of Theo’s current state.

And a blueprint for his future growth.

Liana had already decided.

When she ventured beyond the eastern domains, she would take Theo with her.

For some reason, he had changed so much in this life. Was it a ripple effect of her rebirth?

It didn’t matter.

The fact remained. He yielded the legacy to her.

Perhaps he was unremarkable now. But with her guidance, reversing his fate was only a matter of time.

What gave Liana relief was that while Theo lacked dazzling talents, he had no glaring flaws to correct.

He was a blank slate. Full of potential.

With the right approach, elevating him to stand among true prodigies was entirely possible.

Putting away the parchment, she returned to her bed.

An icy, silver chill spread outward. Frost crept from the floorboards.

She obtained the Aurora Spark prematurely. Before reaching the Inner Scenery realm, controlling pure lightning remained impossible.

But with the Spark enhancing her physique, the energy within her grew stronger.

Her cultivation speed would accelerate further.

...

Next door.

"Where is my reward for placing first in the sect trial?"

"Did Vespera pocket it to fund her cauldrons?"

Theo gave up.

It didn’t matter. Compared to the rewards he invested into Liana, it was all trivial.

The system’s feedback rewards were always better than what he invested.

Today, he invested the Thunder Emperor’s legacy into the Reborn Empress.

The returns ought to be something greater.

With a thought, he summoned his status.

[Name: Theo]

[Age: 16]

[Class: Parasite (Lv. 3)]

[Physique: Flawless Abyssal]

[Evaluation: Possesses an abyssal physique. Destiny in chaos. Future unknowable.]

[Recent Events: Bathed in the Thunder God’s Marrow. Achieved first place in the trial.]

[You have unclaimed investment returns. Claim?]

"Claim."

Theo didn’t hesitate.

[Investment Return One: World Seed.]

[Investment Return Two: Formless Glazed Mask.]

[Investment Return Three: 10,000 System Credits.]

Theo stared. As expected... This was a huge haul.

"Three investment returns?"

Theo was thrilled.

The rewards harvested from Liana were high in quality and quantity. For a moment, he felt overwhelmed.

Investing in the Reborn Empress was the right choice. Tomorrow, he would buy her something nice from the system shop as a reward.

"Let’s check them."

He looked at the first reward.

[10,000 System Credits.]

A fortune. With this much capital, he could buy advanced bloodline traits or rare medicinal formulas from the shop.

Theo always kept his cool. Having read enough stories in his past life, he knew not to spend his gold right away. He saved the credits for an emergency.

He turned to the next reward.

[World Seed]: A nascent pocket dimension. It grows with the host. It holds the potential to evolve into a true realm.

A true realm.

Theo was stunned. He was just starting out in the Body Cleansing realm. Now his benchmark leaned toward creating worlds.

The seed would grow stronger as he did. The small world would nourish him in return. Eventually, concepts like strength and weakness wouldn’t matter inside his realm. He would be the sovereign there. A single thought could shift the environment.

"Claim."

The surroundings rippled. Colors surged.

When he came to, he stood in a pure white space. Mist stretched in all directions.

The cleared area was no larger than a courtyard.

But this space belonged entirely to him.

Theo smirked.

"Daggers, come."

He beckoned. A pair of phantom blades materialized out of nowhere.

He moved through the empty space. He executed tactical strikes, moving like a master rogue.

Well.

If one ignored the fact that his "world" was only thirty feet across, the moves looked quite sharp.

"Being a tactical fighter is great. If only I could pull this off in reality without resorting to blunt force."

Theo sighed.

His actual agility hadn’t improved. This was just his imagination acting up, and the world played along.

"This place is too empty. Let’s decorate."

Theo spent ten minutes transforming the space. He exhausted the imagery he remembered from past lives.

The barren ground now boasted a crystalline pavilion, an alchemy furnace, and a sparring ring.

He tried to create exotic herbs to fill the corners.

He failed.

"I can’t create life yet."

He realized his power as the ruler had limits. Creating life was one of them.

"I can bring living beings from outside in, though. And things created here cannot be taken out."

After some experimentation, he gained a better understanding of his small world...