I didn't move on to the second stage, and there was a very important reason for that. Saving energy. And the phobia. But mostly saving energy. My little world didn't hold an infinite reserve of energy, which meant my fire experiments would eventually drain it.
My crutches for my profound veins were made of cold, icy profound energy. They didn't handle fire well. And experiments with the two mightiest flames would simply destroy them again and again.
The first obstacle was that my crutches let me use skills at the bare minimum, but didn't let me properly accumulate that energy. A jury-rigged hack couldn't compare with the masterpiece created by nature—or by the goddess, which I didn't believe. That whore couldn't possibly have enough brains for something like that. I hope.
So first I slowly accumulated energy of all three types in my little world. Fortunately, it was dimensionless, and I could store profound energy in it until I turned blue.
The second thing I decided to change in the plan was to collect more souls first, then burn the resulting cadaver and create a new soul.
Explanation. In this world, the soul was not the same thing as the core of personality. Otherwise, I wouldn't still be me after absorbing the Primordial Azure Dragon God's soul, because his soul had been tens of thousands of times larger than mine, if not more.
I needed to hunt more dragons. Eat more souls so I could then guarantee an unrecognizable imprint.
But before all of that, I owed the Little Empress a conversation. I'd promised to tell her how she could solve her problems. And a day after the hunt, sitting in my room, she watched me attentively.
She hadn't come for polite conversation about the weather, but I didn't know how to broach the difficult subject.
"How did you like the dragon meat?"
"Nutritious. You said we would talk about the traitors after the hunt."
"Fine. You want to know what to do with them. Right?"
"Burn them."
"And that won't solve anything. There will be new traitors. As I said, people naturally care about their clans first. Weak authority is dangerous for clans. It leads to turmoil."
"My rule isn't weak."
I admired the girl's willpower. She knew I wouldn't hold back with my words, and she knew I would once again reveal an ugly truth.
"You know perfectly well yourself."
"And I can do nothing about it."
"Become stronger."
Now she was furious, because her gray robe began to smolder.
"You think it's that easy?"
"Pretty easy. You nearly broke through in the nine months I've been here. Isn't that easy?"
"But you're leaving."
"I am. Find new ways to become stronger."
"I'm working on that."
The girl said it with a heavy sigh.
"And I don't respect you for it. Your work is rather selfish and vile, if you want to know."
Now she was confused.
"You're looking for a way to open the barrier and obtain the Crow's inheritance, aren't you?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"What if you have a daughter? Or your son has a daughter? You yourself suffer from this ridiculous inheritance that kills women, yet you keep clinging to it. That's what makes your rebellious dukes better than you. They achieved their strength without relying on this ridiculous inheritance. I bet you haven't even thought about your descendants. Yet that is exactly what a good ruler is known for—thinking not only about the people, but about their descendants. What will you leave them? The same torment you have?"
My words fell on fertile ground. The girl had suffered from that pain, from the chicken's sexist fire—there was no other way to put it—for too long not to understand me correctly.
And what if she had a daughter? What then? As a good mother, would she simply show her that same lake and bless her to a life of eternal torment?
"If I obtain the inheritance..."
"No. It won't remove the symptoms. Golden fire is incompatible with the female body. Don't lie to yourself."
"But I will become strong enough—"
And I interrupted her again, making her even angrier.
"For the rebels to devise more careful plans to eliminate you. Because once you obtain the inheritance, you'll definitely become infertile. Which means the dynasty ends with you."
This time the girl didn't keep it inside. She let the anger out. My room turned into a branch office of hell. Not even ash remained of the furniture; the walls, floor, and ceiling turned black, the heat scorched my face. Even my clothes began to smolder. Frightening, but I forced myself to stand calmly and look her in the eyes while she raged.
"Calmed down?"
"No. But it doesn't matter. So what do you propose?"
"Find another solution. Find a way to temper your body. And no, my technique won't suit you. You'll simply explode if you try it."
"Then how?"
"A new inheritance? An art based on Yin energy? Find a good doctor who can heal you? There are so many ways in the world. You focused only on your fire. And I even understand you. You want to preserve your father's inheritance. But you've never looked backward with your eyes open."
"What do you mean?"
"Your problems didn't start after their deaths, did they? You suffered before that too. What would have changed if they were here? Would you suffer because you couldn't bear an heir for a husband? Would they remove you from power or simply kill you out of mercy? Or would you die during childbirth? Maybe you should search the chronicles. What did they do with women of your bloodline?"
"Few women were born in my bloodline. The Yang energy prevented it."
"Few, but some were still born, right?"
Now she looked at me with hatred. Genuine hatred.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Telling you the truth? I just felt like it. I have no benefit left to gain from you. I'm not your subject. I don't depend on you. I have no reason to lie to you. I have no reason to harm you."
Maybe it was cruel of me, but seeing this brave woman's suffering, I genuinely wanted to help her. Perhaps with no benefit for myself at all. Just because. But strength can't be built on lies. Before anything else, I had to open her eyes.
The Little Empress turned and left the room. Naturally. I'd pushed too hard. Someone weaker in spirit would have broken in her place. But this girl was made of steel. She wasn't easy to break. She didn't just have a steel spine; she was smart too. A fool wouldn't have lasted this long in that viper pit.
The girl simply needed time to process my words, maybe burn a couple of cities to calm down, and then return to the conversation.
But I couldn't give her much time.
When the empress didn't come to me the next day for her Yang-energy removal procedure, I did nothing. I gave her a day to remember the burden she'd carried since birth. The pain she felt would work in my favor and confirm my words.
The following day, however, I went to her room myself. The servants and guards naturally tried to block me, but...
Before I landed on this continent, my body had been equal in strength to an early- or mid-stage Monarch. Nine months of high-quality Golden Crow Yang energy feeding the Great Way of the Buddha had not gone to waste, and I'd gotten stronger. Now I was at the peak of the Monarch realm. Meaning, in a sense, at the peak of this planet.
If you forgot about various goddesses, bodiless Star Gods, fragments of beast souls guarding their inheritances, and a whole bunch of divine-level demons hiding on the Azure Cloud Continent.
I changed my mind. I wasn't at the peak of this planet. Thinking about it actually made me a little sad. What a ridiculous planet?!
But at least I was the strongest person in this palace!
I repaired my self-esteem by simply throwing guards and assorted servants out the window, then entered Caiyi's office.
She had been sitting in front of a pile of papers and working intently until I came in. The moment I entered, a stream of compressed golden fire flew into my face.
Dodging it was easy with my speed. Then came a dash behind her, and my hand landed on her shoulder.
"You missed a treatment session. I won't let my work go to waste."
This time the empress looked at me in confusion.
"What? I put a ton of time into this. It would be a shame."
"This empress does not want to see you."
"Then close your eyes. Some problem you've got there."
I really knew how to piss her off. I knew how to piss off sentient beings in general. It's a talent of mine. A divine one.
For a couple of minutes, she tried very hard to burn me with her gaze and, here's the funny part, it actually started working. My clothes began to smolder and blisters appeared on my skin. There was no open flame, just raw Yang energy radiating from her.
"You'll ruin the documents."
And... the empress resigned herself to it. It's not like she had another option.
"I don't even know why I tolerate you."
"Because of the inheritance."
"What?"
"Because of your inheritance. Your inheritance is weaker than mine. The Golden Crow bows before the Primordial Azure Dragon God, so you instinctively sense me as your senior. I just want you to know I have an unfair trick up my sleeve."
This time the girl truly froze and stared at me wide-eyed.
"If you don't believe me, I can press down with my soul and you'll see for yourself."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I simply don't want to be an asshole who uses dirty methods like that. You remember my promise, don't you?"
"Why do you need this?"
"What exactly?"
"Helping me. Don't tell me the price has been paid. You could simply keep cleansing me and leave it at that. But you're trying to do more. Why?"
"Honestly?"
"Preferably."
"I miss my wife. And no, if you thought of something indecent, get it out of your head. Actually, no. If you want, keep thinking about it. But I don't mean anything physical. You remind me of my Yue. In temperament. She didn't burn people, admittedly, but what do you expect at her age? There's still time. In short, you're similar. So I wanted to help you. No hidden motive. No game. Just help because I wanted to and could. What's the point of strength if you can't do what you want?"
Once again, the Little Empress froze, and I could practically hear the gears grinding in her head as she tried to understand my rapidly jumping thoughts.
"You're just drowning your longing for your wife?"
"That too. I only just realized it myself, honestly. Before this, I thought I simply wanted to help you. What difference does it make, really?"
"The difference is that I don't understand you."
"A lot of people don't. Understand me, I mean. I just live the way I want. That's why I became strong. So I could live as my conscience and heart tell me. I wanted to help a girl, so I helped. Isn't that the highest form of power? Power over your own actions. Did you think power was a crown and a throne?"
"I still don't understand you."
"There are many things you don't understand. For example, how profound energy works. Or why air is transparent. But that doesn't stop you from breathing and cultivating. So I don't see a problem. Just don't interfere with me doing my work."
I activated the technique and began tempering my body while drawing the excess Yang energy out of the girl's body. She was still looking at me with a mixed expression.