Vera stood in front of the Sixth Sector's branch master.

  The man sat beside a polished oak-wood desk; he signalled for Vera to take a seat. Vera glanced at the branch master's physique.

  The man's beard hung down to his chest. The thick canopy of hair hid the scars on his face.

  Vera approached the man carefully and pulled out a chair. Vera's eyes never left the branch master.

  He listened to each sound in the room intently.

  Even his curtain-like robes barely concealed his musculature. At first glance Vera could tell...

  He's strong. Far stronger than anyone I've met in these plains.

  Although, despite his gruff exterior, he had a bright smile with crinkles to the side of his eyes.

  The sound of his robes stretching could be heard faintly as he passed a cup of rice wine to Vera.

  "Nice to meet you, Vera. I'm Aspartese, the branch master in the Sixth Sector." His hand was outstretched to Vera.

  He leaned over, his chest pressing into the table, and shook Aspartese's hand, though the greeting surprised him. As far as he knew, handshakes weren't common in the Blade Master domain.

  He looks different from the people here. Maybe he isn't from the Blade Master's domain.

  He thought to himself as he examined Aspartese's features.

  "It's nice to meet you too, senior."

  Aspartese let out a thunderous laugh; its sheer intensity formed ripples on the surface of Vera's cup.

  "No need for such formalities. I can see that you are like me. Be honest, the members at the branch disappointed you, didn't they?" His gaze was calm; the wrinkles around his eyes grew deeper.

  "I wouldn't go as far as saying they disappointed me. But I feel like they lack a warrior's edge, considering their rank."

  The branch master raised his cup over the table; Vera met his cup with his own.

  "That is a fair read. Most of them have come quite far for their age, but, as you said, they lack edge."

  Vera spoke after he took a sip of his wine.

  "That said, it's hard to believe they could earn manifestation with such lacking experience."

  Aspartese held his cup to the sky, as though he were toasting to Vera's words.

  "Big families are so afraid of their potential heirs dying, that they don't even let them fight outside of spars."

  Just then Vera's gaze sharpened.

  "How could that be? Isn't rank only achieved through combat?"

  Aspartese's thick calloused palms smacked against the table, leaving splinters in its wake. Barely stifling his laughter, he responded to Vera.

  "Just as I thought, you are a country bumpkin. Take no offence; I myself am from a farm that no one here would have ever heard of."

  Aspartese took a sip of his liquor and continued speaking.

  "The basis of manifestation is the intensity of feeling. While that is felt mostly in limbo, it can be felt through practicing the arts as well."

  "As you would expect, by using this method, you won't be well tuned for combat."

  Vera's breath hitched as he heard the explanation.

  In all those who had manifested their intent, never had Vera met one who hadn't earned it through battle.

  However, he recalled a sword fanatic that he knew of.

  Vera's breathing eased.

  Is that how you manifested your qi, Elem...?

  Then came the part of the meeting Vera was most worried about. Ezra's words on revealing his origins was warning enough.

  "While I don't really care for it, it is protocol. Do you have any proof of background on you?"

  Vera gave him the identity token he carried along for the meeting.

  "Broomwhich... never heard of the place. But, your identity token is clearly from the Seventh Sector, it should be alright."

  Thankfully, Chun's insistence on Vera forging proof of identification paid off.

  As far as the sect knew, Vera was an orphan from outside the Blade Master's domain. And had only recently entered the domain.

  Vera's identity was dubious for the most part, it would warrant further investigation in most places.

  But, Vera could tell, Aspartese was convinced of his value, to the extent of ignoring the gaps in his background.

  As their glasses were drained, the final question came about.

  "Tell me, Vera, which Law do you want to learn? I already know that little witch, Chang-yu, gave you a description of what they were. I swear, does she think someone at the Five Synergies stage can't hear something from a few Li?"

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  Vera turned his drained cup over as he listened to the question.

  "Senior, before I answer that, could you tell me more about the stages above the third rank? There was no knowledge of what came above in my homeland."

  Even Aspartese's easygoing gaze widened at Vera's words.

  "I feel ashamed for thinking we were the same level of country bumpkin. To think you didn't know about what came after the third rank."

  He pulled out a bottle of Mijiu and filled the empty glasses.

  "Well, as your senior, I shall educate you."

  Aspartese loosened his tightly fitted robe and cleared his throat.

  "To start off, the first level after the third rank is the One Law stage. With a single Law its effects only shine with higher qi outputs."

  He raised his palm over the table, and two orbs appeared over his palm, one the size of a marble and the other the size of a walnut. His manifestation shone a bright green, the hue's intensity reflecting his long years of experience.

  Just then, both the orbs shrunk to the size of a pinhole.

  The qi within them was compacted to an extreme degree. What was even more surprising was that it maintained its integrity.

  An esoteric force engulfed the orbs.

  Vera couldn't understand the mechanism, but it looked as though the elements' colours melted into each other.

  Qi that was made of a ten element cycle morphed to that of a five element cycle.

  As the technique approached completion, the orbs' strength grew exponentially.

  The random currents of the wind began spiraling around Aspartese's palm.

  Without even being unleashed, the orbs caused the table to vibrate with an intense pace.

  The cup of Mijiu wine beside Aspartese's hand shattered from the pressure.

  "Due to the exponential growth granted by Law, a better base always leads to a stronger outcome." Aspartese gripped his palms shut; the orbs of qi fizzled out within his grip.

  "After the One Law stage is where real power is found. Each stage after this is called a Synergy."

  He picked up the pieces of shattered glass and put them back together, with void telekinesis.

  The debris on the table swirled into thin lines.

  Vera could hear them clinking back into place, filling the cracks in the cup.

  "Unlike the first stage, where only output matters, in the stage of Synergy the level to which each Law complements the other is what matters."

  A gentle stream of fire qi flowed from his fingertips, melting the loose debris in the cracks; ultimately welding the cup back to its original state.

  "As much as I would like to show off my Synergy mastery, the little witch warned me not to damage the room again. She said she would dock my salary the next time I break the table."

  Aspartese hurriedly wiped off the spilled Mijiu from the table; hoping that it wouldn't seep through the layer of polish.

  Having thoroughly wiped off the spill, he continued his explanation, only this time without the visual aid.

  "The Synergies go from two until nine. Each stage grows exponentially more powerful than the last. As you already know, I'm at the Fifth Synergy; for reference, I could wipe out the Sixth Sector with a serious blow. However, a master of the Sixth Synergy, could kill me with a casual blow."

  Vera sat quietly as he absorbed all that Aspartese had to say.

  "To cap this conversation off, let's talk about what comes after. After the Ninth Synergy comes what is known as Immortal stage."

  Aspartese used his palms to sand the splinters of the table as he spoke.

  "Those who are at the stage of Immortality wield Immortal techniques. By no scale can they be compared with those within the fold of Synergies."

  A wry smile formed on Vera's face.

  He recalled his time with Ezra.

  You never told me you were such a big shot grandfather.

  Ezra was Vera's reference for what an Immortal was, however the humans of the Greater Heavens looked to someone else.

  Aspartese's tone turned to one of intense reverence. His gaze turned skyward as he spoke.

  "I'm sure even in your village you have heard of the Human race's strongest Immortal. His sheer might pushed back the lords of all Divine Beast clans."

  Aspartese's voice trembled as he called out the Immortal's name. His hands clasped in prayer.

  "The First Ascender, the Lord of the Blood Sea, Dao Tian."

  When Ezra warned Vera about the weight of his origins, he listened only because it was his grandfather's words.

  But hearing the reverence in the branch master's tone, explained why Ezra's warning was important.

  If his origins were to be revealed, fanatics and dissenters alike would hunt him down.

  Other than Aspartese's reverence for Dao Tian, the Immortals of the Divine Beast clans caught Vera's attention.

  Although faintly he still recalled the being that had descended after he defeated the Bixie.

  Back then, its presence even from hundreds of Li caused Vera to lose his mind.

  Are you telling me Dao Tian fought multiple things like or stronger than that; and even pushed them back?

  Having sorted out his thoughts, so as to not arouse suspicion of his origins, Vera mimicked Aspartese's expression.

  "Indeed, his name is well known even in my hometown."

  Aspartese took a hefty swig of his wine. Emptying the cup in a single breath.

  "Speaking of the Lord always gets me too heated. So, tell me. Now that you know of the ranks, which Law do you want to study?"

  Vera's gaze sharpened at his question.

  Now that he had seen point compression in action, his previous resolve was shaken.

  "I narrowed it down to the Heavy Sword, Impact, and Point Compression. All of which complement my reliance on force. However, I need more clarity on them, considering the time I would have to put into it."

  Aspartese nodded in agreement.

  "It can be hard to choose at first, especially for one as young as you. Committing to a Law is at least a decade-long endeavour. If you want, I can make a suggestion." He held his arm out over the table, gesturing for Vera to hold his hand.

  "Looking at your physique, I can already tell that you focus on aggressive combat. Let me get a feel for your qi once."

  Vera met Aspartese's grip with his own.

  "Match my output for as long as you can."

  An intense warmth formed between their palms. Qi pooled out from the pit of their palms, their matched outputs holding each other in place.

  The amount of qi in their palms grew steadily. At first Aspartese smiled with delight.

  But as the seconds passed, his expression started leaning towards surprise.

  As Vera continued to meet his output, warm sweats beaded over Vera's forehead.

  The heat between their palms illuminated the surroundings.

  Slowly but surely the rising output pressed against the walls of his meridians.

  After the passing of twenty breaths the walls of his meridians stretched out, their edges teetering to rupture.

  Despite the strain he felt, Vera was surprised at his own output. Since his battle with Longwang, he hadn't met any opponents worth his full effort.

  Even considering the increase in my rank... Could it be? Inverted Heavens.

  Finally, by the sixtieth breath, Vera reached the limit of his output. The meridians within his arms throbbed in pain.

  Noticing Vera had reached his limit, Aspartese withdrew his qi.

  His widened gaze met Vera's pained expression.

  "Vera, you must learn the Law of Point Compression."

  Vera quickly drained the cup of Mijiu hoping to ease the searing pain in his nerves.

  He spoke with a coarse voice.

  "Why do you suggest that?" Partially curious as to why he was so fervent about the suggestion.

  "In our exchange your output never dwindled. I believe that your meridians' flow rate is what held you back. As you saw before Point Compression can compress qi very effectively. Now imagine that but in your body. The amount of qi that could flow through your meridians would increase greatly."

  While Vera understood what Aspartese had to say, one thing weighed on his mind...

  He asked with furrowed brows.

  "Other than the flow rate, what would hold my output back?"

  Aspartese laughed heartily at Vera's question.

  "You know that feeling, where you are running out of qi rapidly? Your torso starts to feel cold and all that." He patted Vera's back as he spoke.

  But Vera's confusion only increased.

  No matter how much he thought back, even when he'd just begun practicing martial arts.

  "I've never felt something like that."