If he hadn't happened to look directly at their locations in passing, then it was likely that he wouldn't have realized that they were there at all, as they seemed to not influence the rest of his soul and Coreflame whatsoever. It was to the point that he even for a moment considered whether or not he might be hallucinating–but naturally, this wasn't the case.
'Why are they here? Who created them? And what is locked behind them?'
With questions like these filling his mind, he proceeded as carefully as he possibly could, not daring to interact with the seals directly. Instead, he mentally approached them, then scrutinized them closely from all sides.
As an Array Formation expert whose education had included the vast majority of all known advanced Arrays which the Heavenly Court was aware of, he knew that most seals fell under this category. He had seen too many of them to count, yet these ones didn't feel familiar whatsoever.
Not only were they located straight in the deepest part of his soul, but they also were intricately connected to it. Rather than being set up with various materials or directly with Energy Veins to support them, it was as if his own soul had been used to fashion them.
'Whoever did this has likely brought their Array Formation Proficiency to the highest Law-level.'
Investigating further, he soon raised an eyebrow in surprise. Contrary to what he had expected, the seals didn't completely block him from sensing anything about what they had shut away. While they still prevented him from getting a clear grasp on things, he could ascertain the general nature of their content, as well as how much of it there was.
Behind the first seal, he felt a veritable ocean of memories. Its volume was overwhelming to the extent that even by becoming cognizant of its existence, his very soul shuddered, as if it was about to shatter underneath the weight. Hastily stopping his probing, he broke out in a cold sweat and took a few moments to calm down his breathing.
'It's not just simply locking away memories, but also compressing them to an extreme degree. I can't even make a proper guess as to how many of them are in there, but at the very least, a conservative estimate would be that they span dozens of eons. So in a way, the seal could also be understood as a protective measure–because without it, I clearly wouldn't 'be' anymore.'
Silently pondering the matter for a while, he tried to figure out the point of origin of these memories. As Theodore, there was no gap in his recollection of the past, and he had his own vast number of illusory lives to look back upon.
If this half of himself was where they came from, then they had to have been there since a previous life. And in that case, there was no way that his parents didn't know about them. Yet, he had never been informed about them–which was something that they'd do. He himself also had to have overlooked them until now.
On the other hand, if they stemmed from his John part, then that would both definitely explain why nobody ever told him that they were there, and his own ignorance in regard to them. Additionally, there was a reason as to why the deceased Heavenly Emperor had sought him out for help. Were these memories the answer?
'... those two possibilities seem to be the most likely, but they are not the only ones. There's always the chance that these seals and whatever they contain have been implanted in me by someone. But if so, by whom and for what purpose?'
Nervously eyeing the seals again, he probed the second one, bracing himself for another soul-shaking experience. Yet, this time, while he still detected that there were memories hidden away here, there weren't that many–not enough for him to take special note of, at least. There was nothing about them that he could make out, though.
As he was just about to reluctantly stop his investigation of this seal, a fragment of information popped into his mind, stunning him.
'Will automatically be released when the time is right.'
If the first one required from him to open it himself once he was certain that his soul could bear him doing so, then this second one told him not to worry about it, as it would do his job for him eventually.
'... seriously? Why does this feel as if some mighty figure is messing with me?! It would perfectly fit their usual MO. But that aside, when would the 'right time' even be? Am I just supposed to sit here and twiddle my thumbs until it eventually opens itself?'
Annoyed at the seal, and taking the message attached to it as a challenge, he resolved himself to figure out how to overcome it. If he tried hard enough, surely there would be a way, right?
'Still, I have to admit that the second seal appears to be far more complicated than the first one. Both of them are currently far above my pay grade, but once not only my cultivation stage but also my Array Formation Proficiency have risen considerably, I'm confident in being able to figure out how to make it past them.'
Of course, he had not forgotten that the memories which were locked away might just be a trap to lure him in. However, not dealing with these potentially ticking time bombs at all felt like a far more reckless choice to make. Who knew when they would blow up in his face? At the very least, if he opened Pandora's box himself, he would know to brace for impact in advance.
'For now, though, I'm completely powerless. I can't even scratch these seals.'
Sighing to himself, he shook his head and refocused on matters which he could actually do something about–namely, further cultivation. At the end of the day, everything mostly boiled down to whether or not one was powerful enough. The more removed from an ordinary lifeform that one became, the more impossibly fantastical things would turn into simple matters to achieve.
Another ten days flew by, then he made it to the Final Forging Realm's pinnacle. When it came to funnelling Energy into various parts of himself, he had long since become the foremost expert of his cultivation stage. Even a complete newbie couldn't go wrong here, therefore naturally, he didn't either.
Feeling a familiar sensation, Theodore's efforts came to a halt, then the soul's hatching process immediately began. Different from what one might expect, it didn't literally break out of the cocoon. Rather, it fused with it and reappeared in front of his mental perception within a few heartbeats, reinforced and intact.
Outwardly, its general shape hadn't changed–after all, it was still his soul. But in essence, it was very different. Whereas it had been delicate and faint before, it now appeared almost like a living and breathing person, even exuding a considerable bit of powerful might. With the Coreflame burning in its chest, it gave off a comfortable warmth, which caused his body's temperature to rise by a degree.
This was his Nascent Soul, and now also the sole part of himself that he truly needed to protect. If his physical vessel was destroyed, then he could easily recreate a new one from scratch, surviving purely in his soul state in the meantime. Generally, newborn Nascent Souls without a body would relatively slowly fade away, until one eventually passed on. But by further reinforcing it, one could largely counteract this, or even fully overcome this weakness.
Taking a deep breath, then exhaling, Theodore moved on to the next thing that he was trying to accomplish–which wasn't simply to break through further. Ideally, he wanted to inject Energy into all of his Golden Cores, his Nascent Soul and his Coreflame at the same time, while still having the mental capacity left over to continue his regular cultivation.
It sounded as if he wanted to have his cake and eat it too, but it wasn't all that far-fetched. All this time, he had been refining his cores, so he 'just' needed to set aside two more parts of his mind that would focus on guiding Energy towards his soul and the flame within. He didn't even need to delicately manage this Energy, merely delivering it to the doorstep. Everything else would more or less handle itself automatically. Simple, right?
Well, not quite. If it had been the him from before his Nascent Soul's hatching, then it was hard to say whether or not he would have managed to do all of this at once. But now, while he still felt a certain burden, he could confidently handle it.
Even during regular day-to-day activities, he could keep it going. Only if he wanted to make actual progress and break through to higher realms and stages did he need to seclude himself and focus.
'Come to think of it, irrespective of if I try to or don't, I might accidentally advance to the Unshackling Realm at some point.'
Due to all of the Energy constantly suffusing his body because of his completed Energy Vein Incorporation, he didn't need to actively let it course throughout himself at all. With that in mind, he chose to spend a few minutes to prevent this from happening at an inopportune moment, breaking through properly under controlled conditions.
Although this step had been effortless, actually advancing to the peak of this realm wouldn't be that speedy of an endeavour. Still, it wasn't particularly difficult either–all it required was time and effort.
Cultivators in general would need to endure prolonged periods of loneliness and exertion, both physical and mental. Social butterflies were the ones who felt it hardest to adapt to this kind of lifestyle. Yet admittedly, due to his monstrously high aptitude, Theodore had not truly secluded himself all this while, still indulging in meeting with his lovers and companions daily. This did slow down his progress minutely, yet he could shrug off this sort of minimal setback quite easily.
As he got increasingly closer to perfecting his Unshackling Realm cultivation, Chulong City's Compound Array was gently hit by a familiar, yet marginally different signal. This was the second time that Eleanora had reached out.
'It's not unexpected. By now, she has probably worked her way through her half of this Han Empire's worlds, therefore it's high time for us to discuss the next steps. What is different from before is that she's asking me to come over. She wouldn't be foolish enough to attempt to trap me, right?'
Pondering this question a little, he eventually shrugged. In truth, it didn't really matter to him. By now, he was confident in withstanding whatever it was that she could possibly throw at him. Even if those many worlds worth of kills were included in his calculations, they didn't change the outcome of their potential confrontation much.
Instead of worrying about his own well-being–which he would naturally continue to do–he was much more impressed by her actively inviting him over. It showed that she had many cards which she could still rely on and had reinforced this world that she controlled to a profound degree. In his current state, asking him to go there would otherwise equate to presenting her life on a silver platter.
'Regardless of how much I've grown, and how vastly I should surpass my peers in terms of Standard Attributes, I shouldn't underestimate her.'
Letting his perception sweep past Chulong City, he affirmed that everything was normal and all were safe and sound–as always. He didn't ask anyone to accompany him, despite some of them currently not being busy. This was just in the incredibly unlikely case that Eleanora planned to make a move. Still, he at least informed his lovers, Vigdis, Cheong Suhyeon and Navya that he would be going to this meeting via Kiran's network.
Appearing at the centre of the Compound Array in a blink, he put in the coordinates where the signal had come from, then 'went outside' for the first time since approximately one and a half years ago.