Chapter 52: Mark’s Request
Mark’s insane yet extremely calm mental state helped him memorize the final part of the cultivation technique in... a few seconds.
Enlightenment wasn’t a joke. After that moment, Mark’s soul looked normal on the outside, but had completely transformed on the inside.
If there hadn’t been such a huge change, then the system wouldn’t have to worry about Mark no longer worshiping it.
"Master, I’ve memorized your cultivation technique."
The moment Mark finished speaking, the space around him changed. In an instant, his soul appeared on the rooftop of a high-rise apartment building.
"Congratulations on going farther on your own than ever before."
Nexus said a word of congratulations, something he rarely did. It wasn’t because of Lucifer’s influence either, but because by nature, he was always happy whenever someone made some progress on the path to immortality.
On the other hand, something else strange happened with the system. An arrogant and talkative existence like it was now deliberately ignoring Mark.
"My great system, why aren’t you saying anything?"
Seeing the system acting so strangely, Mark asked about it even though he knew exactly why the system was acting this way.
To the system, this question was no different from a few provocative words meant to poke at it. So what if it was an immortal existence? The system had never known fear... No, it was afraid of a few things, but not the rest.
[Hmph, don’t think that going a little farther on the path to immortality means you can look down on me. You’re still a long way from the end.]
There was nothing wrong with its words, but its tone wasn’t as confident as usual. The system knew that although it was still far away, it was already at the very end of the path.
"I know I’m still far from the end of the path. Becoming an immortal or becoming an angel... It’s still impossible to tell for now."
Mark didn’t really understand it either. It was just that after gaining enlightenment, he had a feeling that sooner or later, he would become an angel. But that feeling was being affected by another strange feeling related to cultivation, making things even less clear to him.
"Either one is fine. They’re just a little different. Heaven doesn’t forbid immortals from entering anyway. Besides, if you become an immortal, you can also easily go to hell, but there’ll be more restrictions on fighting."
Even though Nexus had never been to either heaven or hell, he knew a little about them. Angels and demons were enemies. That was a rule. But immortals weren’t mentioned in the rules, so basically, they could go anywhere.
"Let me think for a bit..."
Mark needed to figure out his direction for the future. Becoming an angel was fine, becoming an immortal was fine too. After all, Mark wasn’t the type of person suited to going to hell and playing around with demons, so there wasn’t much difference between becoming an immortal and becoming an angel.
Everyone let Mark think for a few minutes. In the end, Mark gave an answer that seemed completely useless.
"I get it. I don’t know anything."
[Are you fucking kidding me? Do you believe this great system will become the biggest obstacle standing in your way to the finish line? If I get pissed off, keeping you back for a few billion years won’t be a problem.]
Although the system’s words were a little exaggerated, they weren’t completely wrong. The system’s power was already among the highest in the universe, so stopping Mark wasn’t a problem.
But Mark, or anyone else on the path to immortality, had never been alone. So the system definitely wouldn’t be able to stop Mark, because if it did, Michael would completely reset it immediately.
"Is there really a deal that good? Well then, I’m counting on you."
[Are you kidding me? You’re still a useless mortal, yet you dare look down on me?]
With its extraordinary intelligence, the system thought Mark wasn’t being serious with it. This feeling of being looked down on made the system, even though it knew Mark was no longer useless, curse at Mark because it was angry.
"No, I’m serious."
Mark gently shook his head before turning his eyes toward Nexus.
"Can you two temporarily hide part of my memories? Just keep enough calmness for me to cultivate at a basic level."
"Wouldn’t it be better to keep things as they are? Your path of cultivation is completely clear now. As long as you sit down and cultivate for a few million years, you’ll be able to reach the end."
Nexus didn’t immediately agree or refuse. Even though he already knew, he still wanted to hear what his disciple was planning.
"Master, you talk about millions of years like it’s nothing. What realm are you actually in?"
Even after gaining enlightenment, the corners of Mark’s mouth couldn’t help twitching at how casually Nexus spoke.
"What realm could I possibly have?"
An incarnation of the Heavenly Dao in the material world, the supreme existence of a plane. There were also many other titles that could be used to describe Nexus. Ever since he was born, Nexus had never been within the scope of anything that any realm could measure.
[Mark, your future is wide open now. Don’t idolize this stupid master of mine too much. All of his extraordinary power is borrowed from the archangel Michael. He doesn’t even have a realm worth admiring.]
The system, which knew absolutely nothing about Nexus, immediately belittled its master in front of his disciple.
"It doesn’t really matter. As long as you can help me, that’s enough. I know I still lack a lot of things. Gaining enlightenment too early makes it hard for me to have the experiences I need to go farther. That’s why I want to return to how I was before gaining enlightenment and continue training without these memories."
The moment the system heard Mark’s plan, it was as happy as a beggar who had found a mountain of gold. When would Mark gain enlightenment again? Without a huge shock like today, he might not gain any enlightenment even after a few hundred years.
If that happened, wouldn’t the system become the great existence Mark worshiped for several hundred years? Just thinking about it made the system feel great.
[Why didn’t you say so sooner? Why are you looking at that stupid master of yours? This great system can easily help you with something this small.]