One Wish to Own the World



A/N: I added a small conversation at the end of the previous chapter that I found out I forgot to add. For the benefit of those who don't want to go back, I recapped it in a short paragraph (that was not long enough to raise the price of the chapter).

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"Was I really necessary there?"

Henry asked Ken bitterly as the two walked back home. It was mainly an unpleasant meal with the three girls teasing each other and trying to show the superiority of their families, their offers, and themselves. 

"It's always nice to have someone suffer with you. Anyway, I could not know those two girls would show up."

"What's next?"

"We train. I might have to have you engaged to one of the girls from the Sue Clan to get the Han clan off your back. Don't worry, you won't marry her by the time we leave this place."

Ken achieved one hidden goal while interacting with the elite girls. He told them about the research papers he provided the Alchemy division before to ensure the elite families knew of it, and reported he was working on another research in both Alchemy and Formation Mastery, claiming he expects results within 2-3 months. The goal was to hype the divisions toward the research before they were submitted.

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Ken sat cross-legged in his room, and seven books were laid on the floor around him. The series of Mysteries of Luck – he gained 3 of them as prizes in the different areas of the secret realm, while the last four were gained from Edmund when Ken took control of him.

'Time to read.'

Ken grabbed the first book of the series and began reading. This time, he did not do the roundabout way of committing the contents to his memory and only later read them; since his time was not limited, there was no point.

Fascinated by the knowledge hidden in the new volume, he instantly grabbed the second one and continued reading. He read the whole seven volumes in one sitting, and immediately closed his eyes right after to digest all the new knowledge and integrate it.

At first, the basics were similar to what he learned and deducted from the manual he took from Nick, the one that the evil cultivator made for his luck cauldrons. For example, the fact that every human had a container of luck was mentioned.

Ken's natural container was of one LU (Luck Unit), and he got more LU from Henry. The container symbolized the maximum LU capacity one had, and their luck would refill itself after depleting when stumbling upon various opportunities.

The trouble with the luck-stealing manual, or "Defying Heavens" as the evil cultivator called it, was that stealing luck had consequences; one's container would be overfilled with luck, but the container itself would keep decreasing. Once it reached zero, the heavens would actively hunt the practitioner down and send troubles their way endlessly.

But then, he delved deeper into the new knowledge about luck he had attained. The manual offered him a way to avoid the wrath of the heavens.

Instead of plundering one's luck, the method described in the manual offered him to duplicate his luck container. The manual offered a way for everyone to effectively double their luck, but Ken could take it a step further and combine his knowledge.

If he creates a second container, he can simply destroy it once it reaches 0, and create a new one. This way, the heavens will not come after him, and he can simply create a second container again and do the same process over and over again.

'Perfect. Unfortunately, I can't dabble in this art now since I have too many eyes on me. I can't even tell if someone from the Supremacy phase is watching me right now, it's too dangerous to try things that would invite envy and greed.'

Ken planned to use it only when he knows he was safe from prying eyes. Without a moment of hesitation, he burned the rare set of books on fire, watching them turn into ashes. He did not need the books anymore, so the only thing that could happen from keeping them was having others see them, which he did not want.

Ken moved to check on Emrys. The wounded wolf's condition improved with every passing day, but he was still unconscious and needed constant care from his master. Ken did not mind, he believed the wolf's future value was high, even if he would be nothing but a loyal mount.

After treating his wounds, providing him with nutrients, and helping him drink some water, Ken secluded himself in his training room, planning to form his Nascent soul. After forming it, he'd still need to raise and refine it, but it was the first step in entering the next stage.

'The Nascent Soul stage… entering it would effectively multiply my prowess by multiple times. Until now I had to cancel my physical techniques whenever I wanted to activate another as I could only use one at a time, but once I break through, I will finally have a soul on the verge of being physical.'

Ken mused as he remembered the annoying times he had to fight enemies at the fifth stage who could execute their devastating attacks without canceling their movement techniques. The inability to keep his movement techniques active while attacking has been a great handicap for him.

'The first step is to tear a part of my soul. I remember the procedure I went through in the Soul Strengthening stage when I had to keep cutting the useless parts of my soul repeatedly. This is going to be painful.'

But first, he had to carefully plan his advancement manual carefully like he always did. He had some experience thanks to the manuals he had made for his future companions, however, there was a big difference. He had a resource they did not have.

With a wave of his hand, a single stone came out of his storage ring, emanating an intimidating aura. He had personally destroyed the existing formations in his training room and rearranged them, or else the aura would travel a very long distance.

'Immortal Qi Stone…' Ken took a moment to admire the stone before he began working.

Once he had enough, he started his experiments. He did not know enough about the Immortal Qi, and could not carelessly use it. It was a known fact that cultivators under the ninth stage did not even try to absorb that energy, and those under the Supremacy phase were believed to face death as soon as they tried to do it.

'But I'm not a normal fourth-stage cultivator. My body is built differently.'