Not that far away from Cath's Door, in a meadow, the fairies were flying from flower to flower, chased by their young, freshly born little butterflies. With a bit of human help, the gorils were building stone and wooden houses, assisted by the rest of the young chimpanzees left within Niji's tribe. They learned quickly from the humans and soon were able to wield any tools they had brought, and, excitedly, they began making their own houses. At the same time, some fairies happily assisted, carrying their tools around or just bringing refreshments to them.

  “Pretty incredible seeing them work together,” Feynor said, standing at the edge of the new, emerging town.

  “Not really; I’d bet further up north, there are cities made or repurposed by others." Ren smiled, "They are not animals anymore; they just need a little push. Look at them, since meeting with us, the fairies have taken a liking to our clothes.” she smiled as most adult fairies wore freshly made, human-like clothing, be it shirts, shorts, or skirts, especially if it was decorated and could swirl through the air as they flew. "They love it."

  “Because they look pretty!” Rem giggled as she flew up to her, sitting down on her head, wearing a white skirt and blouse.

  “Sure, they do look great on you! How’s the tribe?” Ren chuckled, happy to see her be so lively.

  “Good! Everyone is so happy now!" She answered, fluttering her wings, "The big ones were scary when they came, but they were nice! Friendly! And fluffy! It’s good to hug them!” She added merrily as some of the gorils had tiny fairies hugging them as they slept, nestling up to their furs, seemingly not bothered by their movements, not even while they were working.

  “Gd to hear it. Shaman should arrive soon, too, and you will have another group joining you.”

  “We will become good friends!” Rem ughed innocently, cpping her hands.

  In the end, it was close to nightfall when Shaman arrived, with the tribe of chimps looking around curiously. Their own, Niji was keeping them in line and silent while Olup stood next to his own group. But when he saw Ren, he closed his legs by reflex...

  “You left a deep impression on him.” Feynor smiled, whispering it to her.

  “Heh! I’ll give him another lesson soon. After that, when they are integrated, we can move on to the st two tribes...” Ren whispered back as she walked up towards Niji.

  “I hope I’ll get my own house.” Shaman grinned, seeing the still ongoing works, exciming as Ren got close to them.

  “We already drew up the pn for your own workshop. It’ll be made from stone, so it should withstand your experiments.” Feynor responded, making the grin on his face even wider.

  “Niji.” Ren nodded, but before he could respond, Olup stepped forward, looking at her like he had met his greatest nemesis. “What?” Ren asked with snted eyes, looking up at him.

  “We have some things to settle.”

  “Sure." She shrugged, "Do you want to do it here and now or wait until tomorrow?”

  “Right now.”

  “Oh, okay, but don’t come to me crying if you lose! I don't care about excuses, like you were tired from traveling.”

  “Lose? Why would I lose if it’s not a surprise attack? Shameless.” Olup said, full of fighting spirit. "I will win."

  “Hah!” Ren chuckled while Shaman and Niji just shook their heads, making space for the two. Leinor, of course, quickly appeared from nowhere, looking at Olup with cold eyes, but said nothing, simply warning him with his presence. "Not here." Ren chuckled, “Follow me!” She waved her hand, leading them away from the budding little vilge.

  Arriving at a smaller clearing while happily whistling, Ren also noticed that more than half of the others followed them, curious as to what would happen next.

  “I break him,” Kang excimed suddenly after they stopped, towering over everyone else, grumbling in a deep voice, making even Olup gulp as the pressure he felt coming from the goril was enormous.

  “Thank you, but don’t worry. It’s just a spar!” Ren smiled while stretching her limbs. “You can attack whenever you wish... um... what was it... Ah, yes! Olup!”

  “Fine by me!” He snorted, shaking his body and holding her new staff, which had been strapped to his back previously.

  His strike was fast and quick, but Ren countered it by summoning a lightning spear, taking a few steps, and distancing herself before unching a counterattack. Still, Olup’s reflexes were sharp and precise, fending off her stabs with every move they made.

  “You are pretty fast,” Ren acknowledged.

  “You too, being a human and all,” Olup answered.

  “Ahaha, this? I’m just warming up.” She smiled, then the next moment, she was already behind him, stabbing straight towards Olup’s buttocks.

  He uttered an embarrassing cry as he jumped up, narrowly missing the lightning spear, but some of his furs were burned, turning his bare butt even shinier.

  “Shameless!” He screamed as he tried to smack her down, but Ren avoided his attack while some of the spectators tried to stifle their ughs.

  “So what? It’s such a big red target.”

  “Screw you! I am not a baboon!”

  “Maybe a baboon would screw you!” She retorted cheekily, making the other chimps break out in a peal of loud ughter as they spped the ground and their knees, enjoying the suddenly very entertaining show.

  “Shut up, you lot!” Olup screamed at their betrayal, enraged, attacking faster and fiercer, but Ren avoided his stick elegantly, wearing a provoking smile.

  Olup's staff kept leaving deep holes in the ground, soon making it seem like a wild mole demon was living there. After ten minutes of futile effort, panting, he leaned on his staff, watching Ren with bloodshot eyes, huffing and puffing, but his face looked like someone near to burst out crying.

  “It’s nice of you.” Ren looked around, barely breathing faster than usual.

  “Huh?” Olup flinched.

  “This pce has abundant fresh water deep down; thanks for making the soil softer. We wanted to build a well or a spring here.” She repeated, cpping her hand, and soon she stomped down, giving the weakened ground the st push as water spurted from the countless fresh holes.

  “Watching Mom in the past days and training with her made me break through. I feel like I’m ready.” Ren said suddenly, taking a deep breath. “Do you have any moves you wish to practice?” she asked calmly, but now she looked more serious than before, as her body was slowly being covered in strikes of purple lightning.

  Olup was strong, physically speaking; he was much more robust than Ren; he knew it… Yet he never once managed to follow her moves or nd a hit, leaving him unable to defeat her. He wasn't stupid... He knew that soon, he would run out of energy, and Ren only needed to py with him until he colpsed to win or humiliate him.

  “No… I lost.” He said, sighing, frustratedly, lowering his staff.

  “Then I suggest you leave,” Ren exhaled, but the lightning didn't disappear.

  “You!” Olup fred up again, thinking he was being made fun of.

  “No, you don’t get it.” She sighed as she looked up at the sky, where now everyone could see an invisible tear become tangible, thunder rumbling across the horizon.

  “She’s doing it,” Anya said, standing on the wall, far away from the scene, looking into the distance as Xendar stood behind her, holding her.

  “She will be fine!” He said, but he was just as worried.

  “We should be there.”

  “She said we should stay here. Also... You are pregnant; you can’t risk it. When she goes home, you should go too!”

  “But…”

  “Rex, I’ll be fine; when our second child is born, I’ll be back home by then!" Xendar giggled, "Plus… trust Ren. She knows what she is doing.” He kissed her neck, looking into the distance. “She is our child. But after this, she can’t be seen as a child anymore... And don't forget to tell her the news, ahaha!”

  “Heh… when did she act like one anyway?” Anya chuckled, too.

  “A lot of times! I’ve got a feeling our next kid won’t be such a weird one~!” Xendar ughed, receiving a pinch on his arms from his wife.

  “You are weird! But…” She giggled softly, holding his hand on her stomach. “He or she will be more… normal... True... Because Ren grew up way too fast!”

  “Ahaha, you…”

  Meanwhile, back in the clearing, everyone retreated to a safe distance as Ren just stood there, her lightning covering her body as dark clouds started to swirl up in the sky, fshing with deep red color.

  “It’s different….” Leinor murmured, watching the phenomena that now looked like the end days had come.

  “Yes…” Zern nodded. “Master is the first of us to take this step… let’s hope we can do the same soon.”

  “I could.” Poli boasted, “It’s just Master didn’t let me... She said she needs to experience it first so we can maximize its effects.” He added, yet he still gulped loudly, watching the red lightning. “Well... I’m gd I listened… I would be scared shitless if I were the one ascending…!”

  That was when the first lightning struck down, instantly scattering Ren's lightning aura, bsting it apart, and then passing through her defenses, entering Ren’s body the next moment.

  “I knew it…” She thought as she circuted the invading energy through her body, “No matter how much external help one would prepare… this energy is attracted by my body and soul. It will pass through everything to reach me.”

  What appeared as red lightning was pure energy from beyond the Sky, beyond the Tear. It came... from whatever was behind it. When she felt it in her previous life, she realized there is another realm beyond the Sky, filled with chaotic yet powerful energy that, when it passes into our world, it can assimite into it, adapting to its surroundings. She realized then and there that the other Gods used to prevent it from entering the realm, blocking any cracks or doorways, sealing any possible leaks as soon as possible, keeping the whole realm low in energy, and making it very difficult for cultivators to appear for who knows how long now.

  When she tore open the Sky, even though they sealed it, it was like patching a tear on an old cloth. It will never be the same. Now, as Ren’s body was circuting with the lightning from the Tear, she could feel her body and soul boiling yet also changing. She guided it through her energy points, realizing that they were hungrily soaking it up and began to emit it outward, washing her cells with it. The energy wasn't inherently here to destroy her... it was simply... powerful. And if she wasn't ready, she wouldn't survive the change it brought to her body.

  With that in mind, she kept focusing on absorbing it as it circuted through her. It was like allowing ants and nails to flow through her veins, yet she still wore a calm expression on the outside, right until the second lightning strike came, hitting her on the top of the head. The shockwave from it was devastating; the ground under her feet sank by almost a meter, and an enormous crater was forming around her. Yet she just stood there, with her eyes closed, as her aura kept growing, purple and red electricity dancing around her body.

  “This is definitely different… only two came down; by now, she should be at the fourth… At least!" Leinor murmured with anxiety written all over his face, "Yet just one felt like it had the strength of three….”

  “I wonder if I will have the same… I started much ter than you guys.” Isha sighed, looking up at the dark skies. “Lady Anya had a normal advancement.”

  “We will know when Poli attempts it. It will show itself then. Probably there is a threshold, and the ter you change over to our technique, the smaller effect it will have.” Zern added, concerned about Ren, who, after receiving the second strike, let out a moan and struggled a bit before standing straight again.

  It was not a surprise, as in her body, hit by the second strike, the energies were making their rounds again, her energy points still greedily absorbing it all. At the same time, the dissonance in her grew more pronounced.

  “It’s like not even my body...”

  She moaned as she tried to keep it revolving, maintaining control, but she felt like an invader inside her own body as it started to defy her, not listening to her commands. It was extremely hard to keep herself standing or breathing as she began to lose the feeling in her limbs, unable to even move a muscle.

  “I kinda get why they named it Harmony...” She chuckled to herself as the third lightning bolt came down, stimuting her body one st time.

  As it struck, she felt dizzy, spitting out a mouthful of blood, yet it refreshed her nonetheless.

  “Yes… I can feel it...” She murmured to herself, revealing a small smile, as all her energy points were soaked in red lightning and finally began to resonate with one another, forming a cycle between them, bringing back control over her body.

  She focused on following the energy along, assimiting it, and trying to get it under her control, slowly guiding it with her spirit, immersing herself in thoughtless cultivation. After the third strike had fallen, the Sky started to clear while Leinor questioningly raised his eyebrow, yet looked even more worried than before.

  “Just three?” Poli asked, watching as the clouds dispersed and the Tear faded away, yet Ren still stood there as violet and red electricity were crackling around her.

  “Something's up…” Isha gulped as they saw her skin slowly cracking and blood flying out, filled with electricity, evaporating before nding on the ground, yet she didn’t move, just stood there like a statue, close to breaking. While all this was going on, Ren felt more and more confident than ever as she gained complete control over her energy, expelling all the remaining filth from her body.

  “Good! Now I can sense my body more clearly than ever before, down to my cells. Heh~!” Ren mulled over it in her head. “If I had a bucket of water as my energy reserve before, it now feels like I have a whole pool. Ahahahaha!” When she ughed, she did it loudly as she opened her eyes, her skin slowly cooling and the cracks beginning to mend. She felt that she had complete control over everything within her body. After letting out a long breath, she suddenly flew up to the Sky and punched out with all her strength, sending a massive, violet web of electricity to fly upwards and spread out everywhere, brighter than the morning sun, rumbling like her own ughter.

  “She did it!” Xendar ughed as he and Anya saw the blinding fsh shoot up toward the Sky.

  “Yes, she did… she did!” She nodded while she wiped her tears, finally calming down, leaning against Xendar, smiling proudly.

  “You really scared me!” Leinor whispered, catching Ren in his arms, because after that spectacur lightshow, she spent all her energy and started falling out of the sky like a big rock.

  “Fufufu, I knew you would catch me!” She grinned weakly.

  “How’s the advancement?”

  “Hard. I need to collect my thoughts and go through the steps inside my head again; after I sort it out, I’ll tell you everything… Now I need some rest.” She snuggled up to him, and soon she was fast asleep, while the others were still watching the Sky, where violet lightning was still fshing all around without any connection to Ren.