Heaven's Greatest Professor

He awoke from the meditation session several hours later, greeted by the sight of Ariha in her pristine white robes, which matched her silvery hair cascading over her shoulders. She seemed to have prepared food for both of them, which was a surprising turn of events, considering it was the first time she had done anything that didn't equate to his growth in the Way.

He sat upright, finding no signs of injury on his body. He still felt like something was wrong inside him; his body temperature was hotter than usual. But that was because the radiant core that sat in place of his heart was constructed. It didn't thump like the old heart construct; instead, it spun slowly, with the mysterious layers of runes spinning along like clockwork.

There seemed to be a new fate mark on his chest as well. A white ring, with golden runes carved into something intricate. A mark indicating his celestial side... Truly fascinating stuff...

And that wasn't the end of it... His channels for circulating energy had changed to a great degree. There were now two separate paths for him to move energy: on his left side, most of the vessels contained void essence, while radiance essence was for the right.

Of course, both were present to some degree throughout his body, but Ariha had carved the channels just so right that the void energy would be unable to dominate his radiance power.

However, this also made it difficult for him to wield void essence from his right side. He couldn't help but let out a sigh. It was still too early for him to see if it was all worth it or not, as he currently only had the promise of what the Radiant Heart could do; no exciting actual practical use yet. The surgery hadn't been easy, as far as he could tell.

"How are you feeling?" Ariha asked.

"Sick," he mumbled, feeling his stomach growing in hunger. "How long was I unconscious?"

"For the first part, you had woken up a couple of hours after the transplant, but you weren't conscious back then," she said. "You have woken up with screams like the last time a few times, but not too much time has passed... It's the third day since we began the process."

He whistled, certainly hadn't thought it would take so long.

Ariha snorted. "If it were anywhere else that worked on you, you'd be unconscious for weeks, and probably be on bed rest for at least a month," she said. "It is your great fortune to be treated by the greatest healer of history."
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He studied her face and agreed readily. Ariha showed an expression of disbelief, as though suspecting his scepticism of her title as the Greatest Healer.

"Anyway, you have thick skin, which also makes it easier for you," she continued. "Still, for the next while, you're not allowed to do any heavy training."

He paused and stared at her suspiciously. Is this really the real Ariha, who seemed to have only known the way of masochism? He still couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"I know when to push and when to relax," she snorted.

"Wouldn't that risk my clash with the other you in two months?" He was really worried. The image he had of the older avatar was nothing like her. Even if it was proven he wasn't at fault, he was pretty sure it wouldn't make it easy for him. There was something different about her, something broken...

"Even with all my brilliance working on you," the younger avatar continued, "I still would have prescribed no serious fighting for you within a couple of months, but I guess that couldn't be helped now."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked. She lifted an eyebrow. "I don't know; I feel like my body is improving with each moment."

He looked at his skin, which was fairer than it used to be, even the long hair that fell over his face was brighter than the dirty grey.

"Is this the legendary Glamour of the celestial?" he mumbled.

Ariha snorted. "You look like a barbarian who finally found civilization."

"Hey, that was uncalled for."

But she wasn't done yet. "You still have a long way to go, dear disciple, if you believe this little glamour is enough to charm women to bed."

"I don't need magic to charm women," he snorted back.

She shot him a glance of contempt. "I believe you," she said. "Also, it's not magic... just a reflection of the Way you emit unconsciously. For celestials, it is too pure and iridescent to a bystander's senses."

"Is it like an aura?" he asked, confused.

"Not quite," she shook her head. "Your presence creates your aura, while the Glamour, Mystic, or whatever it is called these days, transforms your presence."

He reflected on her words, though there was still some confusion left about the whole matter.

"Does everyone who found their Way have this?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, though unique in their own form."

"So, nothing too fancy then," he sighed, unsure if he should be happy or discouraged. Weirdly, he felt both of these feelings.

"Even if it's minuscule, you better learn to control it," she said. "As far as I know you, you probably won't like the effect it has on people... Anyway, even about unimportant business...

While I was transplanting your heart and laying the scripts, I added a top-notch concealment on your Radiant Heart; now even most transcendent won't be able to tell of your celestial inheritance unless you show it to them."

He was about to ask why the reason for secrecy, but stomached the questions, understanding where she was coming from. In her time, celestials were hunted for their Radiant Cores... while it might be a different story currently, she didn't want to take chances, considering what he represented.

"Also, the thing that you called the system," Ariha said. "Do not trust it on face value..."

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Finally getting back to daily release... pray for me... : (