When Klaus first saw Fruity form his Star Core, he figured it would be a literal core, like an egg or something. However, he was mistaken.
The core that formed was just like his soul sea, only stronger and wider. It was as if a small river had suddenly become a vast sea.
So, when the senior told him he'd have to form each core one at a time, Klaus knew he was in for a challenge. But for now, he could only relax and focus on other things. He'd be going to the academy in under two months.
From what he knew, the academy had no shortage of resources, so Klaus knew he would get the support he needed, even if his nine qi seas threatened to drain him. At least he wouldn't be handling it alone.
"Anyway, Senior, what can you tell me about the sword skill I used to kill the gatekeeper? Also, what happens now that I killed it?" Klaus asked, wanting to switch topics.
[First of all, I don't know what happens now that you've killed a gatekeeper. I've never heard of anyone doing that before. And to make things stranger, it's rare for a gatekeeper to even appear.
I told you that to unlock the fourth level of the tower, you'd need to defend against the gatekeeper's attacks. In reality, it was supposed to be just a single attack. However… your situation is different.]
"Because I am a Paragon?" Klaus asked.
[Yes. Normally, you shouldn't exist, yet here you are. But beyond that, the Karma around you is immense. I mentioned that your Karma is due to you learning too much you shouldn't have, but that wasn't entirely true.
Simply existing as you are, creates massive Karma for you. In other words, your very life is a huge debt. But here's where it gets complicated.
Normally, everyone who defies the rules would bear their own Karma. But in your case, those around you seem to pass their Karma to you. In simple terms, the Karma of those you care for is being added to yours.
It's good news for them, but bad for you. A Paragon shouldn't have connections with heaven's favored ones, as their Karma will weigh on you in ways that might make you suffer.]
"I'm that unlucky?" Klaus asked.
[Indeed. I'd say, in the entire universe, you're both the unluckiest and the luckiest man. Unlucky because the heavens won't grant you anything easily, but lucky because whatever's forbidden seems drawn to you.
And anything forbidden poses a danger to the heavens.]
"So, the Chaotic Nirvana Flame is forbidden too?" Klaus asked.
[Yes. I know I've been going on about Karma these past months, but it seems you're somewhat immune. So, let me add a small one to your next tribulation by telling you something.]
"Out with it, Senior. The heavens can go... uh, take a seat somewhere," Klaus said, trying to hide a guilty grin.
[During the Primordial Era, which was the first era in this universe, nine stars fell from the heavens. From these stars, many powerful things were born. One of those things is the Lightning Source Diagram.
Another is the Pentaface Bead, also known as the Demon Bead, and another is the Nine-Headed Azure Dragon.
I know you may wonder why such a powerful dragon would be forbidden. The answer is simple: everything from those nine stars is forbidden. The Dragon with Nine Distinct Flames was also forbidden, making its flames forbidden as well.]
"I see… This explains a lot. It was like the heavens were afraid of the Dragon when it was unleashed during the tribulation," Klaus said.
[Yes. So although you're the unluckiest, you're also the luckiest. It means you and the heavens can never be friendly.]
The senior seemed to be opening up more, and Klaus began to wonder about his identity. At first, he thought he might be one of the Paragon Guards, but after Yuying told him all nine Paragon Guards were women, he let go of that idea.
Now, he was forming a new theory. But he had indeed learned something valuable. He'd already claimed three items from the nine stars that had fallen.
"Senior, do you know anything about the Seven Star Forbidden Diagram?" Klaus decided to ask before the senior fell back into silence.
[I do. It was one of the forbidden items that plagued the world many years ago. There are records of it. If you want, I can transfer what I know to you, but it must be done in stages, as knowing all I know now would feel like facing your next tribulation unprepared.]
"I'll follow your arrangement, Senior." Klaus was cautious.
The heavens were too unpredictable, and now that he had offended them by killing a Gatekeeper, they would surely have their eyes on him more than ever.
The senior transferred the memory to Klaus, who immediately knew all there was to know about the Star Diagram his past incarnation, Fruity, had used. Back then, he wanted to use the diagram to recreate his Forbidden Ice elements into the seven divine beasts.
However, to do that, he had to at least find something that belonged to the divine beasts before he could recreate them. This meant that if he had succeeded, he would have had seven divine beasts with seven distinct Ice elements flowing through them.
Had Fruity managed to unleash the beasts, the world would have turned to ice in a short time.
During the Primordial Era, the Seven Divine Beasts were some of the most powerful creatures to ever walk the universe. Their legend was widely known, so resurrecting them in order to form an Ice from it—that was just too overpowering.
Of course, Fruity and Yuying never managed to learn anything about the divine beasts when they visited the Collector back in the Tormented World.
But they did learn something. They heard there was knowledge about the divine beasts many years before the witch temples were formed. From the little information they got from the Collector, it led them back to the Dark Flame Chaos Dragon.
Obviously, Fruity was no match for the Dragon King, who was furious when it was discovered that the horn belonging to his brother had appeared in the Dark Star Witch Temple.
Fruity, of course, wanted the knowledge from the Dark Flame Chaos Dragon King, so he made up his mind to do two things: infiltrate the Chaos Dragons again and steal that knowledge, since stealing back the horn from the Witch Temple was next to impossible.
Unlike the Dark Flame Chaos Dragons, whose strongest was the Dragon King at Tier 11, the Witch Temple had many Tier 11 existences and even Tier 12. Yuying even told him there was a Tier 13 hidden somewhere.
So Fruity wanted nothing more than to infuriate people who could easily crush him. But because he wanted to awaken the Divine Beasts, he started making plans to return to the Chaos Dragon territory.
If he succeeded, his current incarnation as Klaus would become many times stronger. It became clear to him now that his past memories weren't just there for fun; they were meant to guide him.
After going through the memory and learning more about the Star Diagram, he asked his second question...
"What about the Asura Crazy Sword Strike I used, senior... where does it come from?"